For some people, their problem is not that they don’t understand who God is. Instead, they don’t want God to be in authority over them, so they never convert to the worship of the God they know about. Such people do not have a mental problem as much as they have a moral problem.
There’s a big difference between respecting God and receiving God. Throughout Daniel, the power of God is so obviously at work in and through Daniel that even the demonic pagans marvel at his God even though they never convert. Here are some examples:
- Daniel 2:47 | The pagan king said, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries…”
- Daniel 3:28-29 | Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
- Daniel 4:34-35 | “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’”
- Daniel 6:26-27 | King Darius wrote, “I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
The equivalent today might be people in your life who have seen the difference Jesus has made, cannot deny the fact of His work in and through you, but nonetheless never seek a saving relationship with Him. In this way, both the unbeliever and believer can witness the greatness of God, but only the believer can experience the greatness of God.
Who can you pray for that knows about Jesus but does not know Jesus as Lord?
In addition to this introduction to and overview of Daniel, you can find the corresponding sermons, daily devotions, men’s ministry resources, and hundreds of additional sermons and Bible teaching resources for free at markdriscoll.org or on the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.
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