Speaking Of Heavenly Things
Jesus Says,
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
John 3:11-13
We believe in many things we can’t see. We take by faith, on good authority, many things which scientists tell us all the time. In the natural realm, from the subatomic to the galactic, we rely upon those “in the know”.
Likewise, what I am about to share with you is beyond what many have experienced. Though it may be more than what you’ve directly observed, I invite you to consider what I say. As always, trust God to lead and guide you into all truth and hold fast only that which His Holy Spirit bears witness to.
On Earth as it is in Heaven
The fact is, if you are born again, you exist in two places at once. The first place is this natural world and the second is the New Heavens and New Earth. Most people view God’s New Creation as a future event, however, through the foretaste of our inheritance, we are already there.
Though a very difficult concept for the natural man to grasp, those who are led by His Spirit feel this deeply. In fact, the deeper you go with God the less you feel attached to this present creation. We actually begin to miss “our eternal home”. The rapture is, therefore, simply the culmination of walking in the Spirit from this world into the next.
The glory that was set before Him
Paul says,
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
Jesus lived on earth as he did in heaven. The mount of transfiguration, while an singular event for Peter and John, was where Christ lived all the time. The only difference that day was God opened the disciples eyes to see their master as he presently existed in God’s new creation. This is similar to what happened to John the apostle in the book of Revelation. He did not see a future event, only a present reality.
Likewise, as we begin to walk more and more in the Spirit, we are in this world, but not of it. As this happens, the things of this earth grow strangely dim through experiencing the power of the world to come.
The third heaven
Paul states,
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
2 Corinthians 2:2-4
Most assume that God translated Paul into heaven. However, God took the apostle to a place that currently existed. The temple and New Jerusalem are existing now, just like seeing Jesus on the mount revealed a present reality.
The city of our Great King, which is called New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, is not a new city, but rather the first city. On the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, in Eden, God dwelt with Seraphim, Cheribum and Angels. When Adam sinned, God removed Himself and His dwelling place into the heavenly realm. However, upon the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth, He, along with His city, returns.
Love is the tie that binds
Love is the tie that binds us together, both with God and each other. Intimacy, expressed from God through us, makes us one in ever deeper ways throughout eternity. Knowing God never ends, and since God reveals Himself in each one of us, His love through us never ends either.
Being made in the image and likeness of God, we are created with infinite capacity to love. There is just no limit to how deeply we can love God and each other. It is this love that binds us together on earth and, for those who know salvation, makes us one in God’s new creation. Amen.
Here As It Is In Heaven by Elevated Worship
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