Another significant turning point in my life began when this statement started to really sink in:
"We are still in the Church Age."
I know, I know… you are probably thinking, "DUH, Paulette! That's your big turning point??" And I will admit, I've used this phrase countless times myself but never really considered its implications.
A few years ago, I taught a study on Biblical prophecy. I am a big fan of timelines, so I used a gigantic timeline as a teaching tool for the study. A central section on the timeline consisted of the space that began at Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit was given as recorded in Acts 2, also known as the birth of the Church) and ended with the second coming of Christ. This space on the timeline is known as the Church Age. Just so I'm clear – I've known this for a long time. This wasn't the turning point…yet.
Soon after I taught the study on prophecy, Jake and I began reading and studying the book of Acts with a small group of friends. Whenever we read about a miracle or something supernatural, a light bulb would go off: Acts was written in the church age! And WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.
So here's the big turning point for me that's affected how I read the entire New Testament now -
The book of Acts describes the acts of the Holy Spirit through believers. The same Holy Spirit lives in me. Therefore, what was possible then is possible now because WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.
Every miracle the early Church experienced is possible today because WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.
Every healing that the early Church experienced is possible today because WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.
Every spiritual gift the early Church experienced is still possible today because WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.
While this may seem like an insignificant turning point to some, to me, it is one of the greatest I've experienced. Why? Because I no longer read Acts (or any of the New Testament) and think that's just how it was for them.
How has this turning point affected me?
It's lit a fire in me that I cannot describe because now I believe and know that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE because we are still in the Church Age! My expectation for the miraculous has increased beyond measure!
"That's how God operated then, but it's different now" is no longer an acceptable belief system. I have not discovered one single reason in Scripture to believe that the Holy Spirit will be any less active the closer we are to Christ's return than He was at the beginning of the Church Age. When you think about it, that doesn't even make sense!
I believe we will begin to experience an increase in the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit as more believers experience the life-changing turning point that WE ARE STILL IN THE CHURCH AGE.