A Two Act Play
 

ACT I
In the pristine clarity of early morning’s light he stood gazing about him at the splendor and wonder
that enveloped him. It was The Morning of the Seventh Day. And he rested. He did not know why –
it was more instinct than it was understanding, since he had only been here for a single day.

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 hope to paint.

The place was called 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, friendship, 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 remove, nothing to achieve or to 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 tasting.

ACT II
He stood, gazing once again over the hills that held as two great hands, 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.”

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
made manifest “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 and corrupted image of
the flesh. Trading power and anointing for political might and governmental control 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 devils. Blackness, confusion, misunder-
standing, injury, pride filled the House of the Lord. Wandering in directionless confusion, the beauty
of the Church was shorn, as the head of a woman was once shaved to declare to all that she is a
prostitute.

The qualities of mercy, grace, love, nurture and truth became the fist casualties. The war for the
soul of the Church had begun. It would not require a rebellious and fallen angel called Lucifer to
strike at 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 joining. And then the rising sound – disjointed, dissonant,
discordant, cacophonous at first, as an infant’s first cries – 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.

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.

Greg Austin
G2kemerge@aol.com