Christmas and Prophecy #3: The Kingdom of Grace

In the prophecy of Daniel 2, there are four kingdoms symbolized:

- The Babylonian Kingdom

- The Medo-Persian Kingdom

- The Grecian Kingdom

- The Kingdom of Iron (Rome) mixed with Clay (Christ-rejecting Israel in the first Century)

These kingdoms were under the dominion and power of Satan.

Satan even offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world (Luke 4).

There is a fifth kingdom from heaven in Daniel 2 that begins as a stone, crushes the statue during the time of Rome and first-century Israel.

According to Daniel 2, the fifth kingdom would not be built by human hands, meaning this kingdom would not be a physical kingdom like the other kingdoms .

Rather, the fifth kingdom would be a spiritual kingdom that can never be destroyed.

What is this kingdom?

This kingdom is the Kingdom of Grace that started as a stone (Jesus) and grew into a spiritual kingdom (believers in Jesus).

The stone, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem during the kingdom of iron (Rome) mixed with clay (first-century Israel).

Eventually, Jesus sent Paul into the nations of the Roman Empire to share the gospel of grace (Acts 20:23-24; Acts 26:15-18; Galatians 1:10-12; Ephesians 3).

As Paul and others took the message of God's grace into the Roman Empire, the spiritual kingdom of grace began to grow into a mountain that filled the earth.

Paul writes about this kingdom in Colossians 1:3-14.

This kingdom of grace is the kingdom of the Son.

It is the kingdom of the forgiven and the righteous.

It is the kingdom of those who have placed their faith in Jesus.

If you found this blog helpful, you may enjoy reading Brad’s book, Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The Statue, The Stone, and The Kingdom of Grace.