The following is part of a larger article that the Lord has been
intimating to me for the coming season/years. The whole article will be posted
on our website, lionheartministries.org, but we will be releasing each section
as a smaller article each week for the next few weeks. May these articles,
bless, challenge and encourage all. Mike McClung
A Season of Accelerated Restoration
The restoration that is coming is
a restoration of all that has been prophesied and purposed for the one new
man…the body of Messiah, the true temple of the Holy Spirit (Acts 3:19-21).
Jesus answered and
said to them, “Destroy this temple (naos),
and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken
forty-six years to build this temple (heiron),
and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple (naos) of His body. (John 2:19-21)
As the apostle tells us in
Hebrews 7-10, when there is a change in the priesthood, there comes a change in
the entire protocol of relationship with God. The basic reason we do not
operate under the Old Covenant with the Levitical Priesthood is because all has
been fulfilled through the finished work of Calvary
and man now relates to the Father based solely on the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus and His continuing Melchizedek
priesthood. As such, we’re also told that it’s not temples and tabernacles made
by men’s hands in which His presence rests and inhabits, but in the living
temple of the individual and corporate body of Messiah (1 Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor.
6:16-7:1).
The above passage from John notes
this foundational change. The Lord Jesus openly confronts the religious leaders
of His day and declares that the temple
of God is no longer a
stone dwelling place, but that His body has now become God’s dwelling place.
Note the use of the different Greek words. Jesus uses the word naos to define the true dwelling place
of God, which He explains to be His body. What He says flies right over the
religious leader’s heads as they respond by pointing to the stone temple (heiron) of Herod. (Heiron is the word used to define man-made, stone/wood structures.
Jesus, nor any of the writers of the New Testament, ever use this word (heiron) to describe God’s dwelling place
after this).
The word naos is the word that is used in the Greek Septuagint to speak of
the Holy of holies. (The Septuagint
is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, which, by the way, was the
text that Jesus, Himself used and studied!) Jesus is stating here that transference
has taken place. He has now become the resting place of God’s manifest
presence and glory. He is the Ark. He is the sum of all the law and the
prophets. His body is now the temple
of God. This same word is
the only word that is used henceforth throughout the New Testament, including
the book of Revelation to describe the dwelling place of God. It is His body
that He is interested in forming, building, inhabiting and flowing from, from
hereon.
Although this is a theological
truth, this reality is seldom made the center of any real teaching or ministry.
If one looks objectively at the western mindset of “church”, one might think
that this is about building large man-made structures so that celebrations,
activities, programs, ad infinitum can be carried out. Using marketing
techniques and the latest in technological gadgetry, one can build a large and
successful (at least in men’s eyes) ministry. I have come to perceive that this
is what some have equated with “five-fold ministry” (Eph. 4:11-16). If one
read’s Eph. 4:11-16, which defines the ascension gift ministries of the Lord
and their work, nowhere does it read that they are supposed to build anything
except the body of Christ, the true temple of the Holy Spirit! The only thing
the Lord is interested in building is His body, brought to full maturity to
where He inhabits them and they put Him on display to the surrounding culture
and community. Is the Lord against buildings and such? Absolutely not! But
sometimes He will allow structures to be removed in order to regain the hearts
and affections of those He gave His life for.
The job description of true
apostles and prophets, what I refer to as “father” ministries, is to build up
the living body of Christ, to get them fully connected to the Head of the body,
and to fully get the body connected to one another. This is scriptural
five-fold ministry…not just having good meetings, services, conferences, etc.
If it does not conform us to the image and likeness of Christ and equip us to
allow Him to be put on display individually and corporately, then I don’t
believe it meets the measure of Eph. 4:11-16 criteria.
In John 17:20-26, we find the
only place in all of scripture where the Lord Jesus said He personally desired
something. If this is the only thing our Lord ever said He desired, then why is
it not made the central focus and priority of our lives and the ministry of
every church and ministry? The passage basically states that His desire is for
us, His body, to be first joined in complete union with He and the Father as He
and the Father are. Then, for us to be joined to one another as He and the
Father are. This is the DESIRE and PURPOSE of the Lord Jesus and the purpose and
activity of the Godhead is to see this fulfilled! If this is what He
prayed for, what He asked the Father to fulfill, and what He sent the Holy
Spirit to accomplish…then should this not be the focus and crux of everything
that “ministry” should be and do in the church?
Therefore, when He
came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a
body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for
sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come-- in the volume of
the book it is written of Me-- to do Your will, O God.’” Previously saying,
“Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not
desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),
then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the
first that He may establish the second. (Heb 10:5-9)
He is interested in building His
body in and through which He will establish His glory and destroy the works of
darkness. There is coming a restoration of the body of Christ and a restoration
of true, New Testament ministry in this next season.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
To find out more about Lionheart Restoration Ministries, visit us at:
No comments:
Post a Comment