The New Era of GloryEbook PDF Download
By Tim Sheets
Price: $16.99
I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8
I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Revelation 1:11
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Revelation 21:5-7
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Revelation 22:13
As I was waking up one morning recently, I very clearly heard the Lord say, "I am the Alpha and the Peep." Immediately I realized He was trying to reveal something to me, which I quickly understood to be more of a confirmation than a new revelation.
To peep means to look quickly and secretively at something, especially through a narrow opening.
There are those in the Body of Christ today who are a remnant at the most, and perhaps even a remnant within a remnant, who are getting a glimpse, a peep into the ending, the omega that Jesus described Himself as four times in the Book of Revelation.
The number four in scripture is representative of setting things in order, especially in relation to destiny. There are four seasons, four corners of the Earth or directions (north, south, east and west), four accounts of the Gospel in the Bible, and a square has four corners and four sides with each side being equal, signifying strength (a four cornered object made with 45 degree angles is a strong and secure object).
So the fact that Jesus says four times in Revelation that He is the beginning and the ending, is establishing a truth that sets things in order. We tend to think of the beginning and ending as having to do with a timeline, but that viewpoint gives us a very limited understanding of what Jesus is trying to communicate here. He, Jesus the person, the Spirit that is God, is the beginning and the ending, which not only encompasses time but supersedes time. The destiny that time is propelling us toward is entirely in Him.
The beginning and ending of everything that is, exists in eternity, rather than on a timeline of history. And yet, our understanding of God and who we are in Him is playing out on a timeline that He created.
A Remnant within a Remnant
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32 (emphasis added)
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
God has always had a remnant. At times it was one person or family, such as Noah and Abraham. At other times it was a people group. The Israelites were a remnant of all the people on Earth. The Jews were a remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel and the first Christians were a remnant of the Jews.
Today there is a new remnant, which I believe Joel was referring to in Joel 2:32. It is interesting to me that Joel referred to Mount Zion and to Jerusalem as being two different places in this prophetic word. Aren't they the same place geographically?
Could it be that the difference between the two is referring to Mount Zion as Israel and Jerusalem, or the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 3:12, 21:2), as the true Church or the Body of Christ.
Many that go by the label Christian today are not born again (born from above) and know the Lord only in name if at all. There is a remnant, the true Church, coming down from Heaven because they have first ascended up to Heaven, being seated with Christ in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6). From that vantage point they have seen the Kingdom of God/Heaven coming in Earth as it is in Heaven, and as they descend into the systems of the world, they are imposing that Kingdom on the nations of the world.
But there is another remnant that is seeing the Kingdom much clearer than the remnant that is the New Jerusalem. This remnant has been marked by the rather intense and severe tests and trials they have endured, which has produced in them a trust in and an intimacy with God that few in the Body of Christ have experienced.
Those in the Church, the ekklesia (meaning called out ones in Greek), have been called to be born again and seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But those currently being brought to a place of deeper trust and intimacy are the chosen Bride of Christ. At the present time the entire Body of Christ is not the Bride of Christ.
Just as Eve was taken out of Adam in order to complete Adam, the Bride of Christ is currently being taken out of the Body of Christ in order to complete the Body of Christ. That's why some are finding it hard or impossible to continue doing church the way it has been done for a long time.
The New Jerusalem that Joel saw didn't look like the New Jerusalem that John saw. The New Jerusalem that Joel saw was separate from the remnant he spoke of. I believe Joel was prophesying the present time when the Remnant Bride of Christ is being taken out of the Body of Christ, in order to complete the Body of Christ.
The New Jerusalem that John saw was the completed Body of Christ, overcomers adorned as a bride for her husband (see Revelation 3:12, 21:2).
Joel saw into the future the Church we are seeing in the present time. John saw the Church of the future, which Paul spoke of in Ephesians 5:27 as a glorious Church, not having spot, wrinkle or any such thing; holy and without blemish, or in a word, perfect. This is the Church that the Remnant Bride of Christ is getting a glimpse of, or peeping into.
From Glory to Glory
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 14
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Jesus was not only in the beginning, He is the beginning. A glorious beginning full of grace and truth, which the original disciples beheld and which we, His present day disciples can also behold. But there is a remnant today that is not only beholding the glory of the beginning that He is, we are getting a glimpse of or a peep into the even more glorious ending that He is.
This is not about so-called end times, which are not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible does mention the last days, but that is only referring to the last days of the week. Peter said that a day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day (see 2 Peter 3:8), so there is a parallel between the seven days of creation and the seven millennia that the Bible focuses on. We are now in the last day (millennium) of the week, which is the third day (millennium) of the Church.
It is in this day (millennium), which is the Sabbath that all the Sabbaths of the law and the Sabbath of creation point the way to, that the Church will be perfected; becoming the Bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem that John saw, which only a remnant is able to comprehend at the present time. It is in this day that time, which is never ending, will be overwritten by eternity. And I might add, this remnant within the remnant, is getting a peep into that reality as well.
While we are not 100% there yet, we have peeped into what it is to continually, perpetually and eternally go from glory to glory, which makes all the tests and trials we have endured worth the cost.
There has never been a day like this day. There has never been a time like this time. And as I often say, surely we were born for such a time as this!
Lanny Swaim
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