A Vision....His
Body, the Fullness of Him...
Ephesians 1:22-23
This is presented for your edification and
consideration. The vision contains some dramatic emphasis for the purpose of
helping us see that not all that we have been doing in church has its origins
in God. Thus, the fruit will not be what He is looking for. God is not
obligated to anoint our ways and structures regardless of our good intentions,
which can be the enemy of God’s best. What worked in the past doesn’t mean it
will work in the present, even if God did originate it for a time and purpose.
The only person that can sing, “I did it my way” and get away with it is God.
I began seeing this vision in the springtime of
1998. It is a vision that I can
repeatedly look into, observe in detail and inquire of the Lord about its
meaning. It is clearer today than when I
first received it.
The vision begins with an overview of a vast area of
destroyed buildings. Many of these
buildings are leveled to their foundations.
Some are even destroyed below the ground, the very foundation in ruins.
The scene reminded me of pictures I had seen of
As the scene kept unfolding I saw Jesus first
walking amidst this vast rubble. His
countenance was circumspect, clearly inspecting every detail. It was as though He wanted to be sure the
destruction was sufficient, that it would be impossible for the buildings to
stand again by being merely repaired.
New buildings would have to rise.
Then Jesus did a remarkable thing. He stepped into the center of a once standing
edifice. His person began to grow. His very body extending out
and up until it filled the space once occupied by material. Then this process was repeated over and over
as Jesus Himself was now filling every place where there once was a
building. The size, height and shape of
each building were not identical, but there was no mistaking that Jesus was in
all, and through all.
Then I began to be lifted up to view this vision
from a new perspective. I went up as
well as back away from the scene like a zoom lens being retracted. Now the distinct definition of Jesus in every
building began to fade and a new image of one personage of Jesus began to
dominate the entire picture. A new
expanding edifice rose steadily out of this changing scene. The buildings all merged into one and the one
was Jesus Himself. I knew a building was
there, but our Lord engulfed its identity.
He was the building(s) and the building(s) Him.
Then I rose further up and away from this
scene. From this greater distance Jesus
was clearly seen rising up and filling an area that looked first like a city,
then a region, then a nation, then a continent.
The upward and outward distancing of myself
continued until I could see the whole earth and Jesus standing on the
sphere. While His feet were in one
place, they seemed to “melt” and flow around the entire earth making it clear
that He was on all the earth and not only a part of it.
— The Interpretation and Application —
The Lord made me to understand that the vision was
dramatically depicting a divine takeover and makeover of the church. The reason for using a bombing scene to
illustrate this process is because some churches and leaders already feel like
a bomb has hit their churches. Actually,
the Holy Spirit, being freshly poured out, has so powerfully hit some churches
that some or all of their usual activities have been interrupted. Some are completely discontinued. The new wine and old wineskins are
incompatible. One or both will be lost
if a new container for the wine isn’t provided soon (Mt.
Some of God’s children have thought the
manifestations of the outpouring were the end in themselves. The joyousness, the falling out under the
power, the different expressions resulting from someone being freshly touched
by the Holy Spirit are part of the church being reintroduced to the Holy
Spirit. The behaviors are more signs of
what God wishes to do with the church:
1. Cause it to cease from its labors.
2. Give it more “downtime” to know Him.
3. Enable the church to do what it hadn’t been able to do before
because it wasn’t relying on the Holy Spirit.
The Lord closely
inspected the “remains” of the church.
He walked circumspectly through the rubble making sure what had to be
destroyed was and that it would be impossible to restore the building. It would have to be rebuilt. He led me to understand that the destruction
caused by a bombing was to be seen not merely as destruction but de-structuring
which would be followed by a restructuring.
It is also to serve as notice that every man’s work will be tried as by
fire (I Cor.
The Lord led me to further
know that under the anointing of their gifting many apostles and prophets would
actually be involved in destructuring churches by
revealing certain activities of churches that are not fulfilling any present
purpose of God, and thus bring them to an end.
It is in part their governmental function to set things in order (Titus
1:5). The anointing to do this is
the same as that given to Jeremiah in Jer. 1:10. This anointing includes not just rooting out,
pulling down and destroying, but building and planting. Thus many churches, their leaders and members
are going to have fresh new starts.
There will be refocusing of ministries and resources and a new
excitement to see the building of the church.
Many will join in this restructuring as their giftings
are identified and released. The church
is a Body, not a building and every member must function to its fullest
extent.
The most
profound action of Jesus was when He stepped into the center of the remains of
a church and then filled it. He was
identifying what church is. It is He, He
is the Head and we are His Body, the fullness of Him that fills all in
all. We are not what fill the
church. But Him in us
all, thus filling all. It is not
just a metaphor.
In expressing
Himself within the Body, He also defines the function of every gifting since
every gifting is an aspect of His life when lived out on the earth prior to the
cross. After His resurrection and
ascension into heaven, the Father then sent us the Holy Spirit, the Christ
anointing or the Spirit of Christ. Now Jesus’ life continues manifesting in the
multitudes of believers who now make up His spiritual Body. Our identity is in Him. Our unity and oneness now agrees with the
unity and oneness of the Trinity. As the
Trinity is all of one Spirit so are we (Jn.
This unity the
Lord led me to understand doesn’t require uniformity of activity for
believers. In fact, this unity exists in
the many distinctions in the Body.
Within the Trinity, each Person of the Godhead performs different
functions in relationship to our salvation and us. Yet, all have the same goal. The human body too has its members performing
different activities at the same time all under the direction of the head. Our Head, Jesus, administers life in and
through His Body the same way. So too,
each church was different. These
differences in churches (not disagreements) complimented and fulfilled the
complete expression of Christ. The
fusing of these distinct bodies into one, which ultimately filled the earth,
depicts this. Our oneness is the
function of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3) and we are requested to maintain this
unity of the Spirit with loving attitudes (Eph. 4:2-3) and not seek to
attain unity by uniformity of activities.
Too often the
insecurity of some leaders cause them to exert undo pressure on others in an
attempt to have followers doing what that leadership thinks is right. When everybody doesn’t walk in lockstep it is
challenged as being out of unity.
Similarly, many believers follow after every new trend, program,
whatever, even searching to satisfy their uncertainties and insecurities. Jesus was clear on this subject in Mk.
9:38-40 and Jn. 21:21-22. We are going
to know what Jesus is leading us in as we listen and follow Him as He clearly
makes it known to each of us. A great
release is coming and a new freedom as well.
Finally, we see
Jesus’ feet planted on the earth yet encompassing it. He wants us to be sure that all things are to
be put under His feet (us, the feet of His Body) making all things subject to
Him. His head is over all principality
and power and it is through the church/body that His manifold wisdom is being
made known (Eph.
The growth of
the Body in this vision takes place effortlessly. The whole Body grew simultaneously, not a
part at a time, but altogether. The
reason is to emphasize the action of every part working towards the goal of
building itself up in love. (Eph.
Blessings In Christ,
This
Ephesians Ministries International®
article is a publication of Ephesians Ministries International®.
Ephesians
Ministries International,