City Appointed_Winning a City for God Read online

  With an explosive burst of light, an angel full of brilliant glory shot out of the funnel and soared towards them. The angel looked like a flaming meteorite with ribbons of glory trailing him. He drew near and the glory faded so that they could see him more clearly, or perhaps it was that their eyes adjusted to the brightness. The angel alighted on the roof. He stood twice as tall as the other angels, who themselves were about seven or eight feet tall. The other angels remained steady in their positions, always watchful. The angel that towered above them focused his gaze upon the humans and lowered his six wings. He had four faces, one on each side of his head. You would think that a creature such as this would cause a person to cower in fear, but the effect he had on all of them was one of awe and amazement. The lion’s face was the one that looked at them. He also had the face of an ox behind, the face of an eagle on the right and a man’s face on the left. He stood, studying them for a time.

  “I will feel much more comfortable if he speaks to us from the human face,” Tristan whispered.

  “Agreed,” said Caden, who leaned over, “Do you know who this is? He’s one of the four living creatures from Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel chapter one.”

  Tristan remembered reading about the creature with the four faces when he was reading through the Old Testament prophets. It was stunning to realize that this angel, recorded in the Bible about 2,500 years ago, was standing before them in reality. It was like seeing a famous person in the flesh. ‘It’s him, the one from Ezekiel’s book!’ thought Tristan. After this experience, Tristan knew that his Bible-reading was now forever changed. ‘It’s all real. So much to re-read, so much more to discover.’

  “Peace,” was the greeting that the angel offered them. The word sounded like a growl as it was breathed out passing between the lion’s teeth. Then in an unnatural movement, his head spun around so that the eagle faced forward to deliver the message of heaven. It took them by surprise and caused Trinity and Samantha to gasp audibly. They all felt vulnerable before him, unsure of what may happen next.

  Samantha said afterward that she didn’t think it necessary to see a head spin freely like that. “He should have just come as the Eagle in the first place. Like, we had enough to deal with already, without seeing an angel’s head tumbling over its shoulders like a dice rolling across a table!”

  Liberty’s internal dialogue continued to run through her mind, ‘Just when you think you have got a handle on the situation, something else completely unexpected happens! Angels, demons, armour, swords, glory, heavenly funnels, more angels, spinning heads. It’s all a bit much! Help me to trust you, to lean into you and do what you have called me to do in this place.’

  The eyes of the seven fixed on the angel. They each braced themselves for the unexpected.

  “Well done to you all having made it this far, but your assignments are only about to begin.”

  The powerful voice that came from the beak of the eagle was other-worldly. It seemed to have an echo that resounded through their minds. It was like his words originated from another world from within the angel. The words spoken to them, so that they could understand, echoed off into other worlds, unknown by them.

  “I have been in the presence of God and have now been sent to you to tell you what must take place. But before I commission each of you I must first show you the beginning, and the commissioning of the church,” said the angel.

  The angel reached into the sash against his side and drew out a small rod. With one flick of his wrist, each end thrust out to extend to the size of a javelin. The angel spun around and threw it out over the edge of the building. It sailed through the air and pierced the realm, splitting the sky apart, revealing an opening into yet another place. A vision within a vision. The panoramic scene drew back like the opening of theatre curtains for a show, in a semi-circle wrapping around them so that it filled their entire forward field of sight.

  The seven gazed into the vision of the past to the origins and birth of the church. As they looked, they understood by revelation that they were looking back 2,000 years into Bible times. They were looking back through the history of the New Testament of the Bible. As they were taken back in time, from the book of Revelation, back through the Epistles and the Gospels, figures of men and women flashed past. Even though they had never met these people in the flesh, they knew who they were. They saw the apostle John writing the book of Revelation. Next, a raging ocean came into view with a ship sailing on the high seas and smashing into a sand bar. As the ship was being ripped apart by pounding waves and they saw men jumping out into the water. The apostle Paul was helping people off the ship and at last jumped. The waters rolled out of the vision, and a prison cell came into view. Two prisoners sitting in chains were singing praises to God, and an earthquake shook the prison cell. Chains snapped in multiple places, and doors flung open. The shaking crumbled the vision, and behind was a calm sky. A group of men and women were standing on a hilltop looking up at the clouds. Wonder and joy shone from their faces. Then the sky turned dark. It became very dark. A silhouette of three blackened crosses stood, as lightning flickered through the clouds. Truly they were looking at the moment. It was the instance when life and history changed. They felt honoured to witness the ultimate sacrifice made here, and they could feel the weight of all sin that converged in this one place.

  Then, in a sweeping upward motion, the entire scene rose high up above them, and they saw what was below. Even darker, even heavier, this was hell.

  11.

  Beginnings

  The seven continued to look in to the panoramic vision set before them. They found themselves high above the surface of hell looking down in to it, just moments before Jesus was to die on the cross.

  Cold, damp, dark mist swirled and billowed in huge pillars of cloud that extended upward for miles up to the inky blackness above hell. The air was heavy, thick and gloomy. Ominous dark shapes slowly soared on updrafts that periodically sent plumes of misty cloud into the upper reaches of the stratosphere. From that altitude, the high cloud concealed the view of the land below.

  A large shadow aimlessly circled in a wide arc toward a plume. The beast had lost all sense of time, gliding through a dark unchanging eternity. No desire for escape, no longer aware of anywhere to escape to, and no understanding of what it was anymore.

  Startled, it let out a ghostly screech as a burning ball of flame and energy burst through the atmosphere, plummeting towards the land far below. The speed at which the star shot past would have disintegrated the beast altogether had it been any closer. The creature flapped in a frenzy. Shocked and completely without understanding the beast looked down at the phenomenon, tracking it with its eyes. Already a small speck far below, the white hot flaming star continued to hurtle towards the darklands.

  Surface-dwellers lifted their heads to watch the dazzling star continue its decent, lighting up layers of cloud and mist as it unstoppably erased from existence everything in its path. The star fell as the devilish world looked on. The star was not a part of the darkened realm through which it was piercing.

  Jesus came from heaven and entered earth. He died and then dropped into darkness. Before Jesus descended, in his last moments on the cross, the columns of cloud and smoke rose up from the darklands reaching up high and seeping through into the earth realm, blackening the sky from the sixth hour.

  Jesus finally cried out aloud, “It is finished,” and with that, he breathed his last and fell from the cross and through and into the cloudy dark expanse below. This star continued to hurtle through the blackness with an incalculable mass and velocity.

  Massive impact!

  A deep thud rumbled through the darklands displacing rock and earth. An array of light pierced the thick cloud cover for a moment. The initial shockwave jolted the entire realm. The arrival was felt even to the outer limits of the domain of darkness where form and structure of the darkscape fade into oblivion. A tidal wave of wind, dust, and debris flattened the immediate vicinity and dis
lodged outer areas. The rumbling continued to roll like thunder through the ground. As the rumbling faded off, silence again settled over the land.

  His presence felt by every creature who dwelt within the domain of darkness. Unbearable life and power and light and energy, once known by those from eternity past, but now long forgotten, distanced by the void of lost knowledge and understanding.

  The realm had just changed. The materialization of the star, hurled into existence, had altered death’s domain like the needle of an injection, introducing a life-altering drug into the bloodstream.

  From the centre of the large crater, the star quickly translated itself up and out, resting on one of the newly formed rocky hills at the rim. The shape of a man visible from within the midst of the star stopped and remained stationary on a high point of the rim to look out across the land. On closer inspection, one could see that it wasn’t a man within a star, but the man was the star. He wore a glorified body. He was the bright morning star.

  Jesus stood, deep in the heart of hell. The weight of death and sorrow that covered every being like a blanket was peeled off in the presence of life himself. Far off to his left was the faint glow of the lake of fire. In the centre of his gaze were the mountain, the palace, and the throne. He stood as one who had power and authority. The King was here to take what was his and then leave. No need to stay long.

  Jesus stepped. Every step transported him closer to his destination, covering vast tracts of ground. Time and space ignored by one who came from a higher place. ‘Distance’ was merely a sheet stretched out before him, able to be snatched up and tossed aside, enabling him to arrive at any point in the realm in an instant.

  A large ancient stone archway loomed high in front of him as he neared the palace of darkness. It was tightly locked up by giant double doors made of carved slabs of rock, far heavier than any earth machine could lift and set in place. Without slowing down, Jesus passed through the doors and directly up to the throne of Satan. Stopping inches away, Jesus glared at Satan with burning eyes. Both closer to each other than they had been since the beginning of earth time.

  Every window and crack of the fortress emanated light from the Son of Light inside. Beams of glory escaped through the gaps in the masonry like sharp spears protruding from a carcass. In prideful disbelief, Satan cowered before the brightness that was shining full into his face. Even with Jesus right in front of him, he still could not believe that his greatest moment of victory became vanquished by the resurrection power of the Son of God. Satan continued to stare, as his skin began to smoulder, defiant till the end. He couldn’t see the features of Jesus’ face clearly because the brilliant glory was too bright.

  “I’ll take the keys of death now,” said Jesus in a low steady voice, as he embraced the ancient ring that hung beside Satan’s head, secured to the wall. Three keys hung off the ring, ‘Death,’ ‘Hell’ and ‘Hades.’ Jesus reached out his hand to take hold of the keys. Satan’s eyes followed, overcome with defeat. Jesus clasped the ring and ripped it from the wall. Bricks fell out and smashed on the floor, leaving a gaping hole in the wall beside the throne. Without even a second glance at Satan, Jesus leaped with a flash of energy and landed far away amongst the souls who were held in Hades waiting to be collected and relocated to heaven. Jesus gathered to himself all who would accompany him to his Father and they ascended together. The others, already lost, were left behind.

  The sky lit up with what looked like multiple lightning storms as souls departed Hades with Jesus. Sparks rose up from the land and into the night sky. Higher and higher the souls of people ascended into the upper limits of the dark expanse. Then they all broke through the boundaries of Hades and shot faster and faster through open space. Stars, galaxies, the universe, and out.

  As they ascended rapidly through the expanse of that universe and the next, a thin sliver of light could be seen that stretched across space from east to west as far as the eye could see as the horizon of a new dawn opened before them. The first glimpse of the eternal kingdom. Dazzling brilliance, waves of glory, the sweet hum of a peaceful paradise coupled with high notes that resonated from angelic musical voices melted through their souls, causing them to feel young and renewed.

  The multitude approached heaven. Everything about their surroundings pulsated with life. The redeemed stopped at the gates of light. Shafts of solid light shot upwards as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of towering beams perpetually rose without end. All had movement and life; nothing was still. Each beam had a distinct note that it emitted. Each sound was complemented by the one next to it. Together they produced a powerful chorus with each note heard distinctly, but at the same time. Two enormous angels stood either side of the gates. Were they statues, or were they real angels assigned to their positions? Either way, they looked as if they could spring to life at any moment. Beside the angels were six lions on either side, twelve in all. They looked royal and majestic. One dared not stand before them uninvited. The scene of the entrance to heaven was awesome.

  Jesus stepped through into the realm of heaven and the sea of souls that followed, whom he had saved, poured through after him. They passed through multiple beams of light. The light appeared to sing. Each note was like was like a jet-stream of wind as they passed through. Jesus entered the centre of heaven into the presence of the Father. Every single angel and living creature in heaven poised in anticipation for one of the most important moments in eternity. As he entered an eruption of song, joy, and triumph raised the entire spirit realm. Heaven resounded with voices, the foundations shook, and thunder rumbled through the firmament of the heavens. The Father ran to meet Jesus, Jesus ran towards the Father. Emotion surged through all of heaven as they embraced. Salvation was complete. Indescribable joy saturated every soul until every soul, for a moment, became joy itself.

  Jesus and the Father walked back to their thrones. Eruptions of celebration and song continued to burst forth from every part of the realm, even from the outer reaches. The Father came back to his throne, turned and finally sat. Jesus sat at his right hand taking his rightful place. The glory from the throne emanated unimaginable light.

  There was more work to be done. Jesus rose from his throne and yet again journeyed back to the surface to see his friends. He revealed himself to Mary at the tomb, he spoke with the two on the road to Emmaus, and he ate fish for breakfast with Peter on the shores of Lake Galilee. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them was written down, then even the whole world would not have room for the books that could be written.

  After forty days, he again ascended and took his place beside the Father. Jesus surveyed heaven for a moment; then his gaze moved to the concern of his heart. Jesus looked beyond heaven and fixed his gaze intently at the world. Jesus looked at every person in the world at the same time. The Globe that he had created spun before him and the sparks that were souls shone brightly on the surface. Every spark had a face and a history and a future. Every spark unique and individually crafted and each was the desire of the heart of Jesus. He saw all who lived and who would live on the third planet from the sun. Jesus looked intently, through the vision and gazed at the seven who were watching him.

  Liberty’s heart skipped. The nature of the vision suddenly changed from being a spectator of a movie, to being in the very presence of God. ‘Is Jesus looking at me? Does he know me? Does he care for me? Am I seeing this for real?’ It was a shock to transition from being an observer, separated from what she was looking at, to being brought close into the intimate personal space of Jesus. He had locked her in his gaze. His eyes were full of love and warmth and comfort. She wanted him.

  “I love you, my child,” he said.

  It was the most impacting moment in Liberty’s life.

  The age of the world had changed. A new age had birthed, the age of the church, the age of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke again, “I commission you,” he said to all who had been moved by God to bring his kingdom to the earth.
/>   The commissioning had initiated the next phase of salvation; the call had gone out from heaven and heard by all who lived in the land of time. Ordinary people responded, empowered to do extraordinary things. People equipped with the deposit of the Holy Spirit within them began to fulfil The Commissioning, and heroic stories began to be written, each bringing glory to God.

  People began to reclaim cities for the glory of God.

  12.

  Commissioning

  The vision in the sky ended. The frame dissolved into glittery dust that rained down until it was blown away by the wind. Just then lightning struck in the distance.