In the early church, believers did not meet on a regular basis as one whole church. They met in homes, and these cells were spread throughout society and were centers for ministry in the communities in which they were located. I am not saying that we should adopt this pattern, but we must adopt the principle if the church is to survive the next few years.
Change is happening. The face of the true church is about to undergo a transformation so profound that we will look back at the old model and wonder how we ever survived.
We need a Kingdom mindset to embrace this change and move forward into a new apostolic reformation that will be in itself a sign and a wonder to the whole world.
We are called to carry the glory of God, but what does this mean?
The Bible tells us that God is light — not only in substance but also his power and nature are manifested as light. He is called the “Father of lights”:
JAMES 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
In this verse, the word light means to shine, especially by rays. Every good thing in this world comes down from God this way. Now, we need to understand that God accomplishes this through His people on earth.
Moses asked God to show him His glory. God thought about this request and said to Moses that He would hide him in the cleft of a rock and cover him, and that when he passed by, Moses would get a tiny glimpse of His glory.
EXODUS 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Moses asked to see the glory of God. The word glory, here, is the Hebrew word kabowd, which primarily means: honor; that which brings one honor; who a person is, one’s nature. Moses was asking God what makes Him so honorable. What makes Him who He is?
God responds by saying this: EXODUS 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
So, God put his hand over Moses, hid him and then withdrew his hand for a split second. What did Moses see?
I believe that what he saw was the most terrifying yet glorious thing that he had ever seen. He saw Christ in God taking upon Himself every sin and every disease experienced by humankind. His back was laid bear with every foul sickness and corruption; the very worst of these were etched into the raw, bloody, open wounds caused by the scourging.
Jesus was so disfigured that He was no longer recognizable as a person. He suffered every disease known to man and the wages of every sin.
What Moses saw was the great goodness of God, who would send His only Son to die a horrible death for mankind. God was showing Moses His goodness. Moses could only endure just a split second. God was telling Moses, “This is what makes me honorable; this is my glory; this is my goodness; this is who I Am.
EXODUS 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
We are called to carry the glory (the goodness of God) to this world. We are called to carry the healing light, the light of revelation and truth. It is our job to fill our homes, communities and nations with this light and the goodness of God.