God is in the business of developing prophetic companies around the world. I believe he is more interested in creating these prophetic communities than he is in breeding a new generation of prophetic superstars. His heart is to bring the whole body of Christ under a prophetic canopy. To live in Christ is to live in the prophetic nature of God. The revelatory gifting is part of God’s DNA, implanted in us when we are born from above.
Adam was made in the image of God (Genesis 1: 26, 27). Jesus came to restore that broken image through his death and resurrection. Image counts for something in the Kingdom. All good prophets are concerned with restoring the Christ-like image to the church. All prophecy is connected to rebuilding God’s image in the body of Christ. This is why we build into a person’s spirit and not against the flesh. What we build up (edify of Christ) in the image of God will automatically remove the flesh from the life of the believer.
Man has an inbuilt capacity to be drawn towards revelatory insight whether they are in Christ or not. It is part of the human DNA in all people that they are drawn to the supernatural. It is the image of God. Until Christ reforms it, that image is fractured but it still contains the propensity for spiritual experiences beyond the natural realm. If not Christ, then another power will seek to usurp that God vacuum in all people.
A church that denies the Holy Spirit and his presence and power is simply not able to compete in a postmodern culture where the organ for receptivity of truth is the eye and no longer the ear. People are not open to hearing about God. They want to see God at work because they live in a Show and tell world.
Every one of us in the church has the capacity to prophesy. We can be a prophetic statement of what the Kingdom of heaven is-showing people what Christ is really like-by our lifestyle, our actions, our thoughts, and our identity. Were a prophetic voice of who God is how he speaks, and what he’s doing on the earth. We cannot help but be prophetic; It is in our new nature. It is who God made us to be.
It seems to me that the whole earth is waiting for something to be revealed. I sense that very clearly in my spirit; God wants to reveal something in these days that the earth has never seen. He is acutely interested in creating prophetic companies of people willing to hear his voice. His desire is that we finish better than we started. Pentecost was a wonderful beginning for the gifts of the spirit, but God has even more in store for us.
Of all the billions of people walking the earth today, I believe that Christians should be the most confident. And out of that confidence should flow courage and boldness. We all need confidence for ourselves, to enable us to walk with God effectively and to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Prophecy is centered on restoring confidence, trust, and faith to everyone who has an ear to ear. God wants a bold people, a prophetic company of declaration and proclamation. For far too long, the church has been a people of explanation. God has not put us here to explain him; he doesn’t need our help, and we’re not very good at rationalizing him anyway. We can’t explain him and were certainly not supposed to apologize for him. No, we are here to declare who he is. We are here to proclaim His Majesty, and the best way to do that is by living it. Confidence is the lowest form of faith, but every Christian should stand at least at that level.
Prophesy can help build people’s faith by revealing more of God’s nature to them. We can see the role of the Holy Spirit in this.
1 Corinthians 12: 4 now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
The final phrase, “for the common good”, is at the very heart of the revelatory gifts. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy, are not just for our own personal benefit; They enable us to benefit the church for the common good of everyone who is present. The gifts of the Spirit should never be abused-they are used only to bless the common good. The gifts of the Spirit are for the purpose of releasing and expanding the Kingdom not just empowering the church. The “common good” therefore is about the benefit for all humanity and not just believers in Christ. Prophecy as much as all the aspects of Christ’s spirituality has relevance for all people everywhere at all times.
When God is vague about something it is always for a purpose. Clearly here he does not want us to know specifically what varieties are of gift, ministry, and effects. If he had specified exactly what these different varieties were then humanity would have locked up the experience to only those elements. This is an invitation to be open in our thinking and practice .It is an ongoing call to intentionally explore the heart of the father for all people in all circumstances. It is a summons to live a life of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit so that he may always give us not only the best gift but the most suitable expression of it to that individual or people group.
Jesus only mentioned the word church two or three times in scripture but mentioned the Kingdom almost 80 times. He clearly wanted to keep our understanding of the church as fluid as possible. Ecclesia, the Greek word for church, means more than just a simple gathering; it means they are a called-out company of people who are to govern the earth. We are a committed group of people, meeting together for a common purpose. Church is not a place we go to. It is who we are together.
God didn’t list the variety of gifts because there are endless ways he can do things. He knew that if he had laid everything out for us, we would stop exploring the spirit and quit experimenting with his gifts. There are all different kinds of profits. I like discovering what kind of prophet a person is, and what the nature of their particular calling includes. God is not one-dimensional. He is multidimensional and far bigger than anyone we could dream of.