In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
5 sermons cite this verse
… right hand of power and coming with clouds of heaven. This is a quote from the Old Testament book of Daniel 7 verse 13. It was a verse that prophesied of the Messiah's second coming when he would come with power. And by quoting that verse about himself, Jesus said, I am the fulfillment of that prophecy. You know what Jesus was saying to Caiaphas? He was saying, Caiaphas, you think you're the big cheese right now because you're sitting on this throne of power, guess what? One day you're going to see me coming with power. You're going to see me seated at the right hand of God the Father. Your authority is limited here on earth. Mine is eternal. Now, if you think I'm reading too much into that, just look at what Caiaphas' reaction was to what Jesus said, verses 63 and 64. And tearing his clothes, the high priest said, what further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. How does it seem to you? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. When people say to you, well, Jesus never claimed to be God, remind them Jesus didn't get himself crucified for telling people to turn the other cheek. Nobody would have found Jesus' teaching offensive. It was because he claimed to be the Son of God that he was put to death. Throughout the Bible, he made that claim. In John 10, 30, I and the Father are one. John 14, verse 9, he who has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus claimed to be God. Now, truthfully, anybody …
… He has authority over all nations. Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. You might write that down and go look at it because it's a prophecy that gives us a picture of Jesus. It talks about the Son of Man who has sovereign dominion, power and authority over every nation and every people and his dominion will last forever. That's what it means for him to have authority. Not just power, but authority is the right to use that power. If you have a lot of power and you have a lot of strength, but you don't have a right to use it, I have an avenue where you can use it, then it doesn't matter how much power or strength you have. He has authority. He has all the power and he has all the dominion, the right, the rule to use it. He has authority over all of these things. I want you to think about how that changes everything. The fact that he has authority over our nation changes the way we watch CNN or Fox News, the way we look at what's going on around us in the world, to know that Jesus Christ has all things under his feet, that he is in control in all of these areas, all authority. It's exactly at Psalm 148 gives us a picture of great sea creatures, all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds, they do his bidding. Mountains, hills, fruit trees, cedars, wild animal, small cattle, flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, princes, all the rulers on the earth, …
… There it is. coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority and glory and sovereign power. All nations and people of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. And his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. And so when Jesus referred to himself as son of man, And he's attaching himself to Daniel's prophecy. And he's saying, Daniel said a Messiah is coming, a ruler, a sovereign king, one with eternal dominion is coming. And guess what? You're looking at him, son of man. I don't want to say all that out loud right now. I'm not going to unpack everything about what I'm doing and who I am right in this moment. That will come over time. And you will hear me say a lot of different things about me. But right now, I'm just sending a little telegraph out. Son of man, son of man. …
… son of man. This language, son of man, comes from Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, where the prophet says concerning the coming Messiah, "'One like a son of man was given dominion, glory, a kingdom that all people and nations and men of every language might serve Him, and this is an everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed." So the Son of Man was a title for a Messiah. This then is Christ, and John is seeing Christ in the middle of the churches. He's identified with His church. So this is the place I want to start. I'll give you a few points to unfold this scene. One, he sees the ministry of Christ to his church from within his church. He inhabits his church. He inhabits his church. This is a marvelous reality. He is not just in heaven sending down orders. He is in his church. He lives in his church. Christ lives in me, says the apostle, the hope of glory. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. …
… knew who that is. The Old Testament is filled with the prophecies of someone who will come that's called the Son. In Daniel chapter 7 verse 13, Daniel has a vision of someone who's coming in great glory in the clouds of heaven with millions of angels. And it says there, it was one like unto the Son of a Man, which means it's a divine figure, but clearly in the human form. And this figure is going to come to earth and is going to save us by putting down all evil and destroying all sickness and death and evil and suffering. And of course, the Son is this great figure of power. And when Jesus says, yes, Simon Bar-Jonah, that's exactly who I am, Peter's very excited. In fact, look at the very end of the passage, verse 27. Jesus actually reaffirms there that I am the one that Daniel 7, 13 talks about. I'm the son of man. I'm the one who will come with the angels. …