| In about the year 2000, a
preacher asked his listeners if they had a vision for the city in which
they were living. His question really shook me up. I realised that I had
been living in Christchurch for fifteen years, but did not have an
understanding of God’s purpose for the city named after his son. I
decided that I needed to find out a bit more about his plan for this city.
I began by doing some historical research. Many Christians have studied
the influence of evil on the history of the city, but I was not interested
in that. The plans of the evil one are irrelevant to me. I wanted to find
out what God had was doing in the lives of the people who planned and
developed this settlement. I wanted to understand his influence on the
people who first came to this city. I found something quite different from
what I expected. The insights that I gained are set out in the linked
pages.
When David Pawson visited
New Zealand in 1982, he brought two burdens that God had given him for the
nation. One burden, which has not received much attention, was as follows:
God wants New Zealand back.
He wants New Zealand back as
a nation that will be a model to the nations
of a people who are living under the government of GOD.
God intends New Zealand to be one of those nations
where he demonstrates his Kingdom.
New Zealand is a nation that could be brought
under the government of God
and be a light to the nations.
This was an important message for New Zealand. It
is also very relevant for the city of Christchurch.
The kingdom of man is rising to a climax in Europe
and the USA, but it is also running out of steam. The result will be a
time of darkness, destruction and trouble all over the world. However, God
has a plan for this time. His light shines strongest in the darkness.
God is establishing safe havens where the
knowledge of the Kingdom of God can be preserved through this darkness. He
is preparing people who can be a light shining in the darkness that is
coming. He will bring his kingdom to a fulfilment in those places in a way
that has not been achieved before. He will then send an army of people out from
these safe havens to challenge the kingdom of man, push back the darkness and
expand the Kingdom of God. Many of these people will come from the
outermost parts of the earth, far away from the darkness in Europe and the
USA.
New Zealand is just one place in the outermost
pasts of the earth, where God is preparing his kingdom remnant. Christchurch
has a special role in this plan. The kingdom of God will emerge in a
unique way in this city. God’s people in Christchurch will have a key role in
preserving the knowledge of the kingdom that is will be lost in
the darkness in the Northern Hemisphere.
Christchurch will provide a model
of the kingdom that can be copied in other nations and continents when
they have turned back to God. The city will be a centre from which
the Kindom of God is exported. The model that emerges in
Christchurch will be copied all over the world.
The Kingdom of God is central to God’s purpose
for Christchurch. Every Christian who is called to live in Christchurch
should have an understanding of the Kingdom of God, or they will not fully
understand what God is doing. Part of the calling of the church in
Christchurch is to learn about the Kingdom and teach the people of this
city how to allow it to emerge here. The kingdom of God has come wherever
God’s will is done. Christchurch is called to learn to do God’s will
in every aspect of life. Every aspect of authority must be bought into
submission to God, so that his kingdom can become a reality here. There
is a special anointing on Kingdom activities in Christchurch.
For more about the Kingdom is at Kingdom
of God.
The time for these things to happen is getting
closer. However, God began preparing for it 150 years ago when
Christchurch was being planned. (Most cities just happened. Christchurch
was planned before it started.) The vision described David
Pawson was not knew. It was embeded in the founding history of
Christchurch
Aspects of the history of Christchurch that shed light on its Kingdom
calling are described in the
following articles:
Political Vision
Christ Church College
Outermost Parts of the Earth
Cathedral Square
Spiritual Mixture
Church Leadership
Crusaders for Christchurch
Battle for the City
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