Anchor Devotional

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The Creation of Hope

“He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’” Daniel 3:25

Let’s dwell for a moment longer upon all that our Savior has done for us and for our salvation. Its repercussions not only shape our lives now but give us a real and tangible hope for the future. This is hope we so desperately need because what lies ahead are inevitable death and God’s judgment.

In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are put in the crosshairs of an imposter king. King Nebuchadnezzar revels in the glory of the world and sets himself up as the ultimate judge of mankind. He even has a burning, fiery furnace to accompany his final judgment on men! But when he casts God’s three faithful servants into that furnace, they pass through unscathed. Nebuchadnezzar is confounded.

Why were God’s three men untouched by the flames? Because there was another who passed through that judgment with them and for them. In the same way, Christ passed through the fiery wrath of God’s judgment so that we might emerge unscathed. As Christians, our wounded nature does not drive us inexorably toward judgment, but to the cross, where judgment was served.

SCRIPTURE FOCUS
Daniel 3

INSIGHT
“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, … your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2b-3)

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
2 Chronicles 19-20
Psalm 17
Matthew 24

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