God needs the man-child for His greatest dispensational move, the ending of the age of the church and the bringing in of the age of the kingdom; He is after the overcomers who cooperate with Him fully to end this age and bring in the kingdom age.
And He will gain such ones.
We have seen that in this age God has a need – even though He is almighty and omnipotent when it comes to the fulfillment of His economy, He needs man to cooperate with Him.
We can illustrate this with a great machine that is very powerful, but it is operated by a small man who turns it on or off, and who manoeuvres it according to how he thinks best.
Also, this can be illustrated with us laying the tracks for the great locomotive and train of God’s move; through our prayer, we cooperate with Him for His move, and He can move in an unhindered way when we pray one with Him.
In order for God’s will to be done on earth and for His eternal purpose to be fulfilled, God needs our cooperation. He did not need man’s cooperation when He created the universe and all living things, but when it comes to the fulfillment of His purpose, He needs man’s cooperation in prayer.
May the Lord bring us to a place of total responsiveness to Him so that He may have a free and unhindered way to accomplish what is in His heart today.
God needs man to recover the earth; He created the earth perfectly and wonderful, but the earth was usurped by Satan.
Satan took the lead to rebel against God, and man followed Satan in his rebellion.
God would never lower Himself to deal with Satan, a creature; He created man in His image and gave man His authority so that man would deal with Satan and bring in the kingdom of God on earth.
God needs to end this age; the situation around us clearly shows that we are living in the last days, right before the Lord’s coming.
These days, we need to be the family of Noah who builds the ark by building the corporate Christ, the church life.
The church life is today’s ark to terminate this age and bring in God’s kingdom. When the Lord gains a mature testimony of the church in the Lord’s recovery, He will return.
He is waiting for our cooperation – He is waiting for the overcomers to be produced so that the man-child would be manifested, then raptured, and then Satan will be cast down, judged, the end will end, and the kingdom will come in.
May we be those who cooperate with the Lord today so that we may become the man-child for His greatest dispensational move!
May we give ourselves to the Lord to cooperate with Him for the producing of the overcomers who bring Him back, end this age, and bring in the age of the kingdom!
The Man-child are the Overcomers who Enable God to Accomplish His Purpose Today
According to Rev. 12:1-5 and 7-12, God needs the man-child for His greatest dispensational move; once the manchild is produced, the end of the age is near, and Satan is about to be terminated.
The manchild is actually the overcomers. Doctrinally speaking, according to Rev. 12 and 14, there are two categories of overcomers: the overcomers who have died physically before the Lord’s return (the man-child) and the overcomers who are living at the Lord’s return (the firstfruits).
Revelation tells us that the number of the living overcomers is one hundred and forty-four thousand.
We may think that this number is too small, for there are more than five hundred million genuine believers living on earth today, but the principle of the overcomers is the principle of a small number, a remnant.
The man-child for God’s greatest dispensational move is what needs to come into being today; we need to live in the principle of the manchild today.
The man-child refers to the overcomers in the church, to the portion of the people of God who are overcomers (Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5).
We may think that we are not overcomers and that we can’t be overcomers, for we are so weak, we have so many problems and failures…but actually, the destiny of every believer in Christ is to be an overcomer.
Every regenerated person has the destiny of being an overcomer, whether in this age or in the next. It is similar to the birth of a child: the destiny of every human being, even a baby, is to become a fully grown human being.
Spiritually speaking, it is our destiny to become overcomers, and we can cooperate with the Lord today to be produced as His overcomers for His greatest dispensational move!
The overcomers are the instrument that enables God to achieve His purpose; the man-child enables God to move (Rev. 12:10-11).
The principle of the overcomers is seen everywhere in the Bible, for the general condition of God’s people in every age is not so good, but in every age, the Lord is gaining some to be His overcomers.
The overcomers are not special people: they see God’s need, give themselves to the Lord to meet His need, and do the work of God in that age on behalf of the people of God.
The manchild today are those who build the ark, the church; we are here building the church, the ark, to be the Lord’s overcomers today.
The man-child consists of the overcomers who stand on behalf of the church, take the position that the whole church should take, and do the work of the church (Rev. 2:7b, 11b, 17b, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:5, 11).
They don’t get out of the church, neither do they criticize nor expose the church of its degraded condition; they remain in the genuine church, taking the position that is normal in God’s economy, and do the work of the church.
In Rev. 2-3 the Lord didn’t charge the overcomers to come out of the church or leave the local churches; He charged them to overcome in the midst of the degradation of the church.
When the Lord gains these overcomers, His purpose will be attained, and He will be satisfied.
May we give ourselves to the Lord and cooperate with Him in prayer by saying,
Lord Jesus, produce us as Your overcomers, the man-child, for Your greatest dispensational move today! We stand one with You, Lord, for the fulfillment of Your purpose today. Save us from going along with the degradation in the church today. Amen, Lord, gain us to be Your overcomers of today who stand in the church one with You for Your will to be done and Your kingdom to come. Make us the instrument that enables God to achieve His purpose and carry out His economy. We join ourselves to You, dear Lord, and we are one with You for what You want to do in this age. Do end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom. We are one with You for this!
God Needs the Man-child for His Greatest Dispensational Move: Ending this Age and Bringing in the age of the Kingdom!
As we live at the end of this age, we realize that the Lord’s return is very soon.
When God changes His attitude toward a certain matter, He makes a dispensational move; we are approaching His greatest dispensational move – the ending of the age of the church and the bringing of the age of the kingdom.
Every dispensational move brings in God’s new way, and His most important dispensational move, as seen in Rev. 12, is the ending of this age and bringing the age of the kingdom.
Today God needs us not merely to live a normal and routine church life, learning to enjoy Christ and meeting with the saints; He needs special Christians to do a special work.
God’s purpose is that the church would express Him and represent Him, but the church as a whole has failed God, for the church is in division and degradation.
So God needs a group of overcomers in the church who make a dispensational move.
Martin Luther was used in his age to make a dispensational move, and the Brethren also were used to make a move in their age.
In every age, God needs a group of people who cooperate with Him for His dispensational move, and today at the end of the church age He has His greatest dispensational move, so He is looking for His dispensational instrument.
We are at the end of this age, and the kingdom age will soon begin; for such a dispensational move, He must obtain an instrument.
The children of God today lack a vision, but we need to see what is in God’s heart.
The times we live today are not only for us to do a general work for God but a work that changes the age. Just being a good servant of the Lord is no longer good enough; He needs to gain the man-child as His dispensational instrument for His greatest dispensational move.
This is a special time, so there’s the need for special Christians to do a special work with God and for God; there’s the need for the overcomers to cooperate with God to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom.
We are approaching the greatest dispensational move in history, for the man-child will remove man’s power and the devil’s power, and it brings in the kingdom.
The universal bright woman in Rev. 12:1-2, 5 represents the totality of God’s people, and the manchild is the strongest part within this woman.
In the Bible, the stronger ones among God’s people are considered a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing in God’s kingdom down to earth.
It is not mere individuals that are very strong; it is a fighting unit, a group of overcomers, who end this age and bring in God’s kingdom.
God will use the man-child to fulfill His economy and to accomplish His purpose (1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:11).
He needs the man-child to defeat His enemy and to bring in His kingdom so that His eternal purpose might be accomplished.
Nothing is greater than God’s eternal purpose, and it is possible for the overcomers to accomplish it.
The Lord’s recovery is the practicality of God’s economy today, and HIs economy can be carried out only by the man-child.
The man-child is related to God’s most important dispensational move.
We live in the most privileged time; today we can do the most for God, but a great price must be paid in order to be useful to Him now.
What a great blessing to live at the end of the age and live a life for the fulfillment of God’s purpose!
God wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom, and for this, He must have the man-child as His dispensational instrument.
The rapture of the man-child brings an end to the church age and introduces the age of the kingdom.
When the man-child is raptured to heaven, Satan is cast to the earth, and there is a declaration in heaven that the kingdom has come; this means that the man-child brings in God’s greatest dispensational move!
May the Lord have mercy on us that we may see where we are today, what age we live in and how much we need to cooperate with the Lord in these days, as we live on the threshold of God’s greatest dispensational move.
If we cooperate with the Lord today, we will give Him a way to build up the church as today’s ark; that built-up church will be our salvation and will give God a way to terminate this present age and bring in the age of the kingdom, thus finishing and completing His eternal economy!
We can cooperate with Him for His greatest dispensational move simply by opening to HIm prayer,
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You for Your greatest dispensational move today. Move in us and work in us. Remove in us all the hindrances to the doing of Your will for the carrying out of Your purpose. Lord, produce us to be the family of Noah who are building today’s ark, the church! Make us Your overcomers – make us the man-child today, the stronger part of Your people, so that You can have a way to carry out Your greatest dispensational move. Save us from living a routine Christian life and church life; may we be up-to-date with You to be special Christians who do a special work to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom! Amen, Lord, gain the man-child to remove man’s power and the devil’s power and to bring in the age of the kingdom!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. Mark Raabe on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 153-154, 156-157, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 1, God’s Need in the Present Age.
- Recommended further reading:
– The Principle of the Man-child (by Watchman Nee, via Affirmation and Critique, pdf here);
– Answering God’s call to be His Dispensational Instrument, His Overcomers, to Turn the age (outline via Living Stream Ministry, pdf here);
– The Characteristics of the Overcomers as the Dispensational Instrument to Turn the Age (via ageturners, article. In this conference given by Brother Ron Kangas, we consider the characteristics of the overcomers as the dispensational instrument to turn the age).
– Dispensational Moves in Church History – excerpt from, The Glorious Church, by Watchman Nee, via ministrysamples.org. - Hymns on this topic:
– Be careful lest this age would lead you from God’s heart’s desire. / For Jesus’ testimony must set all our hearts afire. / The local churches are the ark, God’s testimony true. / For this we leave the age behind and give our hearts anew. (Hymns #1268)
– Train us up today, / Full of vision, seeking You, / We’d await Your timing, fully subject to Your will, / Treasuring Your face, / Staying in Your presence, Lord; / E’en the very index of Your eyes would we obey. / Raise up some to meet Your need, some Nazarites, / To bring in Your kingdom on earth today, / Taking You as King that You may return / To usher in the end of the age. (Song on, In this godless age)
– God is seeking some today to turn the age, / Some who’ve dispensational value gained; / He is calling us to be His Nazarites. / Oh, will you be one who fully pays the price? / And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb / And by the word of their testimony; / They loved not their soul life unto death; / They did not love their soul life / Unto death. (Song on, And they overcame him)
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