(This is a copy of a previous article, which I wrote a few years ago. I wanted to re-release it and archive it here on my blog. Blessings, J.S.Marek)

He who has ears, let him hear…

“This is the testimony of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
The noble theme, written before the dawn of time
This is the story of His love
The Garden, the Cross, and the Kingdom to come
He created, He came, He died
And He rose to life

Blessed is the one invited to
The Wedding Supper of the Lamb
Blessed is the one destined to
Be joined with Christ, the Bridegroom King”

These words are the bridge and chorus of a song I wrote in December of 2008.  The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.  When the Holy Spirit speaks, He always speaks unto the glory of our Lord Jesus.  Where the testimony of Jesus is revealed and glorified, the Holy Spirit is present.  He gives the faithful witness of the Father’s creative love and faithfulness, of the reconciliation to Himself of which we were given access through the Cross, and of the glory and promise to come.

The Word of God in its fullness is Christ in you, the Hope of glory.  Through this hope we have become a great inheritance for the God of our Salvation.  In a day that is yet to come, we will receive the fullness of this promise, when Jesus comes to claim His inheritance among the nations.  It is for this reason that the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

The Spirit of prophecy not only reveals the end of the story, but also bears witness to what God is doing in our day and time.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but His agenda on earth will vary from generation to generation.  To use a simple example, if Noah had not built the ark when God instructed, Noah would have perished in the flood.  Yet, if the prophet Jeremiah had built an ark in the days preceding the captivity in Babylon, it would not have provided refuge from God’s judgment.  We cannot assume that something is going to work because God did it in the past.  Instead, we must seek the counsel of the Lord so that we might know what He is revealing to our generation.  It states in Psalm 33 that the counsel of the Lord and the plans of His heart for all generations will stand firm forever.  Without vision the people will perish.  “What has God appointed for our generation?”

Before we can answer this question, we must have at least a foundational understanding of our purpose and identity.  “Why do I exist?”

Children of God

You were created in the image of God for the purpose of fellowship with God.  God is the Creator of life, therefore by definition, He must create life.  Everything that has been made was made by Him and for His purpose.  You were created with the intent that you would be His child, and therefore, an heir.

The Word of God in its fullness is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  You were created to know Him and be known by Him, to reflect His glory and to experience His pleasure.  Your inheritance and purpose for existence was lost due to the consequences of sin, but has been redeemed for you by the perfect Son, Jesus Christ, who is both Lord and Savior.  For through Him you are born again by His Spirit and given access into the inheritance that was once lost.  Only in Christ is your existence and inheritance as a child of God restored.

To be in Christ you must promise to take His name.  When you were called, you were not called merely for the purpose of being saved from hell.  You were called to become one in Him with all who call upon His name.  As one, you are now betrothed to Christ, being prepared as a Bride.  You are the beloved of Christ.  As His beloved and betrothed, your inheritance is much greater than just that of being ‘saved’.

Jesus the Bridegroom King

The Scriptures describe Jesus as a bridegroom.  If Jesus is a bridegroom, there must be a bride destined to marry Him, for if not, then God would be a liar.  Jesus is also a King, but not only that, He is the King above all kings. Therefore, if you have taken the name Christian, you are then being prepared for partnership with Christ as the royal bride. If you are new to this type of language, the bride and bridegroom nature of our relationship with Christ is not the same as our earthly understanding of marriage. Our marriage with the Bridegroom Christ is one that reveals the depth of His consuming desire that we have no other gods before Him, and that we are joined to Him in the greatest, deepest, and most pure forms of love and holiness. The apostle Paul best describes this relationship in 2 Corinthians 11:1-4.

Now then, if you are being prepared for such a great covenant, which is a sign that you are truly His betrothed, you are then taking on the characteristics of one who is completely ravished by and sincerely devoted to your beloved.  The fullness of your identity then, is to be completely His, perfected in holiness as one who is given over to His righteous love and jealous affections.

Perfect fellowship with God is the inheritance of every Christian, but this is not a quick journey.  The beauty of this journey is that He does most of the work.  He pursues you.  He redeems you.  He purifies you.  He perfects you.  The role you play is to give Him your ‘yes’.  You are required to believe on Him and receive the identity He gives you.  He is ‘I Am’ and you are ‘His’.

The Kingdom to Come

Now, as a bride and an heir of this great promise, you must know that the promise to come is not a shallow promise.  The illusion that you are destined to spend all of eternity on a cloud playing a harp is a lie from the pit of hell.  Nevertheless, many of us do not understand the age to come, and therefore adopt most of our ideas of ‘heaven’ from movies or religious superstitions.  But the eternity that God promises is much greater and not at all boring.  In this life you are sojourners and pilgrims, ambassadors for a God and a Kingdom yet to be seen, convinced by faith of the inheritance in Zion, the city who’s builder and maker is God.  Your destiny is to dwell with Jesus in Zion, and to rule and reign with Him over the nations of the earth.  In both this age and in the age to come, the calling of the Church is to be kings and priests unto our God and King.

You, beloved, are a child of God, betrothed to Christ, and called according to His purpose.  Your inheritance is to dwell in perfect union with Christ, if you give yourself fully to Him.

The Generation Israel

This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.  Psalm 24:6

God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  His desire for communion with His beloved remains the same in every generation.  God is searching for worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth.  Such worshipers are those fully committed to fulfilling the great commandment.  These worshipers shall love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.  Regardless of when we’re born, this is the will of God and the greatest calling ever given to mankind.  This is why we exist.  Nevertheless, every generation has a unique calling placed upon it.  There is a reason you are living today and not two or three hundred years ago.  It is no mistake that you are alive in this day and age.  God created you for His special purpose and He created you for such a time as this.  What has God appointed for you and for this generation?

“Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.  For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your decendants, and My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.’  One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ And name himself by the name of Israel.”  Isaiah 44:2-5

We are living in a major transitional time in God’s divine plan.  The Scriptures prophesy of the physical and personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ and the establishing of His Kingdom on earth, and I believe we are coming upon the generation in which this will happen.  As the nations grow in wickedness, the Lord is preparing His people for the great harvest of souls to be ushered into the Kingdom at the end of the age.  The Holy Spirit will quickly restore true apostolic ministry in the nations, which will in turn restore the church to its foundation of a pure and simple devotion to Jesus Christ, rooted and grounded in love and holiness.  The apostolic ministry will also release the other ministries of the church into the full expression of their purpose, and this restoration will be fully endorsed by the Holy Spirit’s demonstration of signs and wonders that glorify Jesus Christ.

In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, locally fulfilling the prophecy given by Joel.  I believe in our generation we will see a global outpouring of the Holy Spirit unto the complete fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, resulting in the most powerful manifestation of signs, wonders, prophecy and evangelism ever to take place on the earth.  As a result, we will see the fullness of the Gentile nations come into the saving knowledge of God, being transformed and matured by the Holy Spirit.  The book of Romans states that this will cause the hardness of heart that is upon the Jewish people to come to an end and they will be open to receive the Revelation of Jesus in an unprecedented way.  Their hardness of heart toward God will cease, not because of good evangelism strategies, but because their will be an outpouring of the Spirit of Elijah. This means that the all-consuming fire of God will fall upon the nations as it did on Mount Carmel, when the Lord displayed that He is God in Israel and that He is turning their hearts back to Him.

I believe even now, the remnant of Israel, the 144,ooo whom God will preserve through the tribulation, are either alive or will be born soon. Scripture and history confirm that Satan continually tries to destroy the Jews.  A massive death decree was released in the days of Moses, when God delivered the Israelites from Egypt.  Another was decreed in Jesus’ day when the Father gave us our Savior and Israel’s king.  In our day there is the greatest death decree ever released on earth.  This death decree is called abortion.  Satan is trying to kill the Jewish remnant, and also the Gentiles who will stand beside them.  This is the generation destined to hasten the day of the Lord. We know who wins in the end, and we know that the Lord Jesus Christ will return, but He’s calling us to partner with Him in His plans. Now is the time to choose sides. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Will you embrace the cross?

This is the Generation Israel.

This is the Testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Amen.  Even so, come Lord Jesus!