In fact, we were created to dwell in the heavenlies with God throughout our entire lives on Earth. That is how we were made to live, that is what Adam and Eve did before the Fall, and that is what we will do when all is restored once again.

The reason this becomes significant is that when we “get to heaven” we won’t be lazing around on a cloud plucking a harp! We will have a job to do. The Bible describes that job as, “…God was in Christ reconciling the world back to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19) And that’s just for starters!

The picture painted for us by traditional theology is two-dimensional. Jesus comes back and takes His own to heaven, while the rest get cast into hell. But a true picture, as illustrated by the Feasts of Israel, is multi-dimensional. Jesus “takes” (marries) His Bride, the firstfruits (Passover). Then (later) Jesus and His Bride return to redeem a second firstfruits (Pentecost) – the brothers of Jesus (all the Israelites, including Gentiles who were cleansed and adopted into His family). And finally (later, possibly ages later), Jesus, His Bride, and His brothers reap a great harvest for the Kingdom (Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering or the Festival of the Nations) – the servants of God from all nations and peoples. And all that time we, the Bride, are dwelling in heaven with our Savior and Lord while we are working on Earth speaking that word of reconciliation.

My conclusion is that the heavenlies overlap the Earth, with but a thin veil separating them. Anyone whose spirit is alive can move through this veil to see into the spirit realms, the realms where angels and demons dwell.

Unfortunately, that does not get us into the highest heaven, where God dwells, for that is protected by a second veil; I call it the veil of absolute holiness.

Even more unfortunately, Satan also seems to have the ability to awaken dead spirits to perceive his demonic realm, the realm of witchcraft and the occult. This realm looks pleasant enough at first. For Satan is there, sweetly whispering down to our naive soul, “Follow me! For you shall be as God, knowing good and evil!” (Gen 3:5) Thus he leads us downward into darker realms of Hades, hoping to trap us into sin so he can enslave and torment us in the Abyss, the “Bottomless Pit.”

Page 2 of 6 All Pages