2 Corinthians 5:17 English Standard Version (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[creature] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

What does it mean to be a new creation or creature if I look the same, feel the same, have the same aliments, have the same memories and at times even act the way I always have?

If we were to move to a foreign land with different languages, customs, leadership, and opportunities, don’t you think it would take some time to feel like you were a citizen of that country?

Entering into the Kingdom of God and living under the rule of the King of Kings is exactly like that. We have become a member of the family of God without actually moving, at least not yet.

Some of us undergo an instant change so drastic that the ones closest to us might think we have gone crazy. I did because the change came after I had three children and the oldest thought that the men with the straight jackets might show up at any moment.

It ook a year before my wife and daughters accepted my change and accepted Christ themselves. It took my son longer, he was the oldest.

People at work saw me change and most of them saw it as a good thing. There will always be skeptics waiting for us to fail. When it doesn’t happen they will stop watching our every move.

Those who knew me best from childhood are all passed on sadly. The others did not pay enough attention to form an opinion. They assume I’ve always been this way.

We get to know a whole new family when we place our faith in Christ. Some are new born, others wise beyond their years, some still hanging on to their “churchy” ways but brothers and sisters in Christ, every one of them.

It is difficult enough to get used to our new surroundings but the really hard part is having to live in a  physical world that is different from our spiritual kingdom. In the world but not of the world. The forces of that world are strong influencers but we must not give into them if we are going to serve our King. We are called into service with different gifts and callings, trying our best to fit into the mix.

It is a great mystery how some of us find our way around so easily while others struggle to find their new identity. It is hard to give up what we were sometimes.

1 Corinthians 15:10 English Standard Version (ESV) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Daniel 1:17-20 English Standard Version

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.

I am no Daniel. No one is as gifted as Daniel. The issue here is what God has gifted us above and beyond what is natural in our nature which is given to us to serve God.

Just as in the Babalonian exile our gifts will prove us to be more than the worldly. More isn’t better, that is judgment. More is a condition of having a God given gift meant to serve God. In that we must be obedient to His calling in order for those gifts to glorify God.

Possessing something that others do not does not make us superior. It only makes us different.

Why are we different? The obvious answer is we have paced our faith in Christ. That is not something that is obvious for the worldly. They will judge us by their own standards. We must not allow their judgment to interfere with our obedience of faith.

That is being like Daniel even if we do not have his most excellent gift.

Arguments for a late (2nd century BC) dating:

Anti-Prophetic Argument
One of the first people to dispute the traditional dating of Daniel was Porphyry, a pagan philosopher whose arguments have been preseved by Jerome. He argues that some of the prophecies in Daniel are so congruent to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the book must have been written during his time (175-164 BC). (source The Stack Exchange)

Daniel’s prophecies were so accurate that scoffers declare it was written after all those prophecies were fulfilled.

Faith tells us otherwise. That is what is missing in the scoffers.

Faith in Christ makes all the difference.