One of the impacting photos of the Christchurch earthquake was of a bronze statue, broken in three pieces, lying face down on paving stones, with the left arm snapped off at the elbow. The statue was in front of the Christchurch Cathedral. It is now being used as a symbol of the rising up from and recovery of those whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake.
The name of the man to whom the statue was in honour of was John Robert Godley.
He and his wife and family came from England to New Zealand where they were used to set up a small town which was named Christchurch. He was a leader who helped the early settlers find work and build this town. He decided to call the area where they were settling the province of Canterbury named after the university in England where he studied. He was very outspoken against the claiming of lands as colonies by England. He felt each province and country needed to be self sufficient, relying on its own people to set up their towns without outside control from England. He only lived in Christchurch for two years where he helped settle four boatloads of settlers in the Canterbury region. He and his family went back to England where he worked as a journalist until he died.
This is what the Lord showed me as He gave revelation of the image.
Earthquake = symbolic of shaking.
Christchurch = Christ’s church
Statue of John Robert Godley = Godly people
Toppled statue on its face = Get on your face
Smashed cathedral = State of the church, in ruins
John Godley’s left arm broken off at the elbow = dismembered, disarmed, disabled
New Zealand is a nation of firsts, and what we are seeing happening in Christchurch is also a prophetic sign to His church. New Zealand is ushering in a new season where the Lord is shaking His church at its very foundations which is going to reverberate throughout the world. He is shaking church traditions set up by the hands of men. He is shaking the old to bring about the new. The Lord is confronting man’s idolatry at many levels but particularly that of church and their buildings. The church is often more concerned for the buildings in the natural rather than the building of His Spirit in the lives of His believers. It is interesting to note that many churches, both old and new, were destroyed in the earthquake. There has been a yoke put upon God’s people where their time, monies and efforts have gone into the restoration of buildings. ‘No more will the church be built on the foundations of the hands of man, of the idolatry of buildings rather than relationship with Me.’ These buildings have exalted themselves above the Lord and with one earthquake the Lord has shaken them, causing destruction. They have become a heap of dust.
Jeremiah 1:10
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out, and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.
This was a personal word to Jeremiah, and was a prophetic declaration over his life and what he would do in his ministry, serving the Lord. This is also a way of God, to bring things down so He can rebuild again. We have seen the hand of God move as He has destroyed and thrown down that which is an abomination in His sight. We will now see a rebuilding that will be on the true Biblical foundations of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a concern which is: we need to know what it is the Lord is requiring in the respect of true Biblical foundation. It has to be about the Lordship of Jesus Christ, about His Holy Spirit leading His church, to do ALL the Lord is requiring in obedience to each and every one of His commands. It is no longer time to add Jesus Christ’s name to every other name, be that religions, culture, or worship of the dead, and worship of false gods. It must be on the name of Jesus Christ, the Name above all Names, the only name by which we can come to salvation. That is the contending in God’s church if we have eyes to see. We must see what is happening to Christchurch is a sign to what is happening to Christ’s church.
We have seen the toppled statue of John Godley. It is a prophetic sign of God’s heart cry to His people to fall down on their knees, to seek Him, for we are going to need Him like in no other time in history. He is calling His Godly people to fall on their knees in prayer and fasting for the rebuilding of His true church. We will see in coming days many churches topple: be brought down in the natural as well as the spiritual. Many churches have closed in recent times, however, in the next season we will see many churches die out and their supposed ‘works’ come to nothing. They will be as dust, a vapour, gone literally in a puff of smoke. Their people walk away disillusioned, lost, without a leader, without direction. They are ones who will wander in the desert, and in the right time, the Lord will bring them back, where they will be received and nurtured by the new: the truth of the true Jesus Christ. They will have a new revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It will only come about as Godly men and women humble themselves and fast and pray for the new to come in. These ones will be instrumental in the building and planting; ones who are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ; ones prepared for the dawning of the new church age that is being called in right now: the arising of the true apostolic/prophetic in the world. It has started and is reverberating from New Zealand, Australia and many Pacific Islands going out from there into all the world.
The dismembered arm speaks of the tearing, severing of a part of the body of Christ, that has been disarmed and disabled. That has been the call of the five fold ministry in the church. The good news is it will be joined as it is the crucial member of the body for this time in history.
The part of the word ‘dis’ as found in disarmed and disabled means a removal of a thing or quality that makes one not able to function. A member means a part of the body. In this case it is speaking of the body of Christ. The apostle Paul likens our physical body to the church. We need each part of our body to be able to function, we cannot do anything effectively without each part working in unity together. We see this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.
Following is a portion of these verses.
1 Corinthians 12:20-22
"But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.:
No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary."
For too long the body of Christ has been in disunity, competing with one another, and it has been ineffective in bringing the Kingdom of God here on earth.
We have been disarmed, in other words, we have not had the ammunition to fight, to be warriors in God’s army. Imagine if our nation’s army were not trained and did not possess armaments for war? We would lose the battle very quickly! That is how the body of Christ has been. We have quite literally had our arm severed making us unable to fight or to do all that the Lord has required. However it is changing. That part of the body is being restored. It is interesting to note that at the end of the arm is the hand, symbolic of the five fold ministry. We need our arms to do, to work and to fight. The five fold ministry is about doing the work of the ministry which involves equipping the saints. That must happen in this next season in God. That is why some churches are crumbling, and being shaken to its core. It is about bringing in the new wave of God, the new season of God, particularly the arising of the apostles and prophets. We know we are in end times and it is now time to take our positions. It is time to listen to the apostles and prophets as they bring keys of revelation to the body of Christ and to the world that is hungry and searching for truth, the Truth, Jesus Christ. He can’t do it with the old wineskin, it is about the new wineskin. The old has been brought down so the new can be built on the new foundations, Jesus Christ.
In the last couple of days they have found two time capsules inside this statue of John Godley. Perhaps it is a sign of new revelation that has been hidden and is now time to be opened up for such a time as this. The apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers working together in unity bringing new truth of the Word of God in these times will be pivotal in the maturing of the saints. We are in for difficult times and we are only seeing the beginning stages of end times and we will need these ministries to give us understanding as to what is happening in the world. The world will be looking for answers, and the body of Christ has those answers!!!
To finish: Last Sunday in Christchurch, church meetings were held outside. People came out of their houses, drawn by the sound of music from these services. My heart’s prayer is that these people have been touched by the Holy Spirit’s peace and comfort and a knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is there with them drawing them to Himself.
This is seeds of revival, of reviving a desperate people who need the Lord!!!
Please continue to pray for Christchurch and New Zealand. They are in peril!!! Lord I declare the new to come into Your church, that it would be a wave rippling out from the Pacific into the world, a world that needs You!!
AMEN!!!
