By Rev. Brent Coltharp
When we open the pages of the Holy Writ, we immediately begin to learn about the nature of God. God is eternal, He preexisted time (Gen. 1:1, 1:14). God is a creator, He is able to bring things into existence from nothing or ex nihilo (Gen. 1:1). God is a god of order Immediately He began to organize His creation with such precision that scientific experiments are able to be conducted with consistent results being recorded year after year, century after century.
Worshippers of the one true God, as well as humanity in general, have been amazed throughout millennia at the magnificence of creation. Mankind is mesmerized by gargantuan mountains and stunned by the beauty of breathtaking valleys; awed by the intricacies of the human body with its heart circulating five quarts of blood throughout sixty thousand miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries. It is hard to fathom that the total length of the human circulatory system is twice the circumference of the earth. All of this is a product of vision, of the vision of God.
Vision is a mental picture of what could be and in the context of mission, what should be. Throughout the scriptures, we realize this truth with regards to our God; He has always had a compelling vision of what could be and what should be. The following are a few examples: (1) Adam was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), (2) He will present himself a glorious church (Eph. 5:27), (3) the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), (4) the gospel will be preached in all the world (Matt. 24:14), (5) He has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). It is not incidental that Old Testament prophets were often referred to as seers (I Sam. 9:9). God would move upon His mouthpiece with a vision that was then to be transmitted to His people. Remember, without a vision, the people perish (Prov. 29:18).
In a world of mission statements, those of us in the church must understand and acknowledge that our mission has already been established by God. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations, beginning with an individual being born again of water and of the Spirit. We are then to teach them to observe all things until they fulfill God’s vision for their life, in that they are to be transformed into a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Matt. 28:19-20; Eph. 4:13).
While our mission has already been established by God, as well as the vision for personal discipleship, we understand that God continues to provide His seers with visions of what could be and should be in our local churches and community. To discover a compelling vision that will catapult us into the preferred future that God desires for us to possess, we must not look inward; rather, we should look upward. God has a specific vision for our church that will be in perfect alignment with the mission of the church and the vision of personal discipleship; one that will be in unity with the Apostolic doctrine and the Pentecostal experience. So let us write the vision and make it plain that he may run who reads it (Hab. 2:2).
The above article, “A Vision to Die For,” is written by Rev. Brent Coltharp. The article was excerpted from Illinois District News.
The material is most likely copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
