Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Daniel 7:9-14 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

‘in the vision…was one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence.’ Daniel 7:13

The news reports today are saturated with depressing news like natural disasters, wars, shootings, terrorist attacks, tragedies that make our world a fearful and out of control place overflowing with evil. And causing us to think that God is absent and to shout: “Where is God?” Around 2500 years ago Daniel and his compatriots had it worse; having been defeated and deported to a foreign land they are forced to worship foreign gods but they did not give in to the pressures from this ungodly society and remained faithful to God, and so should we.

This part of the book of Daniel (7:9-14) is a vision of the divine throne from which judgment will come. God gave Daniel the ability to prophesy which empires would rise and which would fall because world powers are under God’s control. Through this vision, God told Daniel about the coming of the Messiah and the Final Judgment. This vision of “the one like a son of man” offered hope to Jews who had been subject to foreign rule for over four centuries and now were victims of state terror and persecution. It has allowed them to see the end of empires, God’s sovereignty, and the future kingdom where Christ (Messiah) is King.

The same passage is selected for the Feast of Christ the King to reflect the fact that for nearly two thousand years the “one like a son of man” is identified as Jesus. Moreover, Jesus used this phrase to refer to Himself (Matt.26:64, Luke21:27, John1:51). God gave sovereignty to this Human One: Jesus Christ, in response to the evil perpetrated by empires and the suffering of God’s people.

Though many still suffer political domination, state terror, and persecution (the Beastly kingdoms), we can trust God to replace them by the just and righteous kingdom ruled by a humanlike figure, the son of Man, Jesus Christ who is our redemption and salvation. He will come again to defeat His enemies and set up His eternal kingdom on earth, in so doing, Christ sought to free and empower the oppressed and establish a just rule on earth as in heaven. So let us pray for His kingdom to come.

Our Father…

The Revd Jean Kouacou, Assistant Curate, St Paul’s Adlington.