Daniel 7:13-28
Daniel 7:13-14
Genesis 1:26-28
Philippians 2:5-11
Psalm 2:1-9
Daniel 2:44-45
John 5:22-27
Matthew 26:63-64
Acts 7:49-58
John Lennox makes this observation regarding Daniel’s vision in chapter 7:13-14:
“The imagery conveys a powerful message. The beasts of power politics, however invincible they may sometimes think they are, will not reign forever. A perfect human, the Son of Man, will come with all authority finally to take over from the beasts and rule in perfect justice. The law of the jungle will cease for good. This is really good news. It holds out real and glorious hope to a despairing society.”
James Montgomery Boice in his commentary on Daniel writes:
“The important questions are: How did Jesus interpret this title? What meaning did he give to the figure of the Son of Man in Daniel?
There are several teachings.
He used it to teach his pre-existence.
In John 3:13, just a few verses before John 3:36, Jesus said of himself. “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – The Son of Man.”
I am sure that even the disciples, who were often slow to understand the Lord’s teachings, would have recognized this statement as a reference to Daniel. They would have perceived Jesus to be teaching that he was the same figure seen by the prophet so many years before.
In John 6:62 there is a similar passage. There Jesus asks: “What if you see the son of Man ascend to where he was before!” That is, before he came to earth Jesus was seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. What if he should abandon his work on earth because of human unbelief and return there?
The existence of Jesus is not determined from the date of his incarnation. Our existence is determined from the date of our birth. That is why we celebrate birthdays. Before that we were not; now we are. This is not the case with Jesus Christ. There was a date at which he was born of the Virgin Mary, but this is not the point at which the existence of Jesus started. He existed before that, even before the point at which the prophet Daniel saw him. Being God, he existed from eternity.”
John Lennox
“The only thing that can steady the mind and steel the heart of believers to face all the forces that anti-God brutality can muster, is a steady vision of the One to whom is given all power on earth and in heaven and who will one day return to the planet that rejected him.”
Until the King Arrives, we will proclaim his virgin birth, his life, his death and his resurrection to everyone who is willing to listen. And everyone who believes and follows the Son of Man will one day watch HOW OUR LORD will judge the world in righteousness before he accepts the kingdoms of this earth given as an inheritance to him by His heaven father. What a day that will be.
