God Has Prophetic Vision

In this context " God Vision" is applied to God's projected plan and purpose. God has vision for the earth, for people and for the Church. Right now I'm going to be focusing on God's vision for the Church, the spiritual Body of Christ on earth. 

God's vision for the Body of Christ, the Church was "kick started" with the out pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Prior to Jesus' ascension into heaven He instructed His followers to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they received power from heaven, after which they would we His witnesses throughout the world. Lk. 24:49 - And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. 

The point I want to make here is that the out pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a manifestation of God's "prophetic vision". This phenomena had been foretold and promised by the Lord. In Peter's explanation of this "happening' he boldly declares it to be the fulfillment of the prophesy given by the Lord through the prophet Joel. 

Joel 2:28-32  "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29  Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30  "And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (ESV) Peter's quotation of this is found in Acts 2:17-21. This was a definite part of God's "prophetic vision" being realized. Is was the initiation of something totally foreign to the world. Something that had never happened. God had a plan then and He has a plan today, a plan which involves His Holy Spirit and His people.

Before we get to exactly what God's "prophetic vision" is today I think we should first address the possibilities there are of God's people not "catching" that vision. The best example of this is Israel's exodus from Egypt. God's vision for His people was revealed to Moses. Ex. 3:8 - So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey,... (NLT)  The vision was twofold! One, "out of" and two, "into". The first generation of "exodus Israelites" failed to embrace God's full vision for them. They experienced the "out of" yet refused to "go in" and lay hold of the Promised Land. The result was they spent their remaining years wandering in the wilderness of doubt, fear and unbelief. They never experienced God's best for them, nor did where instruments in the hands of God to bring about His purposes in the earth. It wasn't until the second generation of "exodus Israelites" chose to embrace God's "prophetic vision" did the nation of Israel glorify the Lord through their acts of daily obedience to God's purposes for them.

God has a "prophetic vision" for His people today, a vision which dwarfs the one he had for the nation of Israel. The challenge is, are we ready to fully embrace it in our generation? Jesus said, "I will build My church and all the power of hell will not overcome it"