A few weeks ago, we were all horrified by a tragedy that happened two blocks from our church building. Three people run over by a drunk driver who was trying to outrun the police.

Tragedies like these remind us how much evil still exists in the world, even right in our own neighborhood. But it should be no surprise. The vision God gave in Daniel 7 portrays every human kingdom as a deformed, corrupted beast.

When we see beastly behavior like we did down the street, our response is to come up with new laws, policies, and programs to make the beast act less like a beast. And depending on your political persuasion, you’ll have different ideas of how to do that.

If you’re more on the conservative side, you’ll want to see greater morality and security. If you’re more on the liberal side, you’ll want to see more justice and equality. And all of those are good goals. We should be pushing to see all those things in our nation.

But we can’t expect the beast to stop being a beast. Every nation will always be corrupted in some way. Only God’s nation, inaugurated by the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, will give us everything we’re hoping for. And the promise to us is that “the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18).

If you belong to God, you’ll be one of the rulers of his nation. And there are three big things about God’s nation that you can look forward to:

Security

Every nation eventually falls. Every nation is temporary. And ours is no exception. But God’s kingdom is forever. It says in Daniel 7:14, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.”

The beasts are always fighting and clawing their way through life. We always have to go to war to get what we need and defend what we have. And what is God doing to defend his nation? It says in Daniel 7, he’s seated. He’s sitting down! Just kicking back on his throne. He’s never worried. He’s never panicked, because his kingdom is secure.

Purity

It says in Daniel 7:9, “[God’s] clothing was white like snow, and the hair of his head like whitest wool.” That’s all to symbolize his holiness and purity. God’s kingdom isn’t built on murder, theft, and cruelty like every other kingdom in history. Think about all the cruelty that was involved in building America. Slave ships. The Trail of Tears. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. And still to this day, there’s impurity all through our nation. Racism and injustice. Blatant immorality. Sexual abuse.

But the nation you’re going to possess is completely pure. You won’t have to worry about being victimized or taken advantage of. You won’t have to deal with the consequences of sin, other people’s or your own. God’s nation is marked by purity.

Unity

It says in Daniel 7:14, “those of every people, nation, and language will serve him.” People of all different skin colors, cultures, and languages, united by one goal: serving Jesus. They’ve found the greatest treasure in the universe, and so they want to get near him, receive from him, and serve him. God’s nation is united.

Our nation is divided, and that’s really obvious right now. Just read a few Tweets. Just look at a few YouTube comments.
We divide ourselves along every line you can imagine. Politics. Race. Gender. Income. Language. Music. Fashion. That’s why it’s such good news that God’s nation will finally bring us together the way we’ve always hoped for.

We have an incredible nation to possess, and the good news is that we’ve already been given the keys. As 1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We’re already a holy nation. So until Jesus returns to bring God’s nation in its fullness, our job is to display the security, purity, and unity of his nation to the world around us.