Emmanuel in the Fire
"“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”...Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him.""
Daniel 3:25 & 28
God with us. There is no greater revelation than this, to know that God is with you. The God who created all things, holds them together, sustaining the universe, who sits enthroned in the heavens, is also with you!
David declares of the Lord in Psalm 18:35, "You stoop down to make me great." God reaches down from on high to lift us up, and in reaching down He doesn't only extend His hand, He Himself enters our world to rescue us, heal us, restore us and exalt us. Jesus becomes like us, leaving His glory to take on our humanity.
We see here in Daniel just how outrageous this thought is to the worldly mind, as Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, having cast judgment on the three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them in to the fiery furnace, exclaims that God has sent His angel to rescue them. Many commentators believe that this man was not an angel or only a son of God, but THE Son of God. Jesus Himself stepping in to the fire to rescue those who had been faithful to His name. The King of Babylon cannot even comprehend this kind of kingship, where a king would stoop down to rescue his subjects. Yet this is the King of the universe, stooping down to rescue. Jesus enters the fire, seeing the predicament of His followers, and seeking to be with them IN the furnace of their affliction. This is our God, who does not witness our suffering from a distance but is present with us as we face the trial, feeling the flames and the scorching heat, sharing our pain and walking with us in the fire.
Many people today ask the same question, "Where was God when I was suffering?", a question that arises from a misunderstanding of God. God is not distant, prodding us with difficulty. He is with us in the pain and the difficulty, He is walking us through the trial and the fire. He is the King of kings, the Lord of the universe, and He is with us! He is with YOU!
Paul exclaims in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus not only becomes like us as a human, stepping in to this messed up world, but He takes on all of our mess, our sin, our suffering and pain. He stands with us in the furnace, and ultimately gives up His life to rescue us. We escape the final judgment of the fire because He gives us His righteousness, takes our sin and receives the judgment of death on our behalf so that we can have life eternal! Through the power of resurrection life, Jesus emerges from the fire, making new life possible for all who believe.
Remember today that Jesus saw you as worth entering the furnace for, He hung on the cross because He loves you, His blood was shed because He sought to purchase you for His own. And He is with you today through His Holy Spirit, walking through all of life's twists and turns with you, present in the furnace and the fire. He is the God who stoops down to make us great, the God of grace and compassion, the present One. He is Emmanuel.