Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Nebuchadnezzar's Fall (part 4 of 4)

Moving on to the thirty-fourth verse of the fourth chapter of Daniel, we find God’s words to Nebuchadnezzar ringing true. There we read, “But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me” (4:34a). Remember, he had been driven from human society. He had lost his sanity. He had become, for a specified and appointed time, something less than human. This takes us right back to Adam, as we recall his being driven out, and his loss of sanity, as he became (along with all those that followed in his wake) something less than human. We say this, of course, as we continually bear in mind that man was made in God’s image, so as to be the reflection of His glory in the world. The failure to bear the divine image---the failure to be truly human---is a falling short of the glory of God.

What was involved in Nebuchadnezzar’s return to sanity? We have already seen a precursor to it, in that God said that he would live like an animal until he understood “that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever He wishes” (4:32e). This is fulfilled when we hear Nebuchadnezzar, sanity returned, saying “I extolled the Most High, and I praised and glorified the One Who lives forever” (4:34b). Now, with real conviction, Nebuchadnezzar points to Israel’s God and says, “His authority is an everlasting authority, and His kingdom extends from one generation to the next” (4:34c). In humility, he adds, “All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth” (4:35a). With a flourish of self-introspection concerning his previous demonstration of high-mindedness, this king adds, “No one slaps His hand and says to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (4:35b)

As Nebuchadnezzar’s fall has mirrored Adam’s fall (the fall of man), would it not be appropriate to say that his restoration will be mirrored by mankind’s restoration as well? This seems like a reasonable proposition. If it is true that Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity returned, and he was returned to human society, and his time living like an animal was ended upon his acknowledgment of the Most High, is it not reasonable for us to make the same, wider application? Nebuchadnezzar’s time of being sub-human began with his self-exaltation. As it was for him, so it was for Adam. His period of time spent living a sub-human existence ended when he confessed that it was the Most High God that ruled. It is the same for all of mankind. Until there is an acknowledgment of the Creator God, of His rights, and of our own failings, we remain in a sub-human condition, not being what God intends, not bearing the divine image, and not being truly human. It is a state of insanity. With such acknowledgment, we are freed from that sub-human state, regain our long-lost sanity, and are restored and re-purposed, bearing the divine image, so as to reflect God’s glory into this world, no longer falling short of the glory of God.

This restoration occurs through a believing union with the Lord Jesus. It is by the gift of faith, in recognition of God’s covenant faithfulness through Christ, that we come to the place of a trusting allegiance in the One that perfectly bore the divine image in every way. According to the Gospel of John, in Jesus, we saw the glory of God (1:14). From Paul, we learn that Jesus was the second Adam, perfectly fulfilling the role that God had intended to be performed by the first Adam. By the first Adam, death entered the world (Romans 5:12). Life came, as the gift of grace, because of God’s covenant faithfulness (Romans 5:18), through the second Adam. Why? So that those that call Jesus “Lord,” by the Spirit and by faith, might be the embodiment of God’s righteousness---the embodiment of His faithfulness in and for the world, which was His original purpose for the ones with which He crowned His creation. The Hebrews author, in speaking of Jesus, tells us that He was the radiance of the glory of God and the representation of His essence (1:3). Yes, Jesus’ bearing of the divine image was carried out in a consummate perfection. Because of that, life reigned through Him (unlike the death engendered by the first Adam), as had been God’s intention for His creation.

Nebuchadnezzar goes on to say, “At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me” (Daniel 4:36a). In union with our Lord Jesus, we are able to say this as well. Mankind was made to have dominion over this world, and as kings and priests to the Most High God, we are restored to the honor of that kingdom, with the return of the splendor of God’s glory upon us, as we reign with Jesus (though in submission to Him) in the kingdom of God that was established at His Resurrection. In Christ, as we are empowered by the Spirit to a faithful and worshipful trust in the God that created all things, we are made to finally grasp on to that glory for which we were intended. By a faithing trust in the Gospel of Jesus, and in preaching the Gospel of Jesus (the crucified and Resurrected Messiah is Lord of all) the power of God is made manifest and we become the embodiment of the righteousness (covenant faithfulness) of God, as was Jesus. In union with Him we become the second Adam along with Him, and we no longer fall short of God’s glory. In Christ, our dominion over and responsibilities toward God’s creation are returned, and we are made to be servants of the Most High, being lights into the world, reflecting His glory.

In humble submission to the claims of our Lord, confessing ourselves as slaves to Him so that He might make us to rule with Him, we cast away all pride in self and say, along with Nebuchadnezzar, “I was reinstated over my kingdom…I became even greater than before” (4:36b). With a continued reflection on the grand narrative of the Scriptures, from creation to fall, and from Resurrection to restoration, as we are enabled to learn about a faithful and powerful God, we lift up our hearts to “praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His deeds are right and His ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live in pride” (4:37b).

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