My Dear Friend,

Before a vision of God's purpose may be believed and followed, it must first be cast. Someone must place before us a clear vision of God's purpose. Then we can believe in it, hope for it, and work toward it.

Bear with me, please, as I set before you what I believe is Christ's vision for His church. It is found in God's Word.

Jesus' Two Monumental Decrees

The Living Word, Jesus, issued two monumental decrees that are recorded in God's written Word.

• "The scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mk 14:49).
• "The scripture cannot be broken" (Jn 10:35).

Do we understand the deep significance of these oft-overlooked texts? Especially, as they apply to God's work in this church age?

The Significance of Jesus' Decrees

These biblical assertions uttered by Christ Himself mean every sentence, every word, every syllable of His high priestly prayer in John 17 "must" be fulfilled. They furthermore assert that even the most minute detail of Paul's inspired visions of the church in Ephesians "must" be fulfilled in the true, remnant, bride church before the consummation of this church age.

Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

More specifically, Jesus' decrees tell us the true church will grow to be all Jesus prayed it would be in John 17: pursuing a full, close, personal knowledge of Christ; sanctified by learning and obeying the truth, God's Word: unified, without opposing sects; presenced with God's awe-inspiring glory; perfect in unity, free from even divisive attitudes; living in, not their own love, but God's; and full of Jesus' divine character and ways in daily manifestation - His mind, His goals, His humility, His authority, His compassion, His teaching, His preaching, and His awesome healing ministry. This body of biblically obedient, Spirit-baptized, Spirit-led, thoroughly transformed, sold-out believers - the bride church! - will arise and walk and minister as a spiritual body just as Jesus did in His material body 2,000 years ago.

How many Christians will be in this body? I don't know. Where will it be centered? I don't know. How long will these transformed believers walk the earth before Jesus appears? I don't know. What will this body's leadership look like? I don't know. Will it exist in one organization or many with identical beliefs and practices? I don't know. But I know this: this church will manifest precisely as Jesus requested in John 17. Before you shout "Impossible," keep reading.

I understand your disbelief. I, too, am a realist. What you just read is from every natural and historical perspective impossible. Utterly, laughably so! Such elevated Christians and churches emerge during times of heaven-sent awakenings and rarely last into the second or third generation. So, I agree that the earthly fulfillment of Jesus' prayer for His church seems impossible. But our God does the impossible.

In fact, it can be claimed that if something is not impossible, we don't need God to do it. Miracles, signs, and wonders are His proven M.O. They are what He does. And the God of the impossible will indeed make Jesus' requests possible in His flesh and blood "disciples indeed" (John 8:31-32). They will then give this desperately lost world one final, amazing, demonstration of God's awesome wisdom, love, and power before it is plunged into the awful 7-year Tribulation period! Why? It is written!

Paul's Four Visions of the Church

The whole world will also see a practical fulfilment of Paul's four prophetic visions of the church inscribed in Ephesians.

The true, remnant, bride church of Jesus Christ will become:

• A CORPORATE TABERNACLE, truly Spirit-filled and indwelt by God as in the days of the early church (Ephesians 2:19-22)

• A MATURE SPIRITUAL MAN CHURCH, possessing and ministering in its corporate body all that Jesus possessed and ministered in His corporeal body (Ephesians 4:11-15)

• A PURIFIED BRIDE CHURCH, so deeply and thoroughly cleansed of sin and self by the Lamb's blood and the Word's washing that it is free of all habitual sins and moral pollutants (Ephesians 5:25-27)

• AN ARMY OF SPIRITUALLY MILITANT INTERCESSORS, standing in God's full armor, withstanding demons' assaults on God's Word, plans, churches, ministers, and ministries, and thus ultimately victorious over the "rulers of the darkness of this world" in sharing the Gospel with, and making disciples in, every nation (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Why must these amazing apostolic portraits of the fully grown bride church be actualized? They are written!

How Will God Make This a Reality?

Precisely how God will make this mission impossible a reality is not detailed for us in the Bible. But a general explanation is given.

God's ideal ecclesiastical temple will be built, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). This construction of the amazing, unprecedentedly mature bride of Christ will not come about by the "might" of human wisdom and methods. Or by any mere human "power," that is, the most zealous and energetic collective human effort. In God's own words, it will become a reality "by my Spirit," or by the superior wisdom, irresistible power, and unfailing methods of the Holy Spirit - the same divine Spirit that energized the creation in the beginning and will energize the new creation in the end! He will work in bride Christians' individual lives through their minds and consciences and in their churches and ministries through the faithful ministry of Christ's Spirit-led ministers. But that's not all.

This mission impossible is guaranteed by none other than the "Lord of hosts," or the Lord of warrior hosts - Christ as General of Heaven's awesome angel armies, a divine force no diabolical power can stand before for even one second!

__________________________

Then, sometime after this extraordinary ekklesia arises in the earth, the end will come. Christ will suddenly appear in the heavens. The dead will suddenly rise to meet Him. Living overcomers will suddenly rise to join them. God will suddenly shut the door on this church age. And this world will suddenly be plunged into unprecedented darkness, danger, and death (Revelation 6:1-8). Why? It is written!

Our Lord Himself - who cannot err, mislead, or lie! - has decreed, "The Scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49); and, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

My dear fellow believer, this is the inspired, infallible, New Testament vision for the church. Do you, will you, dare you believe it?

Daring to believe,

Dr. Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES