Daniel – A servant who influenced his culture
Series: Like you and me | Bible text: Ephesians 2;4–7
Daniel served three godless kings in his lifetime. In a culture that can be described as demonic, he exerts influence and encounters the people of that culture full of wisdom and insight. He becomes a high and respected man. Through an active relationship with the living God and a strong foundation in the scriptures, he manages to resist the propaganda of the Babylonian Empire and becomes a blessing to many people.
A man full of wisdom and insight
If you have been travelling with Jesus for a while and know the Bible a little, then the story of Daniel is not new to you. It takes place at the time when the Babylonian king attacks Jerusalem and takes the people of Israel into exile. Starting with the upper class of the people of Israel, people are taken away in various stages, including Daniel and his friends. The Babylonian king had some of the nobles selected to be trained for royal service. Daniel and his friends were among them.
The world in which the displaced Israelites now had to live was characterised by a reign of terror. It was a culture in which one was not simply killed for worshipping the living God, but cut to pieces. Everyone was afraid. The Babylonian king wanted the best people of the Isrealites trained for his personal service. So Daniel and his friends also had to go through propaganda in the form of forced training. During and after the training, Daniel showed himself to be a wise young man. It says that God gave him the ability to interpret and interpret dreams. Several times Daniel confronts the culture in which he lived with a counter-proposal to change the circumstances. What is exciting is HOW he does this. Full of wisdom and insight he spoke to the people in charge each time. Each time, his advance succeeded. Daniel’s insight, wisdom and active relationship with God helped him to live in the demonic culture of the Babylonian Empire. Daniel served three kings in his lifetime and had a significant and lasting influence on the culture around him. I would like to look at chapter two today. There Daniel meets King Nebuchadnezzar for the first time and interprets a strange dream for him. Today I would like to look at the events of Daniel’s story from a human perspective.
How is it that Daniel, at the young age of 15, already had such deep conviction and was able to resist the propaganda of the Babylonian Empire? Daniel had a very strong foundation in God through studying the scriptures and living out an active relationship with God. He didn’t go to church on Sunday, they didn’t exist there anyway. His relationship with God happened apart in silence. I want to focus on this foundation today. A foundation that begins with surrendering your life to Jesus Christ and then is steadily strengthened in an active relationship with Him. A foundation that is necessary if we want to take part in the great mission of Jesus, so that we can be salt and light in this world.
Jesus is our foundation
The Old Testament is full of absolutely fascinating stories like that of Daniel. They are people who completely let themselves fall into God. People who trusted God with all their heart and mind. The wonderful thing about our time today is that Jesus has changed the dynamic between God and people permanently. Where legalism used to lead to God, this draws ridicule to the grace of Jesus. But, what exactly is grace? Grace is when it is in your power to punish someone for something, but you don’t do it. Grace happened when, for example, David met Saul asleep in the cave and could have finally killed him, but didn’t. Grace is something undeserved that we can only accept as a gift. The grace of Jesus is all we need! Jesus has given us our freedom and forgiveness, for nothing!
In the Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul poetically articulates the mystery of Jesus as the representative of humanity. He is absolutely passionate in his prayers and wants everyone to see how completely integrated we are in Jesus.
«But God’s mercy is incomprehensibly great! We were dead because of our transgressions, but he loved us so much that he made us alive together with Christ. Yes, it is nothing but grace that you are saved! Together with Jesus Christ he raised us from death, and together with him he has already given us a place in the heavenly world because we are united with Jesus Christ»(Ephesians 2:4–7 NGÜ).
We are welcome together with Jesus in the throne room! By being saved by Jesus and giving our lives to Him, we have been given the ticket to the throne room. None of this is our merit, it is all given. It is all grace. This gives us a new perspective: Heaven is not the destination, heaven is the starting point! Our perspective is that of victorious people. We are not poor, we are not losers, we are not oppressors of the enemy. The enemy has no right to take hold of us. He lost it when Jesus died our death and defeated him. The important thing to understand is that this victory is not for Jesus. He won it for us! Jesus died and rose again representing all humanity and thus paid our price. Jesus served. How humbly he served is shown when he said at the end of his time on earth that he had to go so that a better one could come. Jesus had to leave the earth, and cleared the field for the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit here on earth. He is here and he is not going away! A piece of God is here on earth and wants to live in every human being. When you have given your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins to change you from the inside. He now lives in you. This is the foundation of every Christian who lives a personal relationship with Jesus. That is our starting point.
God is a relationship
One of the great revelations for me is that God is a relationship. A year and a half ago, things changed drastically in my life. All of a sudden I had this fire in me. There is a hunger to read the Word, repent of my sinful deeds and worship Jesus. For a long time I thought that I I found Jesus. In the meantime, I believe it was the other way around. All I did was give up my heart. In the most beautiful way, he picked it up and started working on me. So I don’t believe that we enter the Kingdom of God head first. I don’t believe that by knowing more about the Bible we get closer to the heart of Jesus and then experience Him. It starts with the heart. It always helps me to compare the relationship with Jesus to a human relationship. The fuel for relationships is time together. The relationship is nourished and trust is strengthened by spending time with our partner or friends. It does not work if we take two hours of intensive time once a week. It takes regular affection and honest exchange to live an intimate love relationship and an open heart. Jesus longs for people to open their hearts to him so that he can live an intimate love relationship with them!
A relationship thrives on the active participation of both parties. My relationship with Jesus is relatively fresh and young and I learn something every day. I don’t have an ultimate answer to what life with Jesus looks like. However, I have learned that I can play an active part in my relationship with Jesus. These three points help me to nurture my Jesus relationship every day:
- Talk to Jesus every day
- Spend time in the Word regularly
- Surround yourself with people who are also fascinated by Jesus.
Talking to Jesus means talking and listening! Talk to him as if you were talking to an intimate partner. Tell him what is on your mind, how you honestly feel. My exchange with Jesus is also always worship. I worship him for who he is: King, Saviour, Ruler, Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend, Listener. I try to get up early every day to read the Bible and talk to Jesus. It helps me a lot to start the day with that. Since people are creatures of habit, it becomes easier when you find your rhythm. Find times that work best for you to be with Jesus. One of the challenges of our time is access to information. Literally in the blink of an eye we can watch a sermon on the internet. The number of Christian books is almost overwhelming. This brings its own challenges, but they are not difficult to overcome if we are aware of the following points: Watching a sermon does not equal spending time with Jesus and reading a Christian book does not replace reading the Bible.
These three points help me to do my part in an active relationship with Jesus. He does the building of the foundation, the inner change that leads to my identity and ultimately makes me able to serve like Daniel.
The big order
So what do we do now with our foundation?
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go to all Voil and make disciples of men; baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And be sure, I am with you every day until the end of the world.»(Matthew 28:18–20 NGÜ).
May I suggest that this is not just for missionaries abroad and that we can all spread the Kingdom of God in our workplace or school? Jesus says that we should go into the world because all power has been given to him. We go on his behalf, not because of our strength. We go because he delegates authority to us, just as authority is delegated to a policeman. Therefore, we go in the name of Jesus and with the Holy Spirit who lives in us and guides us.
From the example of Daniel’s story we can learn how to influence the cultures around us and thus spread the Kingdom of God. Daniel served three ungodly kings in his lifetime, he had the mindset of a servant. With the strong foundation of an active and intimate relationship with Jesus, we let God shape and prepare us to influence the cultures around us. My desire for the church is that we grow beyond our own walls. Jesus did not call us to go to church with his great commission. He called us to be the church and to be salt and light in the world. My wish for you is that you can find your place of influence. Embark on a new adventure with the Holy Spirit every day. He will show you what you can do. He will give you ways to make an impact on your environment and not only be a blessed one, but also be a blessing to the people around you.
My prayer for you is that you can grow in your personal relationship with Jesus and meet him a little fresher, newer and more intimately every day, so that his voice becomes unmistakable to you and you know how to make an impact in your world.
Possible questions for the small groups
Read Bible text: Daniel 2
- How did Daniel live in the foreign culture and how did he influence it?
- How did Daniel consolidate his foundation in God?
- How do you live your relationship with Jesus? What do you think about the three points that are considered important in the text? What role do they play in your life?
- To what extent can you influence the culture around you?
- What specifically appealed to you? What do you want to implement in the next few days?
