From Genesis to Revelation, from Eve to the “woman clothed with the sun,” the Lord has been seeking to produce life. Eve was “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20) and the woman in Revelation is also found to be “with child” (12:2). She will bring forth a son, the man-child, who is the answer to what this generation needs, as He will “shepherd all the nations” (v. 5). He has always been unwavering in what He is after, and today, our calling in this present time is to bring about the fulfillment of what our dear Lord seeks: to bring forth life.
Bringing forth life does not begin with work, but with love — with a marriage. Yes, He is our Savior; but He is also our Husband. Just as Eve was the wife of Adam, the woman in Revelation also has a Husband, and He is the fulfillment of the first Adam. Christ, as the true Husband, is the life source of the church. For us as believers, we have the privilege and joy of receiving His life. And this receiving becomes our conceiving — receiving a great burden of love for the gospel. When we become spiritually pregnant for the gospel, we do not work as a man earning his wages, but as a mother carrying out a labor of love (1 Thess. 1:3). Our pattern Paul did not leave Judaism to earn a living as a missionary. He first received something from the Lord in Damascus (Acts 9:18) and became burdened for the gospel. Just as the woman in Revelation 12 is “travailing in birth” (v. 2), Paul later declared that he was also travailing “in birth” for Christ to be formed in his “children” (Gal. 4:19).
We must not forget that in this process of receiving, conceiving, laboring, and giving birth, our foundation is not our own righteousness, but love. We are justified through this relationship of the “two” becoming “one flesh” (Eph. 5:31-32), where we gain all that He is. With this anchoring marriage of love established in us, we are free to receive from our Husband and be filled by Him. Brothers and sisters, we don’t need to wonder what the Lord wants from us. And we don’t need to wait. Let us, in love, receive this burden for the gospel at the closing of this age. It is only the woman who brings forth the man-child that can truly satisfy Christ and usher in a time of rest.
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 7/28/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)