The God We Serve

Daniel 3:13-19 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
 
YOU know what Peter said about the devil, don’t you? He put it this way: 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Peter was writing to a new church under attack. It is a spiritual reality that when the church moves in the Spirit’s power, the devil will rage against it with all his evil devices. Peter’s teaching to “be self-controlled and alert” means to keep your eyes centered on God against all temptations, in all struggles. 
    That’s exactly what our three faith heroes do here. King Nebuchadnezzar seems to care about his chosen leaders. He knows they have some power of the “God of gods” (Daniel 2:47) working in them. But as we said then, the king was not confessing the LORD God as the only true God. Nebuchadnezzar’s god is the golden statue - anything that points to himself.
    God’s three faithful men, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, stand for God and insult the king. They know their lives are not their own. With the remarkable confession, “We do not need to defend ourselves.” they belong forever to the living God.
    This is an extraordinary testimony centuries before Christ’s gospel. How do they know eternal life is for God’s faithful? The Spirit has told them so. He has spoken to their hearts and minds through the patriarchs and the prophets that God is the living, eternal God. The One Ture God they worship is He who came in living power to call Moses to save the Jews: Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” Indeed, they lived for God – mind, heart, soul and body. This is a good reason to celebrate these faithful warriors and to remember their God-centered names.
 
John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”