Attack On Idols- Image
Attack on idols – Week 3: image
Nebuchadnezzar demanded worship of his golden image, but three young men stood tall instead of bowing. In our culture, we face the temptation to bow to the idol of image — chasing likes, filters, and approval. Your value is not determined by social media or public perception but by the image of God you carry (Ephesians 2:10). Attack the idol of image by living authentically and standing with the image of Christ.
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What’s up, church? How’s everybody doing today? Pretty good, man. I am excited to be here with you tonight. Um, if we have not met, my name is AJ and I’m Hey, you’re funny. Okay. Um, I’m one of our student pastors here and I’m really excited about what God is doing in and through our church. And I’m also really excited to open the word of God with you today. And so to begin, I have a question for you to consider. I really want you to think about this. What is life all about? From birth to death and everything in between, what is the purpose of it all? What gives life its meaning? Because I would say as a Christian, life is all about knowing God and reflecting God. And here’s the thing. You expect me to say that. We all know where we are. We’re in a church. You expect me to say it’s the Christian thing to say. Life is all about knowing God and reflecting God. But here’s the problem with that. Here’s the dilemma. Our words and our hearts can tell two different stories. Our words can tell a different story from our hearts. And our hearts can tell a different story from our words. And so, I need you to be honest with me for a second. What is life really all about for you? What are you chasing? What are you longing for? What are you striving for? What does it mean to be successful? What do you need to be satisfied? What is life all about for you?
And I start there today because we’re in this series called Attack on idols. And today we are attacking the idol of image, the idol of self. I first started coming to the church here when I was 19. I was a sophomore in college and I was just so in in love with Jesus. I just wanted to know him more. And so I would come here and I would come to every service we have and I’m at all the Bible studies. And and when I first started attending here, I got instantly super involved. And at first I wasn’t teaching or pastoring or working with students. I was actually with my friends here in the back and we were doing production and music. Yeah. We can give it up for them. Yeah. They’re awesome. And so, yeah, I was doing music and production. And what I love about that time is that we would gather in the green room here behind the stage and we would pray before service. All of the the tech and production and and worship leaders, we would we would come and we would pray in the back before service and we would pray for those who would come into our doors that they would experience a move of God. We would pray that heaven would touch earth and that people would come to know God for the first time. We would pray over the service. And one thing that was in that old green room in our old um format of church, they had a phrase on the stairs going up to the stage and it said, “Not about me.” It read, “It’s not about me.” And it deeply resonated with me. Because here’s what you need to know as you walk on this stage. You need to know that this is not about you. This is not about how good you can sing and how nice your clothes are. This is about Jesus. So don’t don’t make this about you. This is all about God. And so what does it mean to be a Christian? To give your life to Christ. It’s to live as if this isn’t about me. I don’t bear my name. I bear his name. And I’m actually okay with going through suffering if it gives him glory because it’s his will and not my own. It’s not about me.
And so today we are attacking the idol of image. And not just attack, but I dare to say we need to kill the idol of self, the idol of image. All evil and sin comes from pride and selfishness. And so we need to kill this idol. And so church, do you bow down to the idol of image? Are you overly concerned about what people think about you and how impressive you are? Are you performing for everyone’s approval? Do you bow to the idol of image? And my guess is most of us do, and I will confess, yo, I do. Trying to kill your desire to prove yourself and your pride is the toughest battle you will ever fight. And so, for today, we’re going to be in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 3. It’s not going to be on the screen, so I challenge you to flip there in your Bible. is Daniel chapter 3. And in this chapter, we have a man, a king. His name is Nebuchadnezzar. And he has a problem with his ego. He makes life all about him. And in this same chapter, we have three men, Haniah, Aariah, and Mishael. They’re also known by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. And these three men, they stand with the image of Christ. Even when faced with death, they’re not intimidated because they’re focused on God. Daniel chapter 3. You guys ready? All right. Daniel chapter 3. We’re going to start from verse one. I’m reading I’m reading the NASB version, so it might sound a little different from your translation. It reads like this.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold the height of which was 60 cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dora in the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king also sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the chief treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the administrators of the provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And so, King Nebuchadnezzar, he makes a statue of himself and he makes it in gold. And so what we have here in verse one and verse two, it’s somewhat of a protest to what happened in Daniel chapter 2. And so if you remember from last week in the dream that Daniel interpreted, God said that Nebuchadnezzar was the gold head. That’s his kingdom. It was the gold head. And the kingdoms that came after him would be like silver, bronze, and clay. And then ultimately, the kingdom of God would come. All those kingdoms would end. And through Jesus, God’s kingdom would reign forever. And so that’s chapter two. We flip the page. And here in chapter three, this fool is building a gold statue of himself. Almost as if to protest what God said to say, “I don’t care. I don’t care what God said. My kingdom, my power, it will never end.” Do you see his arrogance? Do you see his ego?
Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue of himself. Instead of thanking God for allowing him to be in the position that he’s in, he makes it all about himself. And that’s what the idol of image does. It’s all about you. It begins and ends with you instead of Jesus. It’s about personal recognition instead of God’s glory. It’s worshiping what we do instead of who we do it for. It’s about how impressive I am and not how perfect Jesus is. It’s the idol. a self. And so Nebuchadnezzar, he builds a statue for himself and that shows his pride because it would be one thing if the people that he governed decided to build it for him because they thought he was a great king. But that’s not what happens. He builds it for himself. He worships himself. And so we all should ask ourselves, are we building God’s kingdom or are we building our own? Whose kingdom are we building? Are we leveraging our lives for the kingdom of God? Are we building his kingdom or is it all about us? Jesus our savior, he says, “Your treasure is where your treasure is is where your heart will be also.” And so where is our treasure?
Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue of himself. And another thing about the statue, it says that it is 60 cubits high and it’s six cubits wide. And it says that it was made of gold. Well, we know that in the ancient world, there is no way, Jose, you can get your hands on that much gold. The statue is too big. There’s no way he got that much gold. And so, most biblical scholars will argue and they would say it most likely wasn’t solid gold. It most likely was made of wood, but overlaid wrapped in gold. And you see, that’s the idolatry. It looks like gold on the surface, but internally it’s made of wood. And wood is cheap. Wood is empty. Wood is somewhat worthless. It has little to no value. So all the people could see was this shiny gold statue. But they couldn’t see what it was actually made of. And that is the idol self. It’s all about what you appear to be and not who you actually are. It’s all about what I appear to be and not who I actually am.
And this is the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees in the Bible. He says, “Hey, you are like whitewashed tombs. Outwardly, you look alltogether, but inwardly you’re a place of death.” He says, “Man, you have all the religious things going. You’re you’re playing the part. You’re doing a part, but your heart is wicked.” Jesus says, “These people, they praise me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. But God sees all of us. God knows the heart and the mind and the motive. God sees all of us. It says in 1st Samuel 16 verse 7, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God God looks at the heart.” And so, church, where is your heart? What does your heart meditate on? What is the fantasy that you wish so desperately was reality? What do you think matters more than what actually matters most? Where is your treasure?
Just like the statue, it’s made out of wood, but it looks like gold. Just like that, the idol of image, it prioritizes your appearance, your image over your character. But God does the opposite. God cares way more about your character than he does your image. He cares way more about your character than your image. And so King Nebuchadnezzar, his ego is so inflated. It doesn’t just stop with the gold statue that he made. It gets more perverted. It gets more and more perverted. It gets worse. Perversion is never satisfied. It continues to get worse. We pick up in verse three.
Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the chief treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the administrators of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the statue that Neb Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And they stood before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald loudly proclaimed to you the command is given you peoples, nations, and populations of all languages that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the liar, the trigon, the sultry bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments. You are to fall down and worship the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down in worship shall immediately be thrown into the middle of a furnace of blazing fire. Do you see how crazy this man is? He’s a tyrant. It’s all about him. He He is out of his mind. He is mad cuz he’s already king. He’s already the most powerful man in the world. He already has wealth and luxury and access to excess. He has everything he could pro possibly want. And he’s not satisfied. He’s not satisfied. And that’s what idols do. They leave us empty. They leave us wanting. Your accomplishments, it will never satisfy you. It’s always more. It’s always the next thing. It’s always I need to up the Annie. It’s more and more and more and it never ends. But Jesus, Jesus satisfies. Jesus gives us everything. Jesus makes life feel meaningful and purposeful because we’re living for him. Jesus satisfies. Trying to fill our hearts with more vanity is ruining us. When we are at the center, it is never enough.
Timothy Keller um God rest his soul, he passed away about two years ago and he was a man of God. He was a big Christian. He made a lot of books and literature um just on theology and just biblical things. And my friend Olivia, she got me his book and it’s it’s titled The Freedom of Selfforgetfulness. And he has this powerful quote in it. And it’s like a little pamphlet. It’s a very small book. And he has this quote that I want to read to you today. He says this. He says, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next person.” We say people are proud of being rich or smart or good-looking, but they are not. They’re proud of being richer, smarter, or better looking than others. And I read that to say, man, you will never be satisfied with more. You actually just need God.
Nebuchadnezzar is not satisfied with his success. He needs more. He now needs people to bow down and worship him. How crazy is that? It’s not enough to be wealthy. It’s not enough to be king. It’s not enough to have everything. Now you must worship me. Now you must bow down and worship me. And so this is why the Bible says that we need to die to ourselves and live for him. That we need to take up our cross and follow Jesus. If we do not handle sin, then sin handles us. And so we live for Jesus. If you live for the one true and true and living God, the one true king. And so, how does Nebuchadnezzar, how does this man get this way in his mind and in his heart? What makes him so perverted and so tyrannical?
I’ll tell you, he puts no restriction on himself. He gives in to whatever desire he has. Whatever he wants, he does it. And that’s against God’s word. We know as Christians that we submit ourselves to God. We live for him. We humble ourselves before God. We follow him. He is the good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. We follow him. We do not place ourselves and our plans above his plans. It’s his will and not my own. And this is what Nebuchadnezzar does not understand. And so if we look closely at this chapter, the chapter is covered in sixes. And so here’s what I mean. Before they have to bow down and worship the statue, there are six different instruments mentioned. The liar, the sultry, the bagpipe, and I’m forgetting the rest. The horn, the flute. Yeah, that’s all. That’s six. Okay. So, there’s six different instruments mentioned. And if we go all the way back to verse one, it says that the statue is 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. Now, your translation may say 90 ft. 90 ft and 60 cubits is the same measurement. It’s the same thing. And so the chapter nonetheless is layered and covered in the number six. Where’s the first time in the Bible do we see the number six? In Genesis. That’s right. In Genesis, God makes man on the sixth day. And so six is associated with mankind.
There’s no coincidence in how Nebuchadnezzar built this statue. What is 666? It’s man’s best off man’s best. It’s man’s best apart from God. It’s leaving God out the equation. It’s man at the center. And so, I don’t know if Nebuchadnezzar was conscious of this. I don’t know if he knew this, but when you don’t give glory to God, there’s only one other way to go, and that’s to worship and honor yourself. After all, how did Satan, how did the devil get Adam and Eve to fall? How did he get them to fall? He got them to take their eyes off of God and onto themselves. He says, “Don’t you want to be like God? Don’t you want to know the difference between good and evil? Don’t you want to be like God? You could be like God. Just eat the fruit. You won’t die.” And he tricks them, taking their mind off of what God says on to what they want. And so man’s first sin is him reaching for what God said he couldn’t have. Man’s first sin is him trying to be satisfied outside of God. And ever since that day, billions of people like Nebuchadnezzar, like myself, like you have followed suit, trying to be satisfied outside of God.
And so, what is your idol? You’re made to worship God. And if it’s not God that you worship, it’s something else. What is your idol? Are we like Nebuchadnezzar? Do we bow to the idol of image or do we stand with the image of Christ? And so here in this chapter, it’s about to take a little bit of a switch. We’re about to read about Haniah, Aariah, and Mishael in chapter 3. And you might know them by their slave names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. And so they decide, we’re not going to be pushed around by some tyrannical king who thinks too highly of himself. We’re going to be faithful to God. We’re not going to be pushed around. We’re not going to participate in this madness.
And so here we here we read in verse 10. You, oh king, have made a decree that every person who hears the sound of the horn, flute, liar, trigon, sultry, and bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into the middle of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meach, and Abedneo. These men, oh king, have dis have had disregarded you. They don’t serve your gods, nor do they worship the golden statue that you have set up. Let’s pause there. These Babylonians, these Chaldian men, they’re telling on Haniah, Aariah, and Mael. And I I’m just curious of why because he ga he gathers all the magistrates, all the governors, all the officials. And so there’s most likely thousands of people here bowing down. It would be so easy to overlook these three because they didn’t protest and they didn’t debate. They didn’t make a big argument about it. They simply said, “Hey, we’re going to refrain from this. This is not something we’re going to participate in.” And so, why are these government officials so pressed to get them in trouble? The Bible doesn’t tell us why, but here’s my guess. Here’s my speculation. I think they’re jealous.
Remember, ever since chapter 1, these three men have been faithful to God. They didn’t have to compromise to get ahead in life. The reason they’re at this assembly is because they work for the government now. They have high government-paying jobs and they didn’t have to bow down or compromise their morals or their faith to get ahead. Even in a foreign land and in a different culture, they don’t have a fear of missing out. They don’t have a desire to conform. They have a desire to give glory to God. They don’t change who they are to get ahead. They stay true and they flourish. And they’re an example to us. Faithfulness to God is to be chosen over riches, over status, over the opinions of man, over popularity, over everything. Faithfulness to God is to be chosen. Jesus says in Matthew 23, “If you humble yourself, you will be exalted. But if you exalt yourself, you will be humbled.” And so maybe these government officials are accusing them and telling on them because they’re jealous. Let’s keep reading in verse 13.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Mach, and Abednego. Then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar began speaking to them and said, “Is it true, Shadrach, Mach, and Abednego that you don’t serve my gods, nor worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now, if you’re ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, liar, trigon, sultry, and bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments to fall down and worship the statue that I have made very well. But if you do not, you would immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there to who can rescue you from my hands? And so now this is a very dramatic, intense scene. The stakes are high now. What are they going to do? Are they going to bow down and self-preserve or are they going to stay faithful and stand tall in the image of Christ? The scene is very intense. We should feel the weight of this scene that the Bible gives us. And so what do they do? What do we do when we’re peer when we are peer pressured to change? When we’re peer pressured by the world, what do we do? Do we bow to the opinion of man or do we bow to the opinion of God? And so, how would these men how would these three men respond?
What about when when life is good, when blessing comes and we have everything we want? Life is good. Do we remember God or do we forget him because life is good? These men, they’re not caught up in the comfort of their lives. Even though they h they have went from slave to working from the government, they’re not caught up in their success. They remember God in every situation, they’re an example to us. They’re true worshippers of God. And so they have a decisions to make now. Their life, their job, everything is on the line. Nebuchadnezzar, what God’s going to save you? What God’s going to save you from me? where God’s going to show up in your life. They have a decision to make. How are they going to respond to this? Verse 16.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not in need of an answer to give you concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, oh king, that we are not going to serve your gods. No worship the golden statue that you have set up. You see, they’re true worshippers of God while Nebuchadnezzar and everyone else is worshiping themselves. They decide to be faithful to God. They take their allegiance to God seriously. They’re not going to be pushed around by this guy. Yeah, you may be king, but I serve a king that is higher than you. I would not be pushed around by you. They take a stand for God. They put everything on the table in life and in death let it be known who we serve. And so they say our God is able to save us and it shows their faith in God. And then in the same breath they say but even if he does not we still won’t bow. And that shows their faithfulness and their commitment to the image of Christ. They’re not caught up in their lives. And this reminds me of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. He says in Philippians 1, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so for the Christian person, death has no sting. It’s a doorway into everlasting peace. And so I just pray that that will be our boldness. That in in life or in death, let it be known who I serve. In poverty or wealth, let it be known who I serve. In sickness or in health, let it be known who I serve. There’s nothing that the devil can throw at us. Let it be known who I serve. I will not bow. I’ll be faithful and I will believe that God is able to rescue us from your hand.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. He answered by giving orders to the to the heat, giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He ordered certain veilent warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo in order to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and were thrown into the middle of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king’s command was harsh, and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the fire of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up. And so Nebuchadnezzar, his ego is wounded. His face changes towards him. And then he does something crazy. He says, “Heat it up seven times.” Heat it up seven times. By the way, this is the first time we see seven in this chapter. And on the seventh day, God rested. And so, seven is associated with God. Him saying, “Heat it up seven times.” He is daring God to show up. He says, “What God is going to rescue you?” I want God to show up. God’s about to show up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Absolutely, O king.” He responded, “Look, I see four men united and walking around in the middle of the fire unharmed in the appearance of the fourth. It’s like a son of the gods.” Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the furnace of the blazing fire. He said, “Shadrach, Meshach, Abedneo, come out, you servants of the most high God, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo came out of the middle of the fire. The s traps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor their trousers damaged, nor had even the smell of fire touched them. And so, we see that God steals the show. When the fourth man showed up, no man was looking at that statue. They all was focused on God. When people see God, when people see the goodness of God, lives change. And because God showed up, the fire had no effect on them whatsoever. Their hair wasn’t burnt. Their clothes weren’t burnt. They didn’t even smell like fire. The only thing that got burnt was what bound them. And that’s what Jesus does. He releases you from the bounds of idolatry. He breaks the chains of sin. He breaks the chains of shame. That’s what Jesus does. He’s good like that.
And so are you chained by shame, by sin? Are you chained by the idol of image? Do insecurities and pride run your life? And if you would be bold to say, “Yeah, that’s me.” Then I would say, “Yeah, that’s me, too. I have so much pride to kill in my heart.” So, and this is not bad, but so much dreams of success and the pursuit of more, it’s it’s so tempting to make life all about me. But we just talked about it. What is life all about? It’s about God. It’s about knowing him and reflecting him. John Piper in his book, he says this. God is the most satisfied. Oh, no. No, not I. I said it wrong. My bad. God is the most glorified in you when you’re the most satisfied in him. God is the most glorified in you when you’re the most satisfied in him. And so, the peak of human existence is to know Christ. It’s the mountaintop. There’s nothing left to do after that. There’s no one left to impress. If you know Christ, praise God. It doesn’t get any better than that. You can just simply enjoy life now, walking with him. Not because life is always good, but because God is always good.
And so, as we go into this time of response, I want to tell you about this story of um these these greyhounds. And so, I was listening to a podcast and this dude uh Jonathan Pluda, he was talking about this book called Leadership Anxiety. And in the book, it tells the story about greyhounds, like the dogs. And they’re some of the fastest dogs in the world. They use them to gamble, to race around the track. And I don’t know if you knew this, but when they’re racing around the track, they’re actually chasing a fake mechanical rabbit. And the people, they can control the speed of this fake bunny. And so the dogs obviously they they would never catch it. But on one occasion, this this mechanical rabbit thing malfunctioned and it started to slow down. And then eventually it came to a stop. And so all these dogs, they’re hurdled around it. They got these muzzles on. They’re they’re sniffing it. And they’re like, “Man, what’s what’s going on? What is this?” Then out of nowhere, they just start jumping around and playing and running and their tails are wagging and are having a blast and are having fun and and they just messed up everybody’s bets. Everyone’s parlay is gone. Everybody’s gamble. It’s just they mess it all up. The race is over.
And I hear that story and I think to myself, we are like dogs running and striving and going and chasing something that we will never catch. But Jesus satisfies. And we can stop the race. We can simply stop the race and just enjoy life with God. We can stop the race and simply play like these greyhounds. We can stop the race and stop bowing to image and start delighting in God again. Start delighting in what he created. And here’s the best part about that. Now that I’m not striving for anything anymore and I can just enjoy God, I’m also free now to love people. Some people spend their whole lives thinking about who loves them that they don’t actually love anybody. And so now I’m free to enjoy God and to love what he created and to make a difference in this world. I am free from the pressure of man and now I get to live for God. And so would you please stand with me as you as we go into a time of response and worship.
And so I pray that this is your story today that you’re satisfied in Christ. That there’s nothing left to do but to enjoy God. This is what Jesus died for. Jesus died and he says it is finished. And so don’t return to a yoke of slavery, but be free. Jesus dying and rising from the grave and seal the deal. And so when we accept him into our lives, we are not flawless, but we are blameless in the eyes of God. We’re not flawless, but we’re blameless to walk with him and to enjoy life. Again, not because life will always be good, but because God will always be good. Would you pray with me? Lord God, I pray um for your sons and daughters that you will remind them, Lord, that you see them and that you love them and that character matters more than image. God, help us not to bow down to the idol of image anymore, but help us to live for you. God, I’m grateful that you you bled, you died, you rose, and that you want us. No amount of sin could get in the way of your love for us. And so God, help everyone in this room to know that and help them to walk in truth and leave behind the lies in Jesus name. Amen.
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Attack on Idols: The Idol of Image
Based on Daniel 3
How important is your image to you? Think about the last selfie you took. Did you snap one quick picture—or 5, 10, maybe 15 until you got the “perfect” one? We live in a culture obsessed with appearance, approval, and applause. But what happens when our desire for image outweighs our desire for authenticity?
In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar built a massive golden statue and commanded everyone to bow. This wasn’t just a statue—it was a statement. He wanted recognition, honor, and worship. His image became his idol.
Sound familiar? We may not build 90-foot statues, but we often build images of ourselves online and in life. We post to impress, filter to hide flaws, embellish to outdo, and even lie to be accepted. Deep down, it’s because we crave approval. But in doing so, we risk living for the applause of people rather than the approval of God.
The Bible reminds us that “the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). While people may judge by outward appearance, what truly draws others is authenticity. The Pharisees portrayed themselves as righteous, Ananias and Sapphira lied about generosity, and countless others throughout Scripture fell into the trap of image-worship. And today, many of us still bow to the idol of image.
But the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shows another way. When commanded to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, they stood firm. Even when threatened with fire, they refused to compromise. They obeyed God, worshiped Him alone, trusted Him fully, and stood in His presence. And they were saved by Him.
This is the invitation: you don’t have to build your own image because you already carry His. You don’t have to chase affirmation because you are already affirmed in Christ. You don’t have to seek value because you are God’s masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10).
So when the pressure comes—whether through culture, criticism, or comparison—stand. Stand before the image of Christ. Stand knowing your worth comes not from likes or followers, but from the One who made you, knows you, and loves you.
At the end of Daniel 3, even Nebuchadnezzar recognized the greatness of God because of the stand these men took. Their refusal to bow not only saved their lives, it revealed God’s power to the world.
In the same way, when you stop bowing to the idol of image and stand with Christ, your life becomes a testimony. People will see the difference in you—the freedom, the joy, the peace—and they’ll want to know the God who gives it.
So today, be rescued from the fire of this world by trusting in Christ’s image. Be rescued from the fire of the next by worshiping Him with your whole life. And remember: you don’t have to project perfection—you just need to reflect Jesus.
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Small Group Curriculum: Attack on Idols
Small Group Curriculum – Week 3 PDF
Series: Attack on Idols
Week 3 Title: Image
Main Scripture: Daniel 3:16–18 (NLT)
Big Idea: Attack the idol of image by standing with the image of Christ.1. Connect (Icebreaker)
Option A (Fun): How many selfies do you usually take before posting one? Be honest!
Option B (Thought-provoking): If someone could only see your social media, what “image” would they assume about you?
Transition: Culture pressures us to manage our image, but God calls us to live in His image.
2. Discover (Scripture & Discussion)
Read Daniel 3:16–18 (NLT):
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us… But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear… that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.’"Discussion Questions
What pressures to conform to cultural “images” do you see today?
How do you think the three men found courage to stand instead of bow?
Why do you think we care so much about how others see us?
How can remembering you’re made in God’s image help you resist cultural pressures?
Dig Deeper Scripture: Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) — “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
How does this verse redefine where we find our worth?
What “good works” might God be calling you to walk in as His masterpiece?
3. Respond (Application & Prayer)
Personal Application
Where in your life are you most tempted to bow to the idol of image (appearance, social media, reputation)?
What does it look like for you to stand boldly in Christ’s image this week?
Group Prayer Prompt
Pray for courage to stand for Christ when culture pressures the group to bow.
Ask God to deepen each person’s identity in Christ so they no longer seek affirmation from the world.
Challenge for the Week
Memory Verse: Galatians 1:10 (NLT).
Next Step: Each day this week, look in the mirror and declare: “I am God’s masterpiece, created to reflect His image.”
⏱️ Designed for 45–60 minutes:
Connect (10–15 min)
Discover (25–30 min)
Respond (10–15 min)
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