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 parts 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 see 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 new. It was embedded 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:
Return to Christchurch.