Let US Rise Up And Build

My passion is to see Christ fully formed in His Body! God has called us to build the House. I'm praying that this short post will encourage you to catch the vision for the House God is building. The Glory of this House will be greater than that of the former and in this place God will give Peace! (Haggai 2:9)

It's a new day! The Father is building a glorious House made up of every tribe and tongue. This House isn't being made by man's hands, man's wisdom, or man's skill. This House is being built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). Except the Lord builds the House, its builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1). It's all God's doing! Of this House God has called every believer to be a part. It will not be built only by a select few but by all of us TOGETHER.

What does this House look like? This House is Christ fully formed in His people! Paul says in Galatians 4:19 that he's undergoing the pain of childbirth to see Christ fully formed in His Church. Oh that leaders in the Body of Christ would get this. Our call is to build up the Body of Jesus, to equip the Saints, and to empower God's people to do the work of ministry. Jesus is the blueprint! We need to get a revelation of the House of God. If you're going to effectively build the House you need a revelation of Jesus! God is raising up leaders with an Ezekiel 43:10 ministry who are showing the House to the House and helping us get a vision of His pattern.

Ephesians 4:11-16 is one of my favorite passages of Paul. Here Paul speaks of the ascension gift ministries of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. Their job is to equip the Saints (perfect the Saints KJV), for the work of the ministry, for the building up (edifying) of the body of Christ.

The word equip here means to set a broken bone, to place a dislocated part into the right place, to mend a net, and to put something right. Our natural body can't function correctly when a bone is out of joint. It's the same in the body of Christ. When our nets are broken we can't fully contain all that God has for us. We are entering a season where God is setting bones in their correct place and mending nets. There's grace for healing being released across the body right now. Where there has been division He's bringing healing. We're entering a time of equipping like never before! Grab your nets and join hands with others in the body. Get ready to see a outpouring like you've never seen.

We've all been called to the work of ministry. This word ministry simply means service. The ministry is not for some select few. It's for every believer. You will never outgrow service in the body of Christ. The work of service unites all believers from the Apostle to the most insignificant disciple (1 Corinthians 12:18-25). The Bible speaks of the priesthood of ALL believers. It's time to stop putting a select few in the Church up on a pedestal. Every believer has been called to place of honor in the body. When we only give honor to a select few we are saying that we don't believe in the priesthood of all believers. You've been called to the ministry! God has given you something that we need! There is no such thing as an insignificant Christian. You've got what I need. Please don't sit on the sidelines any longer. Do the work of the ministry!

Lastly the ascension gift ministries have been given to edify the body of Christ. Edification means the act of building. Bill Scheidler says that edification is the placing, arranging and the putting in order of the stones that have been gathered. It's the assembling of ourselves into a structure. You are the House of God!

Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. Romans 15:2
Let all things be done unto edifying. 1 Corinthians 14:26
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

If what we are doing isn't edifying the body of Christ it's time we've removed it from our life. Corrupt communication in Ephesians 4 isn't referring to what we might call colorful language. Anytime we offer anything other than a word of grace that will build up God's people we are using corrupt communication. It's time we stop browbeating the Church and keeping Her sin conscious. Let's speak to who she is in Christ and call Her righteousness forth! That's truly building up the body of Christ. If the Church only knew who she was she would be unstoppable!

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Isaiah 52:1,2 ESV

There is coming a shift in our identity in these last days. The Church is coming out of spiritual darkness and is shaking off the dust. She's no longer going to live according to the man of the dust Adam. She's rising in newness of life and declaring the finished work of Jesus. She's seated with Christ in heavenly places. Someone tell the Church that Her warfare has been accomplished! Nothing will stop this House from being built. Jesus WILL build His Church!

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:25-27

The word "you" in Colossians 1:27 is a plural pronoun. The verse could better be translated, "Christ in and among all of you." If we want to fully see His glory released in the earth it's time we join together like never before. These bones can live. They're coming together and an army is being released in the earth. This isn't a time to hide in caves or get ready for a big escape. God's glory will fill the whole earth and He's going to do it through a Body! (Habakkuk 2:14)

The glory of this latter House will be greater than that of the former! God isn't interested in physical houses anymore. He's building a spiritual temple that will be fully formed into the image of Christ. I pray that God will give you a vision of the House that He's building. May we say like the men of Nehemiah's time, "Let us rise up and build!"