1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our
Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The
message from God’s Word today comes from Daniel 12:1-3 and is entitled, “Christians, Consider the End of Time!” Today Daniel the Prophet from the Old
Testament tells us: God’s time of
reckoning will surely come (vv. 1, 2).
God’s Word of wisdom will surely prevail (vv. 3, 4) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. One day, a
young boy sat in the pew at church, listening attentively as the pastor preached
a strong sermon on the realities of the fall into sin. His eyes grew wide as
the pastor’s voice rose while he quoted from the Book of Genesis: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return”
(Gen 3:19). An impression was made. Later that same day, this child’s mother
heard a yell from her son’s bedroom. She went running up the stairs and he met
her halfway. “Mom,” he said with
great concern, “Do you remember that the
pastor said that we are dust and to dust we will return? I just looked under my
bed and someone is either coming or going!”
Cute! But which is it? Coming or going?
3. “In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). Genesis 2 tells us
that “the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature”
(2:7), a perfect creature. God breathes life into him and bestows his image
upon him. It was a beautiful act of love that united God and man together in a
perfect relationship. It was very good.
4. It was too
good to last. Man and woman disobey God’s command not to eat of the fruit of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve are convinced by Satan
that God is holding something back from them. There are other blessings, more
information that God has reserved for himself, and man is being cut out of
something good. “Did God actually say . .
. ?” (3:1). “You will not surely die . . .” (3:4). Eve was convinced, and Adam
along with her, that there was something desirable that God was not sharing—so
they took it—so they ate. And their eyes were opened wide—in terror.
5. Now they
knew, now they understood, but what they learned was not the knowledge they
sought. They learned about death, and they would know the curse. They learned
that the image of God has been forfeited and the breath of life is fleeting.
They will suffer death; they will return to the dust from which they came. “You are dust, and to dust you shall return”
(3:19). The tragedy rivals any tragedy that is yet to come in their young
world. Nothing could be worse, nothing could be more devastating, nothing could
be more final, for they have lost the image of God and destroyed their
relationship with him—they will die. “You
are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
6. But God is
gracious, and God is merciful, and God is love, and because of who he is, he
promises. God promises to raise up from the dust once again. God promises to
restore life and restore the image. God promises that a champion, a Messiah,
will be delivered to mankind through the woman’s seed. God promises that this
Messiah will do battle with the evil one and Satan will be condemned to the
dust of defeat. God promises—and the great battle begins.
7. Welcome to
the war—the pain and suffering of this battle take their toll on us. Every
living being since the days of Adam and Eve has toiled with the reality of sin
and the devastation it brings. Every day we feel the knife of mortality as it
cuts through our body with sickness and disease. Every day we experience the
gnawing of sin as its tears at our hearts and souls. Every day we feel the
darkness as it chokes us off from our God. Satan, the world, and our sinful
flesh separate us from God and intend that this division becomes permanent.
8. As Daniel
tells us, this is a time of trouble like no other. This is the greatest
distress, the most devastating reality, and even though man is responsible for
this environment, there is nothing we can do to withstand the attacks. In fact,
Scripture tells us that if God had not cut this time short, no one would
survive. This is our life; this is the reality to which we have been brought by
sin. Look around: war, hunger, genocide, homicide, infanticide, hatred, anger,
broken relationships, behavior that shows no sign of a relationship once shared
with God. A time of trouble such as has never been seen before. The end times will be a time of distress (Daniel
12:1). There will be rebellion on the
earth. People will have total disregard for God and for each other. Their attitude will be similar to the T-shirt
that states, “If you don’t like my
attitude dial 1-800-who-cares.”
9. All created
things will be shaken (Heb 12:26). The destruction will be phenomenal and
indescribable. Two brothers (8 and 10 years old) were always playing pranks and
getting into mischief. Their parents were frustrated and worried. They asked
the pastor, who had a Bible-thumping, God-fearing, pulpit-pounding style, to
talk to the boys. The eight-year-old had the first appointment. The pastor
approached with a scowl and said, “Young
man, where is God?” The boy remained silent and the pastor raised his voice
a bit, “Young man, I said, “Where is God?”
The boy remained quiet, but his eyes widened and swallowed hard. A third time
the pastor bellowed, “Young man, I asked
you a question! Now, where is God?” In terror, the boy fled the church, ran
home, and hid in a closet. His brother, hearing the door slam, ran in and
asked, “What happened?” The younger
boy answered, “Oh, man, we are in big
trouble. God’s missing, and everyone thinks we did it.” In the end,
everyone will feel the guilt that is theirs.
10. But, thanks
be to God that He isn’t missing in our battle against sin, death, and the power
of the devil. Into the midst of this
battle, into the midst of our need, God sends his Son. God sends his
only-begotten Son into our flesh that he might do battle on our behalf. Jesus
has come to deliver us from sin, death, and Satan. He comes into our world, to
walk in the dust of our destruction, to do that which we cannot do. Christ
fights for us—not with us—for us, in our place. Christ fights for us, taking
the battle to the cross of Calvary. There he shed his blood as a holy sacrifice
for our sin. There he pours out his life. There he dies.
10. Christ is
taken from the cross and placed into the tomb. He is interred into the dust of
this earth in death—a death that is our doing. Christ is buried in death, but
not for long! After three days, he wins the victory by rising from the dead. He
is the firstfruits of those who rise from the dead, for truly, he is the one
who overcomes the curse. Out of the dust he brings life.
11. And the
grace-filled reality for us is this: because he has risen from the dead so
shall we! Christ’s victory is our victory for he has fulfilled God’s promise
and delivered us from sin and death and has written our names in the Book of
Life. Daniel tells us that indeed our names are recorded, we who are wise by
faith, we who have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
12. This is the
promise fulfilled as told in the Book of Daniel. Out of the dust will God raise
the dead. Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake on the Last
Day—God’s promise of a bodily resurrection. Believers, those who have been
written into the Book of Life, shall awake to everlasting life—to shine like
stars forever with Christ. Unbelievers, those who reject him who saves, shall
awake to shame and contempt—to suffer everlasting death with Satan and his evil
angels.
13. A return to
Eden will be accomplished. On the Last Day, God finishes his work of
re-creating this fallen world. Out of the dust of death he brings forth life,
and we, his new creation, live in this life from everlasting to everlasting. For On the Last Day, He Who Created Us out
of the Dust Will Re-create Us, Raising Us from the Dust.
14. We live
forever, united with God as he intended from the beginning. Thomas Jefferson once produced an edition of
the Bible from which he had edited out all reference to miracles and other
“unbelievable” occurrences. He ends his book with “There laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the
sepulcher, and departed.” That’s it. That’s it? No, thank God! The tomb was
empty, and he who has risen from the dust of death will raise us up to
everlasting life with him to shine like stars. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Now the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus until life everlasting.
Amen.
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