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In
the pristine clarity of the early morning’s light he stood gazing about him
at the splendor and wonder that enveloped him. It was morning: The morning
of the Seventh Day, and he rested. He did not know why – it was more intuition
than it was experience, since he had only been here for twenty-four hours.
The place where he stood gave him clear view of the thing he knew was
Perfection. It was beyond glorious and good. It was greater than Imagination
could produce - More majestic than any human artist could ever dream to
paint. The place was Eden. The Garden of God. A garden created
and crafted by the very hand of God. Created to provide, to supply the
Creator’s creation with everything needed for joy, peace, comfort, security,
love, shelter and assurance. Nothing, absolutely nothing which man needed
had been omitted. It was all there for him, the man God named Adam. There
was nothing to add, nothing to achieve or accomplish. The Garden was in
itself, Perfection. Every tree planted provided sustenance and satisfaction.
Every tree was available to him – except the one tree: The tree God had
prohibited him from touching.
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He stood, gazing once again over the hills that held the place of Peace, the
city of God – Jerusalem. And He wept. “Oh,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that killed the
prophets, and stones them which are sent to you, how often would I have
gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under
her wings, and you would not!” In mere hours He would die. He would lay down
His own life for the sins of mankind. This Second Adam.
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was
made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor
15:45).
This Man, this Second Adam, Jesus, had said
“I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.”
He had spoken of a church – promised He would
build it, and the first elements of that building were laid “When the Day of
Pentecost was fully come.” That church, the “Early Church” quickly was filled with
the power of His resurrection Spirit. That church grew, flourished, and
changed rapidly as it spread to cultures and peoples and the fertile,
foreign soil of Gentile hearts.
And then the march of time and the ways of
man and the insidious infiltration of Satanic influence invaded the Church.
And again the Church was changed. Her original glory – the beauty of her
collective Face, the Image of Christ stamped upon her was altered,
metamorphosed, transformed – marred. From a work of beauty and grace,
the church began to reflect the darkened image of the flesh. Trading power
and anointing for political might and man-made schemes, the church became a
shell of what it was when astonishment filled the hearts of those gathered
in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost after Jesus had ascended to the right
hand of the Father. Birthed to become a reflection of the glory of the very
King and Creator of all that exists, the church had become a dwelling place
of demons and a habitation of wickedness. Blackness, confusion,
misunderstanding, filled the House of the Lord. Wandering in
directionless confusion, the beauty of the Church was shorn; as the head of
a woman is shaved to declare to all that she is a prostitute.
The qualities of mercy, grace, love, nurture
and truth became the first casualties. The war for the soul of the Church
had begun. It would not require a rebellious and fallen angel called Lucifer
to strike the heart of God’s purpose in the earth – man himself would
inflict some of the greatest wounds in the heart of the Body Jesus
died to create.
And in the latter time, when the generation
upon whom the ends of the earth had come, a stirring would be
perceived. A rustling of something, long dead would begin to be heard. Here
a bone, there a bone; cartilage and sinew would join the rising sound –
disjointed, dissonant, discordant, cacophonous yet promising one day to
become a symphony of pure melody and harmony. Then flesh would appear, and
finally, the ruach, the very breath of God would breathe upon and
within and dead bones would live again.
A church would once again Emerge. As
Bethlehem heard an Infant cry that Night, so out of the Manger of His
preparation would come a Living Body, infant in expression, yet abundant in
promise. As Jerusalem heard the sound as of a rushing, mighty wind that
Morning, so out of the Strangeness of His doing would come a Living Church, infant again in
expression, yet filled with power and potential.
This is the Emerging Church. This is the
certain and sure eventuality of His purpose, His timing and His enablement.
We are the people; this is the generation upon whom the ends of the world
have come. We have been called out, chosen and prepared to enter the Harvest
Fields and reap that which others have prepared, planted, watered, tended,
prayed for, hoped and longed to see.
We are
those who will bring in the harvest for the King of Glory. |
