Day: September 22, 2017 - Watchman Research Media

To my sweet daughter,

As you begin junior high this month, the atmosphere about you is crackling with excitement. So many new doors are opening, and I am rejoicing with you. But now is also the time when we have to revisit a topic that may seem a bit awkward: your body.

I want you to think of this letter as the culmination of the many conversations we’ve had over the last decade. This is simply another step in helping you see our fallen world from God’s perspective: a sea of lost creatures in rebellion against their Creator, entirely deceived in their (failing) efforts to find love, acceptance, and beauty in all the wrong places.

For the sake of your heart and your soul, I want to share five truths to help anchor your identity in Christ and crystallize the purpose for which he created your body.

1. Your body is a gift to be treasured, not sold for a trifle.

Culturally speaking, we have moved from casting scorn on public sexualized behavior to distributing accolades and demanding encores. The lewder, the bawdier, and the wider the audience, the better.

But my dear, this is not what Jesus had in mind when he paid the ultimate price for your body and soul (1 Corinthians 6:20). Your value and worth are rooted in your image-bearing nature (Genesis 1:26–27). You have innate value not because of a growing numbers of “liking” friends, but because of the infinite love and finished work of your Lord (Ephesians 5:1–2).

2. Your body was created to be poured out, not merely admired.

American culture happily feeds those who crave sexual sin. The appetite is insatiable. It will require supernatural wisdom for you to understand that your body is not a spectacle for greedy eyes, but instead a tool to be harnessed for the economy of God. He made your brain, muscles, and bones to work, to serve, to learn, to play, and to worship him.

From centuries of rib-crushing corsets in Europe to centuries of foot-binding in China, cultures have repeatedly misunderstood (and abused) the very nature of the female body. You are not an object to be petted or paraded about for pleasure (Matthew 5:28). Rather, my love, you are a co-laborer in the many good works God has prepared for you in advance (Ephesians 2:10).

3. Your body does not constitute the whole of your identity.

While your peers interact with you on a physical level — they only see your outward parts, as it were — your essence is actually a fully united body and spirit. Your soul will live forever, and your body will be resurrected (Philippians 3:21).

Both your soul and your body are valuable, which makes all the more virulent the cultural lie, rooted in pagan Gnosticism, that your body can live and flourish separately from your heart. In truth, the desires of your heart determine every word and action you make with your body (Luke 6:45). And while physical flaws and failures abound in this world, these marks of the fall are neither a cause for concern nor the point of your existence. You are more than the sum of your body’s features. The purpose for which you were created is this: to give praise and glory to your heavenly Father (Psalm 63:3–4).

4. Your body is a life-giving temple.

I’m referring here not to Beyoncé-style goddess worship for the benefit of prime-time television viewers. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). And as such, God designed your body to give life to others. Not just your womb, but every part of you.

Your heart gives life by loving Jesus, your neighbor, and (likely) your future husband and children (Matthew 22:37–38, Titus 2:4). Your lips give life by speaking words of truth and singing melodies to Christ (Ephesians 5:19). Your hands give life by covering themselves in the muck and mire of serving others (Romans 12:13). Your legs give life by supporting a lifetime of ministry inside and outside the home. Your eyes give life by seeing (and loving) people enslaved to the powers and principalities of this world (Ephesians 6:12). Your tongue gives life by forming the words of gospel hope that are capable of breaking the manacles of sin (1 Peter 3:15).

5. Your body will show your neighbors whom and what you worship.

You will no doubt wonder about the cultural obsession with maintaining a youthful and beautiful physical appearance. To some degree, this is a struggle for every woman in every age. But remember Lady Wisdom’s warning: evil often masquerades as a beautiful and seductive siren (Proverbs 5:3–6).

In one of the greatest epic poems ever written, The Faerie Queen, Duessa is a beauty who symbolizes deceit and folly. She is contrasted with Una, also beautiful, but who represents purity and truth. You will encounter some form of Duessa’s superficial charm in nearly every image you see, and unmasking her deception will require superhuman strength. Thankfully, such strength is at your disposal. The spirit of the living God resides in you and will be faithful to nurture your affections in a way that seems entirely otherworldly to your peers (John 14:16).

The way you treat your body reveals more than your preferences; it reveals whom and what you worship. Pray that the Lord will make you known for your internal, imperishable qualities rather than your external appearance (1 Peter 3:3–4). Physical beauty should certainly not be scorned, as it is a gift to be stewarded from God, but it is not an end in itself. All the beauty we see in human and natural form should constantly remind us that we serve a delightfully creative and powerful God.

Hold Fast

As you embark on this next leg of your journey as a young Christian woman, I pray you will quickly identify and reject the lies shaping so much of modern Western culture. The enemy may appear to be winning, but his victory is temporary. His defeat was assured on the cross, and it is there that you will find your identity and strength.

Hold fast, my love. These are the truths on which you can stake your body and your soul.

European Union boss Jean-Claude Juncker has charted a course for a much more powerful superbloc of nations in his controversial State of the Union address. With Britain leaving and the continent’s economy growing, its federalists are now taking the chance to push for a big leap forward.

The most notable for prophecy watchers is his call for combining the EU’s two presidental positions — the European Commission, responsible for the bloc’s day-to-day running, and the European Council, which brings together the national leaders — in a single post, filled after a Europe-wide election.

“To understand the challenges of his or her job and the diversity of our member states, a future president should have met citizens in the town halls of Helsinki as well as in the squares of Athens,” Juncker said.

Electing a single leader for the bloc has been suggested for years but rarely has the role and responsibility of such a position been outlined. This new leadership position would also be emboldened by what the European Commission Presidents envisions as a new European Defence Union that all member stats would join – essentially an EU army.

Several member states led by Germany and France have already taken incremental steps to consolidate specific units, divert defense funds into sequestered accounts and create new coordinated command structures. For the first time, the EU created in March a joint military command center.

In fact Gernmany’s foreign minister has expressed hopes of a European superstate becoming a global player in international politics, in the midst of growing tensions between Russia and North Korea. Foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said it was time Europe found its “own voice” instead of letting the US dictate global affairs while the continent argues amongst itself.

Part of that unified push sees an oppotunity for Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to finally become full members of the Schengen borderless area while the President of the Ukraine is pushing for an immediate seat at the EU table to become the bloc’s 28th member. This would stretch the power of Brussels thousands of miles from Ireland to the borders of Russia.

Ukrainian President Poroshenko called for Ukraine to be seen as the “new eastern border” of the European Union, a union which he said should accept the vision of Juncker and become “closer”. He said: “The idea of European integration must get a second wave.

Will this second wave create a fully unified EU that could soon be a military to rival that of the United States in size, capability and cohesion? The bureaucrats in Brussels would like nothing more.

Bible prophecy watchers have long speculated that the EU could represent be the final “Beast” empire talked about in the book of Daniel and Revelation.

The potential for a new more powerful/federalist Europe with a single president to lead it has ramifications not only politically and economically but prophetically as well.

Surprisingly, even The Economist magazine recognized that this was an important factor for some Protestants voting to leave the Union in their article: “Protestants, leaving Europe is a matter of eschatology”.

These evangelicals believed that remaining in the EU put them at risk of eventually joining the “The Beast’s” final world empire. Why did they believe this?

The Bible speaks of several different beasts. Each one is used symbolically to give insight into different aspects of the final world empire and it’s leader, and when studied together give us a much better picture of what to expect in the Last Days.

Revelation 13 speaks of a beast in its first 7 verses. Another beast, ridden by a woman, is described in Revelation 17. Daniel 7 speaks of four separate beasts, with a reference to a “little horn” that appears during the time of the fourth beast. Revelation 13 also describes a second “two-horned beast,” beginning in verse 11. These beastly images are also to be understood in the context of the giant image of a man composed of four separate metals in Daniel 2.

Relative to most of these descriptions, in describing this final world empire is the number 10; 10 toes, 10 heads and 10 horns. Each give us different understanding but all point to an alliance of 10 nations or leaders that will one day be controlled by the “little horn”, the Antichrist.

It remains to be seen how the number 10 figures into this new European push but some have suggested as the EU enlarges it needs a smaller council to help it be administered. A European council of 10 that represtents the bloc of nations to the EU president is an interesting possibility.

Will a new, powerful and charismatic leader emerge on the scene to lead Europe? European Commission Juncker is already pushing for the spread of the Euro to non-European nations. This would certainly spread the economic power of the joint bloc as well.

We do not know how these proposals will ultimately play out but we do know eventually this prophecy will come to pass. Recent events represent serious change for this region and the world. It is an area that the Bible has a lot to say about in the Last Days and we encourage you to become familiar with the different passages in Daniel and Revelation that reveal what the final world empire will look like.

Several prophecy experts recently came together to produce a new 10 hour DVD series called “Decoding The Future”, that walks you through the Book of Revelation, chapter by chapter. This resource will equip you with a better understanding of how these “beast” passages fit into the larger context of Revelation and the Bible itself.

Image courtsey: The Art of David Dees