Daniel knew how to repent.
Throughout the book we have a picture of Daniel as a righteous man used
powerfully by God, a Joseph-like figure.
Daniel was chosen by Nebuchadnezzar to be a model citizen, one who could
lead his own countrymen to be good citizens of Babylon. Through Daniel the Lord did mighty things,
making him and example among the Babylonians, particularly to the king, of a
model citizen of the kingdom of God.
Through Daniel the Lord made Himself known to the king of this great
nation and blessed the nation, just as He had promised through Abram, that
whoever blessed him would be blessed.
Daniel, however, identifies completely with those who have not been
righteous, his people, God’s people, in this prayer of repentance, always using
the pronoun we when he speaks of sin and faithlessness. His understanding of this exile is based
entirely upon the sin of the nation and his hope for deliverance is based
entirely upon what He believes about God and about covenant.
Can there be a much simpler, straight-forward presentation
of who Jesus is and claimed to be than this?
If you believe in Jesus you believe in God, if you have seen Jesus you
have seen God. CS Lewis was right, "A
man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who
says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your
choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something
worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him
Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being
a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." He left no room for the options people take
for themselves today. If we take one of
those options we will be judged in the end.
He is not ashamed to call us brothers. Jesus was and is the righteousness of God, no
sin was found in Him until He went to the cross and took on Himself our sin and
the judgment of God against that sin.
Daniel was not perfectly righteous and he could identify with his
countrymen, Jesus was perfectly righteous, He is holy, He is God, and yet He
chose to identify with us in the incarnation, taking on flesh, and the even
greater love He had is shown in choosing to identify with our sin, our
rebellion but in the paradox of complete obedience to the Father’s will. His act of submission to the Father redeemed
our many acts of rebellion against the Father.
What wondrous love is this oh my soul, oh my soul, what wondrous love is
this oh my soul, What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss, To
bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, To bear the dreadful curse
for my soul?
O God, you are my God;
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
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