The Endgame
9 “As I looked,
thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. :
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:9-10;13-14)
Dear Crosswind Church,
It's been said that the most beautiful phrase in professional sports is "Game Seven". Many times in the sixth game of a best-of-seven series, a wise coach would know when to call it a loss, pull his best players out and prepare for game seven. This is because what really matters is the final game. Games that are won mean nothing if a team does not make it to the finals to win the championship. This is actually true in the times that we live in, we are not seeing the end game, especially in the aftermath of the election. As churches in America continue to pray for a peaceful and rightful transition to the next administration, the final resolution seems to be out of reach. There is a clear national divide that can lead to serious unrest as both sides of the political spectrum are so politically charged and raring to fight to the end for their candidate. However, the church should not engage in these affairs with an attitude that this is the ultimate struggle, we are far from God's endgame. We should not forget that God will be glorified no matter what happens in world affairs. Our role as the church is to continue to pray for His will to be done as it is in heaven. God's Kingdom will continue to advance no matter what government we are under. We should continue to pray for a just and rightful administration to be inaugurated on January 20; but let us not think even for a moment that God's ultimate purpose is hinged only on a certain administration. We know from the Bible that God will carry out His plan of salvation to the end because by the power of His Spirit, the gospel will be preached as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. This saturation of all nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate endgame. We see in the passage from Daniel 7 above, that the "Son of Man" will appear in the clouds in glory before the "Ancient of Days" (verse 9) to claim His rightful authority. Daniel then proclaims in verse 14:
"And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14)
Here we see the title the "Son of Man" which Jesus repeatedly ascribed to Himself in the Gospels. As followers of Jesus, we need to set our thoughts on this glorious event. The backdrop of this scene from Daniel is the rise and fall of human empires. All human empires and administrations will come and go; even the greatest of them will someday bow down to the Kingdom that will last forever in its dominion and power. That is the Kingdom that the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ will claim very soon! All peoples, nations and languages would serve Him! (verse 14a) Bogged down by setbacks and seeming unanswered prayers? Don't be. Let's continue in our mission of preaching the gospel and standing for its truth claims. We are not in the final game yet. We are however, closing in to the end, when Jesus returns, claims His church as His beloved bride and establishes His forever Kingdom. Don't be discouraged, set your mind on God's endgame.
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Praying with you, Pastor Ramon
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