End Times Prophetic, Prophecy, Visions, Dreams, Revelation, Christian Blog

*NB I do not believe in ‘Manifest Sons’ Doctrines or any of the other Latter Rain Heresies such as ‘Joel’s Army’ and ‘Spotless Bride’. Please read what I have written carefully and do not take it out of context. I do not believe we will be perfect but nonetheless we are called to perfection and we make too many excuses why our Christian lives fall far shorter of that of Christ’s example in both word and deed.

WHAT is Man’s Purpose? To understand man’s purpose, we must look at Christ’s purpose, for man is called to be like Christ. Romans 8:28 states man was destined to take on the likeness of Christ,
“…for those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son.”
God reveals his design for man before even creating him, by saying,
“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” [1]

Man is created to look and act like God because ‘image’ is far more than about taking ‘human’ form. ‘Image’ is about taking on the nature of God also.
Adam (the word for ‘man’ in Hebrew) of Eden was created to reveal God by look and deed. Psalm 82:6 proclaims that men are ‘gods … sons of the most high’. Men are imaged as gods, to live as gods.
Adam fell, bringing down his future ancestors with him in one fell-swoop. The Fall resulted in a distortion of man’s godlike image and status. It wasn’t just ‘Paradise lost’, but Man’s purpose lost. And we, too, were gods in this fallen state until Christ saved us.
Paul refers to Christ, as the ‘second Adam’[2] or the ‘second man’. Christ could also be understood as God’s ‘second male model’. Undistorted ‘Second Man’, or ‘Christ-man,’ shows the world, for the second time, God’s image properly reflected within a man. Hebrews 1:3 states,
“The son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.”
Dying for our sin was only part of Christ’s mission on earth. Christ purposed to reveal the character of God, within a man’s flesh[3]. He demonstrated how man should reflect God.
God doesn’t provide man an unobtainable goal. He doesn’t say,
“Look up to Christ’s lofty example, but you can’t ever really be like him because of your fallen nature.” Rather he says,
“Here’s a way to regain your godlikeness; become ‘born again’ into your ‘Christ-man’ nature.”
Becoming ‘born again’ isn’t just about being forgiven. Becoming ‘born again’ is fundamentally about becoming a brother of Christ, and taking on your new family likeness as a ‘Christ-man’.
Fallen man will naturally fail at being Christlike, whereas ‘Christ-man’ will supernaturally succeed at being Christlike, if he allows the Spirit to work through him.[4]
As Christ’s mission was to reflect God, and have all God’s fullness dwell in him[5], so your ‘Christ-man’ mission is to reflect God and have all his fullness dwell in you. Jesus reflected God so well, he said to his disciples,
“If you really knew me, you would know my father as well.”[6]
Can others truly say that of us? That’s how it’s intended to be.
Moses came down the mountain, reflecting God. However, Moses’ reflection was ‘veiled’ by the limitations of the Old Testament. Paul compares Moses with the ‘Christ-man’ of the New Testament, saying, “we … with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory…” [7]
The nickname, ‘Christians,’ given to the early Church means, literally, ‘little Christs’. ‘Christian’ wasn’t a label identifying a belief, but a lifestyle. Christians were recognized by unbelievers because they were like Christ.
A ‘Christ-man’s’ purpose is to show God incarnate, that is within his own body. To do this, requires words and works.
Adam was created to do good works, not just to speak good words. God’s first command to man is “be fruitful”. [8] Woman’s first purpose is shown not as a mate for Adam, but as a worker for God. “I shall make a helper suitable for (Adam)”.[9]
As Adam was created from the dust to do good works, so ‘Christ-man’ was created in Jesus to do good works.
“We’re … created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do…”[10] and,
“Christ died … that we might bear fruit to God.” [11]
‘Christ-men’ are prophetic people. Jesus said prophets are recognized by their ‘fruit’.[12] A prophet is judged by his life, and not solely on his ‘prophetic’ accuracy. Even the devil can issue accurate clairvoyant predictions. ‘Christ-men’ must have the walk as well as the talk, because true prophets reveal the heart of God, and the heart of God is always active.
The heart of God is always missionary, seeking man. God calls and woos; God’s arms are outstretched. Jesus, after washing his disciples’ feet, urged them to, “Love one another as I have loved you…”[13] Love is understood to show itself in actions. “…By this all men will know you are my disciples.”[14]
Because God loved, he did. Because God loved the World, he sent Jesus.[15] Love produces mission. If we’re close to the heart of Jesus, we will say, “Here I am. Send me.”[16] as he did. If we have the love of God within us, we will send, and we will go. Christ’s love ‘compels us.’[17]
“The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to him, the more intensely missionary we become.”[18]
Because world mission is the very heart of God, Satan seeks to destroy it. Satan does his utmost to stop ‘Christ-man’ being birthed, and to stop ‘Christ-man’ fulfilling his destiny.
It is far easier to spot Satan seducing man from receiving God’s forgiveness, than to spot Satan seducing the ‘Christ-man’ from his mission. As Satan attempted to seduce Jesus in the desert,[19] so he sidles up to us, questioning our mission with ‘ifs’. “If you’re really a ‘Christ-man’, ” and questioning our model, “If you’re meant to live like Christ! As if!”
‘Christ-men’ are called to accomplish similar deeds to Christ’s. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing…he will do even greater things than these…”[20] If you doubt that you should or shall do these ‘greater things’, then you with Satan, call Christ a liar.
In reality we expect little, so get little, as we don’t understand our purpose. Faith comes from understanding our purpose, by knowing the word of God. Miracles do not work with an, ‘I’ll pray and see what happens,’ attitude. Either you know, or you don’t, that you have power and authority as a ‘god’ and ‘Christ-man’.
The Christlikeness that today’s Church sets itself to achieve falls far short of its original calling. The meek and mild Jesus with a lamb on his shoulders is held up as an example for all to emulate. But what of the man who cast out demons, zealously overturned tables in his father’s house, dined with lowlife, and healed all the sick that came to him?
How many of us have walked on water recently, healed someone, lost a job through religious-discrimination, or dined with someone from the IRS? That’s being equally Christlike. ‘Buffet Christianity’, that we should have no part of, preaches that we’re called to be Christlike in tenderness but not power, and Christlike in mercy, but not suffering.
“The extraordinary is not the birthright of a chosen and privileged few, but of all people, even the humblest. That is my one certainty: we are all the manifestation of the divinity of God.” [21]
Jesus’ instruction to his disciples was, “Go and make disciples…… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” [22] Why do we feel we can skip the part where Jesus commands them to, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.”[23]?
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.”[24]
‘Christ’ means ‘anointed one’, and the term ‘Christians’ means literally ‘little anointed ones’. Christ, talking about his spiritual anointing, said, “The spirit of the lord is on me…”[25] ‘On me’, in the Greek, conveys the concept of the Spirit ‘pressing down upon’. The anointing is a manifest presence that presses action.
“The spirit of the lord is on me … because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of Gods favor.”[26]
As the Spirit anointed Christ at his baptism to proclaim, release and heal, so the Spirit anointed the disciples at Pentecost[27] to proclaim, release and heal. The Pentecostal ability of speaking in many unlearned tongues, prophesies anointing comes to reveal God to every tribe, nation and tongue. [28]
God does not want spirit-caretakers. He wants spirit-workers. The anointing comes with a commission. We have the exact same commission, and the exact same Spirit, as the original disciples. The signs and wonders ministry is not reserved to the ‘apostolic age’, as God’s purpose for ‘Christ-man’, in 2007, is identical to his purpose for the ‘Christ-men’ gathered in the Upper Room at nine o’clock in the morning,[29] two millennium ago.
If we live ‘in Christ’, God’s power is available for any situation, as ‘in Christ’ all the fullness, the character and power of God are found. God does not, and will not, fragment himself. “God gives generously to all without finding fault.”[30]
Can you imagine Peter saying to the cripple at the temple gate, Beautiful, “Silver and gold I do not have, but in the name of Jesus of Nazareth… I’ll go and get someone with a healing gift.’[31] ? Or Jude and Luke saying, “This is a difficult demon case, and deliverance just isn’t our thing…”?
James says when we ask, we should expect to receive, as doubters receive nothing.[32] Today, thanks to the 20th century Pentecostal movement, many Christians are taught to claim the gift of tongues as their ‘birthright’. If other power signs such as healing and raising the dead were equally expected, then these, too, would be manifested. As they’re not expected, they’re not manifested.
Straight after the Spirit anointed Jesus, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to fast.[33] Fasting is not about doing a David Blaine type endurance feat, or about seeking an aesthetic high. It’s about humbling self before God, and saying, “God, you’re more important to me than my most basic of needs. I’m sacrificing these for a time to show you this.’ Fasting is a temporary outward sign of a continually sacrificed ‘Christ-man’. Right from the beginning of his ministry, Jesus demonstrates that anointing flows through a sacrificed life.
The Spiritual life is one of self-sacrifice. The Spirit may not take us to be nailed to a wooden cross, but he will lead us to die.
“There was a day when I died; died to self, my opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.” [34]
We talk of “giving our lives to Jesus” but how many of us actually do? What do you think, “Precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints.” [35] really means?
A sacrificed life means forgiving others when they don’t deserve it, being there for someone, when all you want to do is watch the ballgame, and going without an expensive vacation so the poor can eat. It means giving gladly even when you’re ‘stoned’ with misunderstanding and abuse. Works must be works of grace to mean anything at all; and grace cannot come without sacrifice.
When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages”. To this, Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”
I had the privilege of working with a 20th century martyr. Bruce was an all-American guy. I remember onetime Bruce singing the hymn ‘You are beautiful beyond description’. If I’m going to be honest, we’ve all heard better singers than Bruce, but when Bruce got to the part ‘…I stand in awe of you.’ there was not a dry eye in the house. Bruce’s sacrificed lifestyle, dedicated to Jesus, was obvious.
In 1994, Bruce died bringing the gospel to Uzbekistan. He was 35.
Everything, including our families, should be submitted to Christ. It is one thing submitting myself, but my son? Ouch! Like every parent, I want the sun, moon and stars for my boy. I don’t want him to go without, and I certainly don’t want him dying on some bleak Asian plain. But God so loved the world, he sent his son. Parents, we must send our children.
“God had only one Son and he made that son a missionary.”[36]
There’s a saying that “the final thing to be converted in a man is his wallet.”
In today‘s Church, the rich young man[37] would be welcomed into the fold. In many ways, The Western Church is the rich young man, ‘good’, but unwilling to sacrifice its lifestyle.
“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”[38] Perhaps this evangelical text should be preached more often to the converted.
Jim Elliot, who died bringing the gospel to Ecuadorian Indians, said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Our reputations must be sacrificed. Jesus said, “No prophet is accepted in his home town,” [39] yet we seek to be pillars of the community, not wishing to offend. Our watered-down palpable version of Christianity has become indistinguishable from all the other religions and cults in America. Make no mistake; the true gospel is offensive. We’re not persecuted because rarely is there anything to persecute.
God does not care for religious ritual: he wants sacrificed lives.
“…Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice, and untie the cords of the yoke, and set the oppressed free and break every yoke. Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”[40]
Although we’re not saved by works[41], we do worship with them. A ‘lively’ worship session isn’t about having a cool worship leader playing electric guitar. Romans 12:1 exhorts, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Let me tell you about ‘Katie’. ‘Katie’ was raped. Having nobody else to turn to, a devastated ‘Katie’ called a Christian friend and asked her to come over.
“I can’t. I’ve got to prepare a Bible study for tomorrow night’s class. Sorry.”
Before you judge this Christian too harshly, how many of us actually do the same thing? We may not have Katie on the other end of the telephone, but the unanswered cries of the downtrodden and distressed surround us nonetheless.
The Priest and the Levite, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, were probably on their way to temple, when they saw a man suffering. Yet they misunderstood what true religion is about, and “passed by on the other side.” [42] Jesus commands us to imitate the Samaritan, and not these ‘religious’ folk. ‘Christ-man’ must get his priorities right.
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” [43] is a command that few obey. Is it any wonder the world cries out, echoing the words of the chart-hit by the Black Eyed Peas, ‘Where is the Love?’
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody.”
The first commandment is to, “…love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” [44] ‘Strength’ implies energy needing to be exerted.
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They … will answer him, ‘Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick and in prison and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” [45]
If the Lord had appeared in a vision and said, “Go buy that homeless guy a cheeseburger,” these folk would happily have obeyed. So why is the Master angry with them? Because a good servant anticipates his master’s commands, he does not have to be repeatedly told his explicit will.
“Do not be like the horse or mule which have no understanding but must be led by bit and bridle.”[46]
Before doing anything, many Christians wait “to be led”. If they ain’t led, that homeless man ain’t fed. They wait to be explicitly instructed before moving. I don’t expect to be ‘led’ before I feed my family, so why should the Church expect to be ‘led’ before it feeds the ‘family of man’?
The Christian’s mission is being a ‘Christ-man’ twenty-four seven. This calling is universal to every man and irrevocable. Do not think, somehow, your calling is different. “Come follow me,” Jesus says. What are you waiting for?
“‘Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say.” [47]
As we move, we’ll get specific pointers. Obeying the Spirit’s specifics means letting go of ‘common-sense’. Some years ago, God used me to speak powerfully to a church in the then Czechoslovakia. Based on that ‘performance’, I was invited to speak in another city. I agreed. Same speaker, same speech, same power, right? Wrong! “Don’t give the same speech,” I felt the Lord urge. I’m ashamed to admit, I ignored him. Without anointing, the speech went down like a lead balloon. I couldn’t crawl off that stage fast enough.
One of the rectors from St Aldates in Oxford, England, recounted a story told him separately by two parishioners. We’ll call the parishioners Bob and Mike. Bob awoke in the middle of the night, with a strong urge to post the equivalent of around $50 through Mike’s letterbox. $50 was hardly that urgent was it; it could wait until morning, reasoned Bob. The urging intensified. But all the stores were shut; the money would be useless now, what would a few hours matter? And so Bob rolled over to go back to sleep. However, he could not, and feeling very foolish, Bob slipped on some clothes and posted the $50 through Mike’s door just before 3am.
Now we get the other side of the story, told to the Rector some weeks later. Mike was severely depressed because of financial problems. One bill for $50 had been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Mike had desperately prayed, deciding that if he didn’t get this $50 he would kill first his wife, then himself at 3am. He was on the way to get his gun, when he had heard the letterbox clink.
God has chosen man to work His earth. He has thus limited his power on the earth, by and large, to flow through man’s frailty. Every miracle in the Old Testament partnered man’s obedience. If Moses had not raised his staff, the Red Sea would not have parted, if Joshua’s troops had not marched around Jericho seven times, Jericho’s walls would not have fallen.
If Bob hadn’t gotten up, Mike would have shot himself and his wife.
When man does not act, rarely does God use other sources. God’s Kingdom is not released unless we pray and obey.
It’s not enough to be like the three wise monkeys who, ‘hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil.’ The three wise Christian monkey statues say, ‘hear Jesus, speak Jesus, and show Jesus.’
The more impossible, and unachievable, you feel your purpose is, the better, because then you must rely on Spirit. You are in good company: Moses, Jeremiah and Gideon are also in that Hall of Fame. ‘But Lord…’ they said, and gave their excuses.
And God said to each one of their excuses, “It doesn’t matter! It’s about me, not you! I will be with you.”
Jesus was able to perform miracles because God was with him[48]. You can perform miracles because God will be with you. The world is waiting for ‘Christ-men’ to reveal God to them.
“The Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”[49]
Purpose understood, and the sons of God are unstoppable. “Therefore …let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”[50] Our trailblazer has gone before us, lighting the way.[51]
Go, because God is with you. Let’s get this Great Commission done.

[1] Genesis 1:27 {All Biblical quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible}
[2] 1 Corinthians 15:45
[3] John 1:14
[4] 2 Corinthians 3:18
[5] Colossians 1:19
[6] John 14:7-9
[7] 2 Corinthians 3:18
[8] Genesis 1:28
[9] Genesis 2:18
[10] Ephesians 2:10
[11] Romans 7:4
[12] Matthew 7:15-17
[13] John 13:34
[14] John 13:35
[15] John 3:16
[16] Isaiah 6:8
[17] 2 Corinthians 5:14
[18] Henry Martyn
[19] Luke 4:3
[20] John 14:12
[21] Paulo Coelho
[22] Matthew 28:20
[23] Matthew 10:8
[24] James Hudson Taylor
[25] Luke 4:18
[26] Luke 4:18-19
[27] Acts 2
[28] Revelation 14:6
[29] Acts 2:15 states that the first Pentecostal outpouring took place at 9am
[30] James 1:5
[31] Acts 3:6
[32] James 1:6-8
[33] Luke 4:1
[34] George Mueller
[35] Psalm 116:15
[36] David Livingstone
[37] Luke 18-18-25
[38] Matthew 16:26
[39] Luke 4:24
[40] Isaiah 58:5-11
[41] Ephesians 2:5
[42] Luke 10:31-32
[43] Luke 10:27 and Leviticus 19:18
[44] Deuteronomy 6:5
[45] Matthew 25:42-45
[46] Psalm 32:8-9
[47] William Booth
[48] Acts 10:38
[49] Romans 8:19
[50] Hebrews 12:1
51 Hebrews 12:2