As hard as it may be for you to conceive in your carnal mind, there is something far greater than earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and every other natural disaster. The whole creation is groaning for that day when the body of Christ is truly assembled and joined to the head, Jesus Christ. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:18-25)
For too long the power of God has lain under a religious rug of unbelief. Jesus has given us power to be sons of God, but it is a power of togetherness in Christ. Too many are caught up in religious theories and denominational rigmarole that God never established or said to do. God did not create the earth in vain, nor did he die on the cross in vain.
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:18)
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17:26)
Jesus said, I will build my church. It is his, not the fabrication of man and his ideals.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:24-25)
Jesus will return in like manner as he physically left. It will be as He said, not as the science fiction tales of TBN preachers and the like.
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)
Jesus went from the carnal realm of being physically seen with the eyes to the spiritual realm of being seen by spiritual eyes. God is a spirit, but is he really invisible?
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:2-4)
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Jesus Christ "is come" in the flesh. He's there in you ready to do the will of the Father. The spirit is willing, but we must submit our flesh to the higher purposes of God. Jesus has done what he came to do. By way of the cross, He has restored the avenue for man to be together with him as one body of Christ.
The following words of Jesus go right along with the passage above in 1 John about confessing that Jesus is come in the spirit.
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:30-32)
None of us are an afterthought in the mind of God, and together we are to be His extension in the earth. We are His hands.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)
So how and when does Jesus return in like manner? Well, he has given us gifts of the body of Christ to come into the unity of His faith. He is returning for a wife that has his nature. He is not returning for some multi-headed denominational beast. God is a spirit and we must worship him in spirit and in truth. That means we will have to let go of some religious doctrine that God never said. We are in a time when the profits of Baal are being exposed. Every ones work is being tried in fire. As I began to mention, God has given us gifts if we will discern them. And where are they, they are in the body of Christ, in people.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)
This ties right back into the word that John wrote in 1 John about confessing that Jesus is come in the flesh. We have this gift, Jesus, in earthen vessels. If you just want to focus on the imperfections of the vessels God places in your life, He will pass you by. There is much to Paul's mention of discerning the Lord's body properly and drinking damnation upon yourself.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:29-30)
Paul is speaking far more than about some ritual you do in church called "communion." That act is symbolic for our communion with Jesus and His body. You see, when I do not recognize the Christ in others, even if they are not yet walking in His light, I am expressing condemnation on the body of Christ. That is not of God. We who walk in the light of Jesus are to bring light to the darkness, not heap more darkness upon darkness.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20-21)
These writings of Paul are interesting in light of his life before coming to Jesus and His conversion experience.
I [Paul] am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. (Acts 22:3-4)
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (Acts 9:4-5)
Men and women lost their lives at the hand of Paul for the very mention of the name Jesus. He was seeking to kill the body, and Jesus asks him "why persecutest thou me." We must discern the Lord's body properly. It is His desire that we be one together, and one in Him.
I and my Father are one. (John 10:30)
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. (John 14:7)
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (John 14:9)
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:4)
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (John 17:11)
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)
And so now, Jesus is assembling His body, His church in this third day/third millennium since he physically was born of Mary.
And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. (Luke 13:32)
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58)
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. (Mark 14:58)
In this third day, he will have a place to lay His head. The mind of Christ will be on a body that is knitted together in Him.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5)
Getting back to my original premise, the whole creation hinges on the body of Christ coming into His fullness. It is happening and will happen in a people that seek Jesus whole heartedly in the spirit and not through the doctrines and theories and imaginations of man. We have been given the gifts of Ephesians 4 of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. Each is essential. These are not titles, and you are to beware of title seekers. Those operating in the true function of Jesus Christ are seeking to lift the whole body in the upward realm of Jesus. We are to have his mind on things. He did not leave us comfortless or clueless, but God is a spirit and those that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. Those gifts are to bring us to the fullness of His stature.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:14-16)
Once again, the whole creation is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God. For too long what we call church has been nothing but a reactor to the problems of the world. Well, in this world you will have tribulation. The church is to be the expression of the power of God in the earth. The church is to be the engine of change in the earth. The church is to affect this earth and steward it. These are hard things to believe from the standpoint of man, but that is why we must have faith in the impossible things of God. Just as the believers some 2000 years ago had to believe that the Lord had come in the flesh, so too do we have to know and believe that He is coming in His body. When the body of Christ truly falls away from its man-made concepts of things and catches the true spirit of His word, the whole earth will see supernatural change.
Once again from Romans, this time from the King James version:
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:19-22)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)
The whole creation is groaning!
