The Stirring
It does not happen often that I start off my morning my watching a prophetic declaration from someone I am unfamiliar with. But several mornings ago, I noticed a video by a Nate Johnston. I'd never heard of him. And, oh my goodness! This brother was authentic and clearly under the unction of the Holy Spirit. So much so that as I laid back down afterwards, the gifts had clearly been stirred up in me and I saw an unusual vision, that I am now convinced was a heavenly one. It's so important to align with those who stir up, rather than try to stifle, the gifts God has placed in you for His purposes to be accomplished in and through your life.
The Vision:
It does not happen often that I start off my morning my watching a prophetic declaration from someone I am unfamiliar with. But several mornings ago, I noticed a video by a Nate Johnston. I'd never heard of him. And, oh my goodness! This brother was authentic and clearly under the unction of the Holy Spirit. So much so that as I laid back down afterwards, the gifts had clearly been stirred up in me and I saw an unusual vision, that I am now convinced was a heavenly one. It's so important to align with those who stir up, rather than try to stifle, the gifts God has placed in you for His purposes to be accomplished in and through your life.
The Vision:
I saw the arms of someone pushing a wheelbarrow of large "inner workings" of a pieces of machinery. They looked something like the one below but in one unit and shinier silver:
The 'person' had several of these "inner workings" in the wheelbarrow, which was itself pristine looking. Nothing looked old in this vision; everything in this place was pristine and new. It's an outdoor scene and I could see that these "inner-workings" were being returned to a holding pen. But the holding pen had no gate or locks. It simply had a doorway opening without an actual door or gate. In the holding area there were other inner-workings that had also been returned. The holding pen was not crowded by any means but there were several already in there so that it was not altogether empty.
The Interpretation
2 Corinthians 5:17
These inner-workings, the Lord said, are the inner-working of the saints. These were the new things we received when we accepted Christ. At least, it is what we have access to whether we decide to use them is up to us. In other words, these were "heavenly inner-workings."
The Spirit of the Lord "said" that these were inner-workings of the saints that had been returned (to sender) in effect. The Scripture that immediately came to mind, and still resonates is, 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."
That is why these inner-workings were all pristine and new looking. They were new and that were heavenly.
So for the sake of clarity, let's take the whole context of the Scripture by going back a verse examining verses 16-21, which say:
No Longer a Worldly View
"16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer."
- The person who is now born of God, that is born of heaven through Jesus Christ, no longer regards life with a worldly point of view. They have become new with new insight guided by the Lord.
Now a New Creation in Christ
1"7 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! "
- The key is to be found "in Christ." It's the only way to become this new creation. To be "in Christ" we have to follow closely after Him, letting His Word and actions guide ours. This is all facilitated by the Holy Spirit. Once a person has decided to be in Christ, that is purpose in their hearts to be "all in," their old nature is no more and the new nature has replaced it.
However, what the vision demonstrates, a person may return that new nature to it's Sender an Maker. And I am sure that the implication here is that the person continues to believe and to portray to others that they are saved. Yet, their on the inside they are not. They are attempting to dupe God just as they dupe others. But God knows who belongs to Him and who does not. That is why the Scripture says that one day the Lord will actually say to those folks, "Depart from me, I never new you."
The Ministry of Reconciliation
"18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: "
Without the inner workings from the Lord, we cannot reconcile others to Jesus because we ourselves are not truly reconciled. Once we are reconciled to God then, and only then, can we ourselves be reconcilers of others to God.
The Message of Reconciliation
"19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
- So once we are reconciled to Christ we are reconciled to God, the Father. And the reason we become new is that the sin of our past is taken away leaving us pristine and clean to be presented to God, then Father. There is no longer any sin separating us from God. Christ has taken it away. No, we not only have a ministry of reconciliation but the message of reconciliation through the preaching of the Gospel/giving our testimonies.
Ambassadors for Christ the King and His Kingdom
"20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."
- An ambassador is "an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country." He/she represents the interests of the country that sent them. So, too, do we represent the Kingdom of God and it's King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The ambassador is not self-interested so he does not speak for himself or act in his own interests. He asks for the One Who sent Him. In a way, Jesus was the ultimate Ambassador of the Kingdom of God because He did not do anything in self-interest or on His own authority but God's. He came as the ultimate Reconciler to reconcile mankind back to God.
Becoming the Righteousness of God
"21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
- Jesus became the very embodiment of sin, our sin. I cannot even imagine what that must have looked like to the All-seeing One. It must have been hideous! God sent Jesus for this very reason, to die as the embodiment of sin. It was the only way to make us righteous in His eyes. That is why there is no righteousness apart from the Cross. Jesus did that and not we, the saints and children of God, those in Christ, have become the very righteousness of God. That is astounding!
The Scripture Applied to the Vision
Taking this Scripture apart, I find the meaning and the message of the vision. You see, the inner-workings come with a Manual , the Holy Bible along with the Teacher and Writer of the Scriptures. When the believer operates without consulting or contrary to the prescriptions and proscriptions of the Manual, they are effectively returning the heavenly inner-workings to the Giver. They are saying, in essence, we'll continue in our old way instead of using these new "inner-workings" by which to function. This can range from using old ways of being on one decision to backsliding completely.
More plainly, the newness that we walk in as believers is only possible as we walk in lock step with heaven - as we follow Christ. The way to do that is by biblical conduct as we walk in the Spirit. God is not expecting us to be perfect in this flesh. But He does expect us to be led by His Spirit and so operate with the heavenly inner-workings He has given us. When we do not, we are constructively engaging in a "return" transaction.
Taking this all as a cohesive message from the Lord in walking out this passage of Scripture, if we do not maintain our newly minted heavenly inner-workings, we have nothing and no way in which to be effective ambassadors for Christ in this ministry of reconciliation. This means, we cannot reconcile the world with our clever eloquence, fine speeches, and charismatic ways. We must follow the biblical, not the worldly, model we once used, to reconcile the world to God.
CONCLUSION
God's word is simple in so many ways. He simply asks to trust that He is not hiding the ball. Yet we are encouraged to listen with spiritual ears, open our spiritual eyes, and yield our wills to Him so that He may use the gifts He has given us. We are to do all of this while conducting ourselves in the fruit of the Spirit. After all, if it's His work we are doing, we much do it in His way. When we do this, regardless of the levels of ability we may have, we will hear, ‘"Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’" [Matt. 15:21].
“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” - James Hudson Taylor
CLOSING PRAYER:
Precious Lord. Thank you for my "inner-workings" from heaven. Thank you for the new me. Lord I will obey your Spirit as He leads me in reading my Manual, Your Word; as He leads me in prayer, in worship, and in following the examples of Jesus, Who constantly submitted to Your will, even to death. Please give me a hefty appetite for ingesting Your Word everyday, making it more important than my daily meals. Help me to treasure my time in Your presence above what I have in the past. Lord, I love you and want to live my life to please You. You are worthy of anything and everything I could ever offer you. The best I have to offer is my life! Take and use it as best You can so that I can hear from You: "Well done good and faithful servant." I pray this all in the holy and blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
The Interpretation
2 Corinthians 5:17
These inner-workings, the Lord said, are the inner-working of the saints. These were the new things we received when we accepted Christ. At least, it is what we have access to whether we decide to use them is up to us. In other words, these were "heavenly inner-workings."
The Spirit of the Lord "said" that these were inner-workings of the saints that had been returned (to sender) in effect. The Scripture that immediately came to mind, and still resonates is, 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."
That is why these inner-workings were all pristine and new looking. They were new and that were heavenly.
So for the sake of clarity, let's take the whole context of the Scripture by going back a verse examining verses 16-21, which say:
No Longer a Worldly View
"16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer."
- The person who is now born of God, that is born of heaven through Jesus Christ, no longer regards life with a worldly point of view. They have become new with new insight guided by the Lord.
Now a New Creation in Christ
1"7 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! "
- The key is to be found "in Christ." It's the only way to become this new creation. To be "in Christ" we have to follow closely after Him, letting His Word and actions guide ours. This is all facilitated by the Holy Spirit. Once a person has decided to be in Christ, that is purpose in their hearts to be "all in," their old nature is no more and the new nature has replaced it.
However, what the vision demonstrates, a person may return that new nature to it's Sender an Maker. And I am sure that the implication here is that the person continues to believe and to portray to others that they are saved. Yet, their on the inside they are not. They are attempting to dupe God just as they dupe others. But God knows who belongs to Him and who does not. That is why the Scripture says that one day the Lord will actually say to those folks, "Depart from me, I never new you."
The Ministry of Reconciliation
"18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: "
Without the inner workings from the Lord, we cannot reconcile others to Jesus because we ourselves are not truly reconciled. Once we are reconciled to God then, and only then, can we ourselves be reconcilers of others to God.
The Message of Reconciliation
"19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
- So once we are reconciled to Christ we are reconciled to God, the Father. And the reason we become new is that the sin of our past is taken away leaving us pristine and clean to be presented to God, then Father. There is no longer any sin separating us from God. Christ has taken it away. No, we not only have a ministry of reconciliation but the message of reconciliation through the preaching of the Gospel/giving our testimonies.
Ambassadors for Christ the King and His Kingdom
"20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."
- An ambassador is "an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country." He/she represents the interests of the country that sent them. So, too, do we represent the Kingdom of God and it's King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The ambassador is not self-interested so he does not speak for himself or act in his own interests. He asks for the One Who sent Him. In a way, Jesus was the ultimate Ambassador of the Kingdom of God because He did not do anything in self-interest or on His own authority but God's. He came as the ultimate Reconciler to reconcile mankind back to God.
Becoming the Righteousness of God
"21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
- Jesus became the very embodiment of sin, our sin. I cannot even imagine what that must have looked like to the All-seeing One. It must have been hideous! God sent Jesus for this very reason, to die as the embodiment of sin. It was the only way to make us righteous in His eyes. That is why there is no righteousness apart from the Cross. Jesus did that and not we, the saints and children of God, those in Christ, have become the very righteousness of God. That is astounding!
The Scripture Applied to the Vision
Taking this Scripture apart, I find the meaning and the message of the vision. You see, the inner-workings come with a Manual , the Holy Bible along with the Teacher and Writer of the Scriptures. When the believer operates without consulting or contrary to the prescriptions and proscriptions of the Manual, they are effectively returning the heavenly inner-workings to the Giver. They are saying, in essence, we'll continue in our old way instead of using these new "inner-workings" by which to function. This can range from using old ways of being on one decision to backsliding completely.
More plainly, the newness that we walk in as believers is only possible as we walk in lock step with heaven - as we follow Christ. The way to do that is by biblical conduct as we walk in the Spirit. God is not expecting us to be perfect in this flesh. But He does expect us to be led by His Spirit and so operate with the heavenly inner-workings He has given us. When we do not, we are constructively engaging in a "return" transaction.
Taking this all as a cohesive message from the Lord in walking out this passage of Scripture, if we do not maintain our newly minted heavenly inner-workings, we have nothing and no way in which to be effective ambassadors for Christ in this ministry of reconciliation. This means, we cannot reconcile the world with our clever eloquence, fine speeches, and charismatic ways. We must follow the biblical, not the worldly, model we once used, to reconcile the world to God.
CONCLUSION
God's word is simple in so many ways. He simply asks to trust that He is not hiding the ball. Yet we are encouraged to listen with spiritual ears, open our spiritual eyes, and yield our wills to Him so that He may use the gifts He has given us. We are to do all of this while conducting ourselves in the fruit of the Spirit. After all, if it's His work we are doing, we much do it in His way. When we do this, regardless of the levels of ability we may have, we will hear, ‘"Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’" [Matt. 15:21].
“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” - James Hudson Taylor
CLOSING PRAYER:
Precious Lord. Thank you for my "inner-workings" from heaven. Thank you for the new me. Lord I will obey your Spirit as He leads me in reading my Manual, Your Word; as He leads me in prayer, in worship, and in following the examples of Jesus, Who constantly submitted to Your will, even to death. Please give me a hefty appetite for ingesting Your Word everyday, making it more important than my daily meals. Help me to treasure my time in Your presence above what I have in the past. Lord, I love you and want to live my life to please You. You are worthy of anything and everything I could ever offer you. The best I have to offer is my life! Take and use it as best You can so that I can hear from You: "Well done good and faithful servant." I pray this all in the holy and blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
