600 years before the Birth of Christ, the remarkable young man Daniel was born, and he had a gift of viewing the future in dreams. He not only rescued the Kings of the country who had taken him hostage through these dreams and the courage to speak out the truth of these visions, but he also saw far into the future when the Son of God would come to the earth and rescue us;
Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV)
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
The Messiah is here called the Son of man-one like unto the Son of man; for he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, was found in fashion as a man. I saw one like unto the Son of man, one exactly agreeing with the idea formed in the divine counsels of him that in the fulness of time was to be the Mediator between God and man. He is like unto the son of man, but is indeed the Son of God. Our Savior seems plainly to refer to this vision when he says (John 5:27) that the Father has therefore given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man, and because he is the person whom Daniel saw in vision, to whom a kingdom and dominion were to be given.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary
In Matthew 28, Jesus makes it clear that this prophecy by Daniel referred to Him; Matthew 28:18 (ESV) “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”
As we await and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas, will we recognize Him as the One who has authority in heaven and earth? Should it be a time of celebration that turns into awe inspired worship?