All Clear
Introduction
This prophetic teaching follows my recent “Skinned Alive” piece. For me, the surprisingly positive message of this teaching is that our Father wants all his children in Christ to feel comfortable in their own skin. Whilst this is a vital life truth, it is especially important in relation to the vocation/work into which God has called all his sons and daughters (1 Cor 7:20-22). In Christ, work cannot be mere labour (Gen 3:17-19) for the sake of a more comfortable lifestyle. In fact, I sense that as Jesus experienced sheer delight* as he laboured in the carpenter’s shop in the glorious unity of his heavenly and earthly F/fathers (cf. John 17:22), this is the portion he is offering to us all. In a (pandemic etc.) time when all things are being shaken so that the unshakable kingdom might emerge (Heb 12:2-29), I sense the Lord is working to bring about a radical transformation, a sort of metamorphosis (2 Cor 3:18), in how we experience his presence in the world of employing/employment.
A Dream
Last night I had a strange and initially undecipherable dream. What stood out was how I slipped into a much larger set of garments than normal. This was neither an unnatural nor uncomfortable experience. I believe it speaks of an exciting transition into a new wineskin that the Lord is moving to bring upon his Church in Perth (Mark 2:22).
A Lesson
An ancient king asked three architects to design a temple of the sun. The first architect produced a model in dazzling marble, the second one of glittering gold. The third presented a temple of glass, nearly invisible, so that when the sunlight poured unhindered through its walls it reflected not its own glory but the glorious object for which it was made. This is the true call of the Church of Christ. God the Father’s desire is to glorify his Son to the max, this requires a Church that never draws attention to herself. The divine calling at the core of our human calling/vocation/employment is to radiate only Jesus. This is why at the end of the Bible the eternal City-Bride of the Lamb is composed of “clear/transparent glass” (Rev 21:18, 21)
Anointed to Glow
Some believers have anointings related to specific tasks e.g., evangelism (Acts 21:8), but all Christians have an anointing to reveal through their living the secret counsel of God in Jesus. This is that “With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:8-10). Our very name “Christian” (1 Pet 4:14, 16) means we share in Jesus’ own anointing name and so together have access to “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Ultimately, the content of this “mind” is nothing less than how the ascended and glorified Jesus thinks of himself in the Spirit (Rev 1:10)! We enter this insight when we, “knit together in love…reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-4). This will mean the Church becoming as unselfconscious about herself as Jesus is about himself. When this happens, the meaning of an important array of scriptures will be revealed in our midst.
Transparent Glory
If “open shame of face” (2 Chron 32:21; Ps 44:15; Dan 9:7-8) is part of the wages of sin (Gen 2:2; 3:7-8), then those who know they will be presented radiant (Eph 5:27; Rev 19:14) and blameless before the Lord (Eph 1:4; Phil 1:10; Col 1:22; 1 Thess 3:13; 5:23; Jude 24; Rev 14:5) need never suffer from the rampant introversion nor extroversion which causes people to look at us instead of looking through us and seeing JESUS. As the blood of the cross cleanses us “from all sin” (1 John 1:7) our inner attachment to the temporary things of this world, the idolatry that obscure the revelation of Christ through us, is washed away. Such holy cleansing brings about a “reclothing” (Rom 13:14; Rev 19:8) more glorious than any external miracle. Such a spiritual metamorphosis comes about in only one way, by abiding in Christ we “share in the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). Jesus literally said of himself, “the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me” (John 14:30). The sinless Son could readily say this about himself, but in Christ we have the same authority over the accuser (Rev 12:7-11). All this may seem elevated beyond ordinary human perception, but the Spirit is also sharing very down to earth things (Rev 21:2).
Excellent Spirit
Short-sighted practically-driven church builders seek to commodify the kingdom of God, but today the Lord wills to release the wisdom of the prophet Daniel. Daniel was empowered to run an empire (Dan 4:48) because he possessed “an excellent spirit” (5:12; 6:3) recognised by secular rulers. Inasmuch as Daniel was a prophetic forerunner to Christ he was regularly elevated to positions of authority (Phil 2:9). It is the Lord’s will to impart such a “excellent spirit” to all Christians in their various vocations. This is the wisdom embodied in the death-and-resurrection of Christ by means of which a new creation is coming into being. These new creation realities exist in every one of us because we are all in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:16). What can be imparted in the Spirit now (Eph 3:10) into all the structures of this world, engineering, business, plumbing, education, law etc. will in the End be integrated into the eternal things of God. As “wise master builders” (1 Cor 3:10) of the kingdom of Christ who is present filling “all things” (Eph 4:10) no sphere of human existence is excluded. All things belong to Jesus, and everyone needs to see that through us! When the people of this world see the extraordinary wisdom of Jesus working through 9-5 Christians in the marketplace they will make inquiry as to its origin, and some will come to repentance (Acts 3:17-21).
Conclusion
Paul prophesies, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18). Set free from “shame of face” we see the glory of Jesus and are literally metamorphosised (Greek: metamorphoō) into his likeness. Such a transformed Body radiates the unity and glory of the Lamb of God in his wise redemptive work that strips away the old corruptible creation bringing to birth the new and imperishable new world (1 Cor 15:50-58; 2 Pet 1:4) in our midst. As the natural speaks of the supernatural (1 Cor 15:46), when we imagine our transformation like the lowly caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly we are moved in sheer delight* to cry with the heavenly host “Glory” (Ps 29:9; 1 Cor 3:16-17). Such is to God’s great plan through us the Church. Please pray for an “excellent spirit” of wisdom.