2022
The year is 2022 A.D. 2022 years… since what? What are we counting? A.D., anno domini – Year of our Lord. The advent of a major shift in the Kingdom of God. It is the year that God’s Messiah came to change three things, came reset the “BAR” of God’s mission that was established back in Genesis 1:28, that mankind would fill the “whole earth” with His glory (Isaiah 6:3). We can remember what the Lord Jesus Christ brought to us with the acronym “BAR”, as God brought through His Son:
- A new Battlefield – Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Under the Old Covenant God’s people were tasked with taking possession of the Promised Land by military force and eliminating the people who were already judged (Canaanites). This was a flesh and blood battle. But with the coming of Jesus Christ, the battlefield changed. No longer would there be a “flesh and blood” enemy, but He took the battle to the real source – a spiritual battlefield. To prevail in this battle, the Lord had to have new recruits…
- A new Army – God expanded His forces by going beyond the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As Jesus said, “…from these stones God is able to raise up children of Abraham.” By way of the provision of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God could actually adopt sons (children), as it is written in Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father””. For as many as receive Him, “to them He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12. God decentralized His army, a gave us a new battlefield in spiritual realms, taking the fight to the source. Under the Old Covenant, God went with His army to battle by way of His Presence in the Ark of the Covenant, but how would this new army find victory by the authority of His Presence? God needed…
- A new Residence – Steven proclaimed in Acts 7:48, “…the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands…” As it is written in Colossians 1:27, “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The “hope of glory” is the same “glory” from Isaiah 6:3, that this would cover the whole earth. God’s residence changed from a tabernacle or temple, to the heart of every believer, so that John spoke truly in 1 John 4:4, “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world”.
This is what changed 2022 years ago. And we are closer to the fulfillment of this mission than ever before in history. Do not lose heart. He will bring this to pass. For, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.