Each year, the Oxford English Dictionary identifies a word as its ‘word of the year.’ But this year, the Oxford English Dictionary was unable to. There were just too many new words in this ‘unprecedented’ year to be able to pick one.
The word ‘unprecedented’ would be my word of the year. When the pandemic started, I thought we were hearing the word ‘unprecedented’ a lot. On Google search you can look at how often words have been used over a particular period. I thought we’d been using the word ‘unprecedented’ a lot more over the past year but it turns out that we’ve been using it a lot more for the past five years. It isn’t just Covid-19 that’s resulting in things being ‘unprecedented.’ There’s been Brexit, global warming and Donald Trump!
Everything seems uncertain. At our church leaders’ meetings, I used to set out plans for the coming year. I’ve given up on that!
In these unsettling times, does our faith help us? Are there certainties we can hold onto? Absolutely! Christmas itself gives us cause for confidence. The fact that Jesus came once gives us confidence that he will come again. God spoke through his prophets and told the people of Israel that he would send a messiah – and he did. Jesus, who is God, said that he would come again – and he will.
The fact that Jesus will come a second time has been part of the church’s Christmas message for a long time. For perhaps a thousand years the Catholic church and later, the Church of England, have had particular readings for Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent was always the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. It's in Matthew 21. Matthew tells us that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfil the word of the prophet:
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey…’” [Matthew 21:5]
We may think that this is a very surprising passage to choose for Christmas. It has nothing to do with Jesus’ birth! I don’t know what prompted these people of long ago to choose this passage. But I think they wanted to set Jesus’ birth into a larger context. Christmas is not only about recognizing the arrival of a baby into a stable. It is about recognizing the arrival of Jesus as king.
Then, a little under 40 years ago, various churches got their heads together and decided to change the reading for the first Sunday of Advent. Instead of the passage in Matthew 21 they chose a passage in Matthew 24 that reminds us that Jesus will come again. This will be the time when Jesus comes to establish his kingdom. The point is that when we recognize that Jesus came 2000 years ago, it should prompt us to think of his coming again as king.
That isn’t just the message of the church. Two days ago, on Christmas Day, we took a look at Gabriel’s message to Mary. Gabriel tells Mary, ‘He will REIGN over the house of Jacob forever, and of his KINGDOM there will be no end.’ Gabriel uses the words ‘reign’ and ‘kingdom.’ Gabriel continues, ‘…and the Lord God will give to him the THRONE of his ancestor David.’ Gabriel uses the word ‘throne.’ REIGN, KINGDOM, THRONE? Gabriel’s message was almost entirely about Jesus as king rather than Jesus as saviour. Of course, Jesus did come to save us. But saving us is just a part of what Jesus came to do. The bigger picture is that Jesus came as king to establish a completely new kingdom, a kingdom that will last for ever.
Today, we’re going to explore this subject a little. What will that kingdom look like? Is it really something to look forward to? Is it something we can hold onto, in uncertain times?
To begin with, let’s take a look at two prophecies in the book of Daniel. Here’s the first. It’s Daniel 7:13-14.
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.”
You probably know that Jesus often described himself as ‘son of man.’ He may well have taken that phrase from this passage in Daniel. In the thirty or so years that Jesus lived among us he was mocked and rejected and eventually put to death on a cross. His death on the cross is hugely important for us. But I would dare to suggest that there's an even bigger picture. That is that Jesus will receive dominion and glory and a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
What will happen to all the earthly kingdoms we have now?
There’s another prophecy in Daniel which I’m very fond of. It’s Daniel 2:31-45. I need to give a little background to this one.
In the 6th century B.C., the Babylonian empire under King Nebuchadnezzar expanded. The Babylonians defeated the Assyrians and then conquered Judah. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces destroyed Solomon’s Temple and much of Jerusalem and carried many Jews into captivity. One of them was Daniel. Daniel later ended up working in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. I can’t imagine I’d have enjoyed that job! One night, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream which gets him very worried. He tells his wise men and magicians to interpret his dream. But he decides to test them. They must first tell him his dream. If they can tell him his dream, he will know that they are giving him the correct interpretation. But if they can’t tell him his dream, he will have them executed. No one can tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream. But finally, Daniel tells him his dream and its interpretation.
[Reading in the middle of the talk, Daniel 2:31-45.]
Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar: “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever.”
This kingdom that shall never be destroyed is the kingdom which Jesus will rule. The other kingdoms of the world will pass away. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, they were ‘broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found.’
How would that happen? Daniel related Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. In it, ‘a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.’ What is that stone? Or, perhaps we should ask, WHO is that stone? It’s Jesus, of course.
Stephen Miller is an American professor of Old Testament. He’s written a well-respected commentary on Daniel. He sees the legs of the statue as representing the Roman Empire. He writes:
“In summary, shortly before the second coming of Christ, ten (a literal or symbolic number) kingdoms (or nations) of unequal strength will unite to form a coalition that will rise out of the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire. Since Rome is part of Europe and the activities of that ancient empire centered in Europe, it is reasonable to assume that this area of the world will play a leading role in this future regime.”
Miller then turns his attention to the stone that destroyed the statue:
“Daniel now reaches the climax of the dream revelation, the coming kingdom of God symbolized by the great rock … First, it is revealed that this kingdom will be established “in the time of those kings.’’ In the previous discussion these “kings” were identified as the kings or kingdoms … that will constitute the end-times phase of the Roman Empire. Second, the kingdom of God will be of divine origin. Third, the kingdom will be eternal. Fourth, this kingdom is best understood to be an earthly reign of Christ.”
Miller understands that the final part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream will be fulfilled in the destruction of ‘a coalition that will rise out of the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire ... centered in Europe.’ Does that sound familiar? We may not be so far from the time when Jesus comes again to establish his kingdom!
Notice also how Miller finishes. He writes, ‘Fourth, this kingdom is best understood to be an EARTHLY reign of Christ.’
Did you think that when Christ comes again he will whisk you off to heaven? Over the past thirty or so years MANY theologians have argued that Jesus’ kingdom will be on THIS earth. Here are a few examples.
Oswald Sanders:
“The picture is of a universe transformed, perfected, purged of everything that is evil and exalts itself against God. It is ‘new,’ not in the sense of being a new creation, but of being new in character—a worthy milieu for the residence of God and his redeemed people. It is new because of the presence of a new community of people, utterly loyal to God and to the Lamb.”
Anthony Hoekema:
“If God would have to annihilate the present cosmos, Satan would have won a great victory. . . . Satan would have succeeded in so devastatingly corrupting the present cosmos and the present earth that God could do nothing with it but to blot it totally out of existence. But Satan did not win such victory.”
Michael Williams:
“Because man’s fall affected not only himself but also the rest of creation, redemption must involve God’s entire creation.”
John Piper:
“When Revelation 21:1 and 2 Peter 3:10 say that the present earth and heavens will ‘pass away,’ it does not have to mean that they go out of existence, but may mean that there will be such a change in them that their present condition passes away. We might say, ‘The caterpillar passes away, and the butterfly emerges.’ There is a real passing away, and there is a real continuity, a real connection.”
We don’t have time to look at these theologians’ arguments but I think they’ve got it right: creation will be redeemed. Christ’s kingdom will be on earth! Is that an attractive prospect?
What will WE be like? Jesus was born with a body that could die – and of course, did die. But when he rose from the dead, he was given a new and imperishable body. But it was still a physical body. After Jesus rose, he ate some fish. We will also get new bodies like Jesus. We’ll have new and imperishable bodies and we’ll be able to eat. There’s no point in going to the marriage supper of the Lamb if we can’t eat, is there?! Is this starting to sound good?
Let me conclude. Many people feel that we’re in unprecedented times. I don’t think they’re actually unprecedented. There have been similarly difficult times before. But unprecedented or not, times ARE difficult. I can’t offer much hope for the future of human kingdoms. They are destined to collapse. What scripture tells us to look forward to is the kingdom that Jesus will establish. That will not collapse. That will remain forever. Jesus will be king! We will have renewed bodies like his. And there are strong reasons to believe that it will be here on a renewed Planet Earth.
When Jesus came into the world Mary no doubt experienced labour pains. Jesus said there will be some birth pains when he comes again. Let’s not fuss too much about them. We can be confident in what is coming, and it will be wonderful.
Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, 27 December 2020
