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HEAVEN and EARTH
There are only two types of people in the world – heavenly and earthly. Some are spiritually minded and therefore would be considered heavenly. Others are inclined to dwell on the desires of the natural plane, and they would be considered earthly.
In Genesis chapter one, we find that God created the heaven and the earth. There is a mystery of creation here. Note that HE created the heaven and the earth. What God created was GOOD. He even said it was good. (1:31) The heaven and the earth were created for a purpose, and each would serve in its capacity for which it was created. The creation of heaven and earth was good in that it functioned well for its designed purpose.
There are only two types of people in the world – heavenly and earthly. Some are spiritually minded. What earth or heaven was created here? Was it a heavenly man and an earthly man? Was it the natural (planet) earth and the natural (sky) heaven? Just what is Genesis 1:1-2 describing?
Genesis 1:1-8 is not talking about a natural earth and a natural heaven. We find that the natural earth occurs and is called "land" in verse 9 and the "sky" with moon and stars is set in order in verses 15-18. If the sun and the moon occur FIRST in verses 14-16, then it is important to discern what the LIGHT and DARKNESS of verses 3-5 are.
The two sections are not referring to the same subject. There is a difference that must be grasped and understood. So, what is being discussed in Genesis 1:1-8 then? If it is not natural, it has to have a spiritual understanding. There is a difference between the spiritual and the natural. The natural order of things appears in verses 15-18.
The heaven AND earth were created by God, just as the LIGHT and DARKNESS were. There is a similarity of association. Heaven/light and earth/darkness. The understanding is to be a spiritual one, which will open a whole new perspective on the subject of heaven and earth.
We know that the LIGHT in verse 3 is the Hebrew " 'wre" which means: TO BE. Whereas, the word used in verse 16, is "ma'wre" which means a luminous body, ie. the sun. There again we see a difference. While " 'wre " can be used with the natural light of the sun, as it is used, when it is used by itself, it has a different meaning.
"TO BE" light is far different from "A" light which is what the natural sun is. "TO BE" is to radiate light because you are the light. The light that was created in Genesis 1:2 was the revelation of the pre-existent Son of God, Jesus Christ. The light in verse 2 is not the natural light of the sun. The Rotherham Bible states it this way: "and God said 'LIGHT BE' and light was." The idea trying to be expressed in Scripture is the idea of a light "begotten." The EARTH was without FORM and VOID. Darkness was over the face of the deep. The Spirit of God was MOVING over the surface. HEAVEN, the light, was fully revealed, hovering over the earth (this body), which was dark because there was no life in it. The earth was VOID – meaning it was empty, vacant, unoccupied or destitute. The earth was WITHOUT FORM, meaning literally to lie in waste, desert, wilderness, vanity. Each definition comes from Strong's Concordance.
The Light was moving, fluttering or hovering over the earth or as a bird would hover over its young. As a man "hovers" over a woman, so God fluttered over the earth. From the womb of the earth, God implanted a heavenly seed, the breath of life, that made Adam a living soul. The darkness did not comprehend the light – for the two are different.
One ought to compare Exodus 33:22 where God covers Moses as He passed by with the word in Luke 1:35 where God overshadowed Mary. God covered her, and she was impregnated by the Spirit of God even as the earth was "moved" over by the Spirit.
The spiritual man, that heavenly man, is the only one that can QUICKEN (make alive, vivify) this mortal body. (Romans 8:11) That which is of the earth is dead; it is not alive and has no life in it. God placed in the earth of Adam the breath of life, which was the spiritual, heavenly man. So within the earth, that darkness, was hid a great light – the spiritual man who when given reign will vivify that which is dead, resurrect it into a new order, if you will.
Notice the heavenly man, that body of light, was created by the spoken word of God. The heavenly man was NOT FORMED from the DUST OF THE EARTH. The heavenly man was CREATED from the spoken word of life issued out of God and came FROM HEAVEN.
In Him, the pre-existent Christ (later to be revealed on the earth as Jesus) was life, for He was God. He was the life of men. They live – whether saved or unsaved – because of the life of God in them. The unsaved do not comprehend the spiritual man, the man of light that is in them.
John 1:3-4: "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men…the light shines in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not." (KJV)
The light was placed in the earth (not the planet), which was without form and void and this refers to the natural man, in whom Christ was the light, and the man was the darkness. Christ was the heavenly man and man was the darkness, that earthly man. The earth, as verse 1 states, was without FORM and VOID and darkness was upon the face of the deep. LIGHT shined in darkness and darkness did NOT and could NOT comprehend it. The earth was the man of Genesis 2. The heaven is that heavenly man, Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:47 describes it from Adam's point of view).
Until God breathed into Adam, he was lifeless. He was just earth awaiting the possibility to become a living soul. Adam was not made from or of the heavens, but of the earth. He became a living soul when the truth, the way and the life appeared in him, quickening him. Adam didn't comprehend the light either because if he had he would not have broken the fellowship with the Father. Adam being made of the earth could not comprehend spiritual things because he was earthy. So, as Paul says we are being transformed by the renewing of our mind, and being conformed to the image of Christ.
The heavenly man is totally different from the earthly man. The two are separate and not the same nor related. If Jesus is a life-quickening spirit and Adam is a living soul, are these two the same? Can He who came out of heaven and returned be the same as the man Adam who came from the earth? No man has ascended to heaven except Him who came from heaven. (John 3:13) Thus, Enoch and Elijah, made of the dust of the earth, never ascended did they? See our message (Enoch, Elijah).
It is obvious, that Jesus did not have the same body as Adam. It was different but similar. This is what Scripture states also. Romans 8:3 states that: "…God sending His own Son in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh…" Philippians 2:7 states: "But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the LIKENESS of men."
"LIKENESS", what does it mean? The word used in the Greek is "homoioma" which means: a resemblance, made like to, shape, or similitude. It does NOT mean the same as. If it does not mean the "same as" what does it mean? What does that do to our Christian walk?
The truth that is expressed is monumental. Mary was a surrogate mother of Jesus. He was a heavenly man. He received nothing from Adam. If He had He would have been of the earth, and He wasn't. If He had come from Adam, even a small portion, He would have been tainted with the "original sin" of Adam, and we know that Jesus was sinless. Romans 5 clearly states that through one man came sin into the world – Adam, and it also states that through one man came life – Jesus. Jesus could not have been life unto us if He had been tainted by the sin of Adam. No, the heavenly man has nothing to do with the earthly man.
Jesus came to save that which was lost What was lost? The life that was hid in darkness and was not comprehended by the darkness. His atoning work on the cross led captivity (that which was bound in the earthly man) captive. He freed the heavenly man to break forth from the carnal man.
He LIGHTS EVERY MAN that comes into the world. (John 1:9) He freed the light to come forth out of the darkness. His atoning work delivered creation from the bondage of corruption, each man in his own order. (1 Cor. 15:23)
The body of Jesus was LIKE UNTO ours but not the same as. His was a body that was a spiritual body, a light body in the depth of the word. He radiated life out of the light. As Paul saw a great light, and it was Jesus, so many have seen Him in the same way. We as Christians radiate the life of Christ through an earthen vessel. Yet, His Word says that He is changing us from glory to glory. At some point we will no longer be hidden manna in an earthen vessel, as was found in the Ark of the Covenant. Rather, some are going to reveal the manna without an earthen vessel. They will be fully changed into His image. Thus, what God said: "Let us make man in our image" was given in Genesis 1:26, and in verse 27 He "created." Man, Adam of Genesis 2, was FORMED of the dust of the earth. The Genesis 1 man was a spoken creation, a spiritual man, a heavenly man.
Such a man was created and placed from out of the heavens into the womb of Mary. She carried the child. The word "overshadowed" in Luke's account means to superimpose on the natural order of things a special situation. Such was the case. Mary had placed in her a seed. A seed that was completed. It grew. There was no mixture of Mary and God to bring forth a "mixed breed" if you will. There was no half-Adam, half-God creation here. Mary simply carried God who was revealed in flesh.
This is the mystery of the "express image" of Hebrews. Jesus was the image of the invisible God. (Col.1:15) The word "image" comes from the Greek word "eikon" which is anglicized to "icon." An icon in pagan religions as well as in some "Christian" churches is a statue of some sort.
Now Hebrews 1:3 mentions the phrase "express image." The word "express" in the Greek is "charax" which in English is the word "character" meaning the nature of a person. But the root of the Greek word "charax" is the English word "grapho" meaning to be written or described. The express image of God is the "handwritten character of God fashioned (icon) in a man."
This is the body that Jesus had – a body that was the full expression of the character/nature of God. Adam who was made of the earth could never be such an expression of God. This is why the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor.15:50) The man of the earth perishes and returns from whence it came – never to be raised again. Praise God! Andrew Murray states: "In man two natures are combined. He is at the same time both spirit and matter, heaven and earth." How true! The heavenly house is hid in the earthy house. And we know if the earthly house is dissolved, what remains is the heavenly. (2 Cor.5) The Christian is not alive in the earthly house, but has been born of the incorruptible seed, and such a seed (1 Peter 1:23) can only produce the heavenly man.
The body that Jesus revealed to the disciples and the world was a body that no man, descended from Adam, has yet possessed. The body that Jesus revealed was NOT resurrected – He had not died yet. The body that Jesus revealed was NOT glorified – He had NOT died and been resurrected yet. His was a heavenly body for the first time seen on the earth. With it came a lifestyle which Adam knows nothing about.
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. God created HEAVEN and EARTH. He created the INTERIOR and the EXTERIOR. For heaven and earth refer to the spiritual man in verse 1 of Genesis and not the natural planet. In this creation God has made plain that man should have both his heaven and earth in the place of redemption. Notice in the verse that the word AND is used. This denotes that the two are connected to each other and one does not exist without the other. All through Scripture you will find that heaven and earth are mentioned together.
We find that the heaven and earth were to become one also. As we note the temple was seen (Rev.11:19) in heaven and we know that we are the temple of God. The word temple there is NAOS which means our body and not HEIRON which means a building. It states the temple was opened (joined with) heaven. The two became one.
2 Peter 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness."
Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea."
Isaiah 65:17 "For, behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind."
In Adam the earthly man, the light was resident in him, but the darkness comprehended it not. His earth could not comprehend the light or the pathway of God. This is why in Genesis 6:6 God states that it repented Him that He made man of the earth. Nevertheless, the plan of God was not changed – the plan was to make a heavenly man with a pure earth that was full of light and not void and empty.
God is immutable – unchangeable and has no need to "repent" as the KJV states. Genesis 6:6 simply is trying to say that God's plan which was good, also caused Him to be grieved. The new heaven and new earth are so real that the old is never remembered. Why? Because when one has entered into God, the life swallows up the death and death is no more! Revelation 21 says there won't be any sea either. This means that the masses of humanity which the sea represents (Revelation17:15) will be delivered from the bondage of corruption by the sons of God. (Romans 8: 19-20)
According to His promise we look upon and behold a new heavens and a new earth being formed from the creation of Genesis 1. Adam was made of the earth and was earthy, but the second Adam was made of the heavens. (1Corinthians 15: 47-49)
John 3:31 "He that cometh from above is above all: He that is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is all."
He that speaks out of the darkness of the earth speaks words that are void and empty and have no life in them. Why speak healing to a dying creation if the healing is but a moment's respite from the total result? God does love his creation and He does heal today, but later that same person dies for death is found in the earth man since he is void of life.
The light has come, but the earth does not comprehend it. Neither can it. Never shall it. For this old heavens and earth must pass away. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is only He that is from the heavens who has placed His seed, that incorruptible seed, in this vessel that will produce life that shall be seen. This earth acts merely as a container and fertilizer for the seed to come forth, even as an egg provides the protein for the chick to develop.
Many Christians think that they will automatically have the same soul that they had in Adam – at least the same body in a resurrected state. But this is error. For He that is from above is the one who is giving us a heavenly nature, a citizenship from above which cannot be done away with – as the Adamic can.
The carnal man, that Adamic, cannot have the mind of God. When the darkness grasps a star in its heaven, it generally corrupts the thought by bringing it down to the lower plane. The religious mind of Adam will always bring down to a lower level the high things of God. Thus, God says His ways are not our ways since we cannot, as Adamic creatures, grasp the heavenly things of the kingdom.
Isiaah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I shall make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain."
The new heavens and new earth have come forth because they are spiritual in their nature, having a spiritual body and mind rather than that of Adam which was a dead carnal mind and a dying body. This seed in us produces only that which is contained in it! We shall live before Him because our seed remains-our seed has become His seed. His glory covers the heavens and the earth is filled with His praise. (Hab. 3:3) No longer will we produce bastards – children that are monsters, giants. For this seed will not be placed in a vessel that carries death.
A spiritual seed placed in a carnal vessel can only produce a giant of carnality. But a seed placed in the new earth will produce life, and it shall remain. NO man shall receive God's glory the scriptures declare. How true! But this new man, is created out of the NEW heavens and the NEW earth. The new earth is that body of 2 Corinthians 5. For we know that if this house is dissolved we have a house not made with hands – in the heavens.
In studying 2 Corinthians 5 one sees that "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." This is not a verse talking about death and a funeral service with the dead person "going on." This chapter is talking about not living in the OUTER man, that earthly body, but rather living in the spiritual body that is within the earthly man – that new earth and new heavens.
As we live in the new heavens and the new earth we will come forth as the stone is rolled away from the tomb of the Adamic to reveal the resurrected Christ. The new creation man resides within the old. Psalms states that the dead cannot praise the Lord. Yet, another Scripture in Psalms states that "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Is there a contradiction here? NO. For it is the death of Adam that is precious to the Lord, that old carnal nature. With its death is revealed the life of God, the new creation man.
Joel 2:30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke."
This verse refers to the time of deliverance of Israel when God reveal- ed Himself as a pillar of smoke and fire when they left Egypt. The blood was seen when the rivers in Egypt turned to that color. There is a more spiritual meaning, a deeper meaning. Man becomes the fire – "I shall make my ministers a flame of fire." (Hebrews 1:7) Jesus became the blood atonement. All these things occurred IN THE HEAVENS. As heaven and earth are always used as words in conjunction with each other, so too is it a truth in the realm of living in the spiritual sense.
Those conformed to the image of God are wonders. They come forth as flames of fire and corporately are the lake of fire for the purification of the earth-the cleansing of creation, that is, the removing of the Adamic creation from the face of the planet so that every person will be changed into the likeness of Christ Jesus. They become the lights in heaven, the pillars of smoke. They come forth out of the heavens (which is in the inner man) and are revealed in the outer man, that natural body.
If the light has its work in the darkness, the earth that is without form and void will bring forth plants, firstlings of the fruit of the light in the individual. The earth will be changed by the light as the light vivifies or quickens the earth and lifts it to a higher realm – out of death and void into life. Thus a new earth is created.
As we know, the Lord states in many places in the Bible "Sing O heavens; be joyful, O earth," (Isaiah 49:13) or the Lord states "Hear, O heavens and give ear, O earth." (Isaiah 1:2) We see ascribed to the natural planet and the natural earth characteristics of man – hearing, joy, singing, etc. Now, your standard English professor would say that these are metaphors, symbols, but I would declare to you that in one sense that is true. However in another sense there is a deeper truth.
The heaven and earth can sing. The heaven and earth can hear. For the heaven and earth is you! God makes heaven his throne and the earth His footstool. (Isaiah 66:1) His throne is in heaven. Where is that? Where He abides. Where is that – John 14:23 – He has made His home in US. Thus, the earth, our body is to reveal the very glory of God. He outshines from heaven down into and through the earth! Thus, our body is to radiate the glory of His presence.
Joel 3:16 "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem: and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel."
God speaks out of Zion (Zion) is a city in Jerusalem in the country of Israel. Zion is the realm of the throne of God. It is where God sits in the earth. He speaks from the throne of the heart through the mind and it is seen as the vessel brings it forth. Every saint of God as he speaks utters the word of God and it shakes the heavens and earth of other vessels of clay – those who reside in the old heavens and earth. Those in the new heavens and the new earth cannot be shaken – they are in Christ.
Revelation 5:3 "And no man in heaven, nor in the earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."
NO MAN. No carnality. No one with "understanding" could open the book. Remember that the sin of Adam and Eve was the sin of religion – wanting to be a god. Later in Genesis 3 God says to the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed." Her seed is the seed of the Spirit which is Jesus Christ and his descendants. Who is the seed of Satan? John 8:44 and 1 John 3:10 show that the Scribes and all Pharisees were the sons of the devil, as well as those who commit sin – that is, those who do not follow God and knowingly commit sin.
NO MAN is able to open the book. This includes any person who is controlled by a religious doctrine. Jesus was not religious. He never condemned anyone but gave life. Today's Christians constantly condemn sinners as well as saints. The religious "holy" nature will condemn a fellow Christian for eating with a "sinner" in a bar, but if we look at Jesus we find He ate with "winebibbers" in their establishments. Such carnal Christianity, presented by the church system as "righteousness", is the sin of the scribes.
NO MAN who has religious tendencies will be able to open the book because that man is not conformed to the image of Christ. But he who has been quickened and vivified by the life of the Son will be able to reveal the very nature, the glory of God, that will open the book to be read of all men. He who is conformed to the image of God is no longer a "man" but rather is a son of God (Romans 8:19) and able to open the book.
Colossians 1:20 "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven."
Note that the blood of Christ will reconcile all things unto Himself. The Scripture then declares that the reconciliation includes all things in earth or in heaven. What a thought! That earth that was formed VOID, EMPTY, covered in DARKNESS and had no life in itself will be reconciled to God. The life of the Father will cause the redemption of the man – even his carnal nature will be changed.
Note also that heaven will also be reconciled. Ah, what a thought also. All heavens – 30,60,100 fold will be released from their part realms into the harvest of the angels, the sons of God. (Matt. 13:23) But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit had bringeth forth, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty…).
Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth;"
Every part of creation, which we are, shall bow before Him. Lo, the new heavens that mind of Christ will bow before its maker – Jesus/Father. Even our new earth will bow before the Lord. This is stated in order to make plain the thought that even the new creation man is subject to God – not equal with God as some would suggest. We may be equal in one sense – that we have attained a new level in God, but never are we equal with God because God is always enlarging Himself to us through greater revelations of Himself
The new heavens and the new earth bow before Him but also "things UNDER the earth." Just what is that? Truth is found on many levels of understanding. Suffice it to say that many take this verse to mean that all mankind will worship the Lord, i.e. that all mankind will be saved. This is a true statement but radical for most evangelical Christianity. (If one does not understand that level of truth concerning the atonement of Jesus Christ, write us we have some booklets on it). But we see in this verse that "under the earth" refers to the lower nature found in the "old heavens and the old earth."
Heaven and earth realm will redound with the very glory of God and Praise unto Him. All principalities and powers will be subject to Him, and He subjects Himself to the Father. Whatever you read that pertains to heaven and earth in the Scriptures – interpret it as unto YOU.
We discussed the heavenly man and his formation as being out of the heavens. A spoken word of creation brought forth the heavenly man. The heavenly man was a spiritual man. Jesus was the visible expression of the heavenly man. Jesus was the divine expression, the only begotten of God the Father, but He was to be the elder brother of many. This means that there is or will be a full manifestation of those who have been conformed to His image.
What does this mean to be conformed to His image? Automatically, this tells us that we are NOT in His image if we must be conformed to it – doesn't it? We truly know that we are not in His image because there is resident in us the knowledge that we do not measure up to His stature, although Ephesians 4:12 states that we should come to the maturity of His stature.
There is a quandary here. A paradox. The church system has taught on one hand we are in His image and on the other hand it is stated that we are corrupt and sinful. Out of one mouth spews forth good and brackish water – the very fulfillment of James 3. It is no wonder that the saints are confused in their identity.
Jesus walked the earth in a body. Every spiritual man has a body just as the earthly man does. We become like Him as we behold Him. The key is the word "behold." It speaks of a "holograph" effect. The National Geographic Magazine showed a picture of a bird. While looking at the front of the bird one could even see the back of the bird. One had at once the ability to see the "whole" in context. The word "behold" in the KJV has this connotation in contrast to the word "look" which implies a lesser view or understanding.
So, as the Scripture states in 1 John 3:2 (Using the 20th Century New Testament): "What we do know is that, when it is revealed we shall be like Christ." We must behold Him, for the door (Christ) is open. We have borne the image of the earthy Adam. 1 Corinthians 15:47 states that. Conybeare states this verse as: "The first man was made of earthly clay." In Knox's translation 1 Corinthians 15:49 goes on to say: "And it remains for us, who once bore the stamp of the earth to bear the stamp of heaven." Taylor says: "…So we shall some day have a body like Christ's."
Where the church tells us we have been made in His image on Genesis 1 and 2, this is not so. If it were, how did we fall? If it were true, how could we godlike creations sin? God cannot sin. No, my friends it was a prophecy that was to be fulfilled. Borne of the earth, we shall be changed and are being changed to bear the image of the heavenly. The serious question that the church system hides from the saints with much confusion of doctrine is whether they bear the image of the heavenly man. For this cause, there is war between father and mother, son and daughter. Families are divided on this issue. Those that are of the family of God, truly Jesus' brothers and sisters are those who have left the dead to bury the dead.
Matthew 8:22 "But Jesus said unto him, follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."
Those being conformed to His image are now of a spiritual family which supercedes the natural family of the earthly with the heavenly. This is because they are being changed. The question is one of identity. Do we still look to and behold the earthly man and the lust thereof? Are there still things in us that attract us to the carnal ways of the earthly man? I am not saying you won't be tempted; Jesus was tempted in all ways like we. (Heb.2:18) So, we shall be tempted, but if you are in
Christ and the heavenly creation there is NO ATTRACTION to the temptations of the earth and the lusts thereof.
The heavenly man has no attachments to the desires of the earthly plane. While the heavenly man lives on the natural plane, the desires for the things of the natural plane are not evident except as they are godly desires. For example, a married man will have a natural desire and godly desire for his wife, which is totally compatible with the nature of God. But the married man is not to have any desire or attraction to the carnal, pornographic, or someone else's wife etc.
The heavenly man, like Jesus, is concerned with people and their problems as well as the solutions to the problems. But the heavenly man is NOT concerned with his relationship with his Father. There is total compatibility. The relationship is ongoing and working.
The heavenly man is NOT seeking to find the Lord's will. The spiritual man knows the written word and walks in it on a daily basis without giving it any thought. Like buttoning a shirt in the morning or pulling on socks, there is no thought to the spiritual life because it is second nature. The heavenly man does NOT have to think about being spiritual because he is such.
Thus, being conformed to His image has a far greater significance than what most think. To be like Jesus is a process of continual change. As a babe I remember thinking of Jesus in a far different way than I did as a teenager. Even now, as I mature in the Lord and the life of Him, I come to understand more and in a different light than even a few years ago. Why? Conformity is an ongoing process if you are being conformed to God. Most things can be copied because they are static, that is, unchanged.
While the nature of God is unchanging, the depth of the revelation of His being to us is continually changing. As we shed the image of the earthly man and put on the nature of the heavenly man, we are in a state of flux. The old is passing and the new is arising out of the incorruptible seed of 1 Peter 1:23.
Our residence, if we are being conformed to His image, is in the new man, which is maturing inside of the old man. The old man is fertilizer for the new man's maturity. For, we know that if this earthly house is dissolved, that we have a house made in the heavens…2 Corinthians 5:1. The heavenly is made within the old, and when the stone of the tomb is removed behold, like Jesus we will come forth out of that whited sepluchre, the tomb, of the adamic.
That new body growing within us, groaning for birth, already has the Spirit of God, but it is waiting for the full mind of Christ to be developed. Just as Jesus grew in stature and wisdom (Luke 2:52) so also must we.
Three times in Scripture the word "conform" is used. (Romans 8:29, Phil. 3:10 and 3:21) The Greek word is "summorphizo." The word means to make of like form with another person or thing, so states Vine's Expository Dictionary.
In Romans we find that we are to be made into the "image of His Son." Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus was the EXPRESS IMAGE of the Father. So, if we are to be made conformable to the image of Jesus we are to become the very expression of the Father. Matthew 10:40 and following states the same thought in another way. Jesus says there that if the people receive YOU then they receive Him and the ONE who sent Him – i.e., the Father.
The Greek for "EXPRESS IMAGE" comes from our English word "character." Its root is two words "charax" & "grapho." Charax means an EXACT copy. Grapho means to write. Thus, we can ascertain that the EXPRESS IMAGE, Jesus, was the very "handwritten exact copy" of the Father. We are to be conformed to His image; we too, shall express the same message, the same revelation as He was in Philippians' verses. The first verse expresses the thought of being like Jesus in death, and the second verse has the thought of being like His glorious body. The old nature has been crucified with Christ. (Romans 6:6-14) Now, we are being shaped into His glorious body. We have passed from death unto life – PASSED from death. Death has no longer a sway over us! We are victorious experientially in Christ.
As we consider being conformed to His Image we must realize that the incorruptible seed can only produce incorruptibility. That seed in us, Christ Jesus Himself even produces its own body to live in, even as a seed of corn does. That which is growing in us is NOT PART OF THE OLD ADAM. The old heavens and earth may be visible, and the new invisible, but we see Jesus coming forth. The new heavens and the new earth are being formed in us. Consider:
2 Peter 3:10-13 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall met away with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conservation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens,, being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we according to the promise look for a new heavens and a new earth."
The Lord comes as a thief to those who are not aware of what He is doing. The old heaven that carnal mind shall pass away with a great noise and it always does when God enlightens us with a new thought! The elements of the heaven shall pass away with it. What elements? The religious carnal thoughts that have bound saints for years!
What thoughts? Consider that the seed of the serpent was the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day. For did He not call them the children of their father the Devil? Was not the sin of Eve a religious act – wanting to be like God? Religious thought affects all of us from our spirit, soul and mind. Consider Revelation 22:15. Here we find three realms of corruption that must be removed from our heaven and earth.
First, the sorcerers and dogs, which refer to spiritual fornication. (Did not Jesus and Paul call some of the Jewish leaders dogs?) Whoremongers and murderers refer to lusts of the flesh. Finally, we find the idolaters and liars which speak of believing a thing in one's mind. Here then are three levels of corruption that can be correlated with 1 John 2:16, Matthew 4:1-10. The elements (2 Peter 3) of the heaven will melt, be burned up destroyed, never to rise again.
But the Lord through Peter goes on to state that even the desires of the earth, that natural body, will be removed. The earth will be removed and ALL THAT IS THEREIN. Think on that. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God Scripture declares. We find that the elements of the flesh will be removed. There is nothing that is worth saving as far as God is concerned. He is going to establish a new earth. A new body. It will be far different from Adam. Adam cannot inherit because he is of the earth. God is creating a heavenly man.
We have tried to explain the concept that heaven can relate to the mind and earth to the body. It creates a whole new depth of the Scriptures as one reads through Psalms or Isaiah, as well as other books of the Bible.
We have shared the thought concerning the new creation man, who is the new heaven and earth. Our new man is totally foreign to the understanding of the earthly man, and the contrary is also true. The earthly man cannot grasp the truth of the new creation. He might hear the word of life but if the carnal man accepts it as truth, he immediately corrupts it when the word is pulled down from the heavens into his own understanding.
Now, we will concentrate on the development of the spiritual man, the new creation man, the new heavens and earth man, at the expense of the other earthly, carnal, religious man. Interpretations of the Scriptures that we will use will be far different from the "standard" accepted version taught by Baptist, Pentecostals, etc. Since I came from such a heritage, I feel that removing these heavens of the carnal man are necessary to the understanding of the spiritual truths. We are not trying to offend anyone, but merely trying to remove the doctrines of such daughters of the harlot system of religion.
Heaven and earth has a far greater meaning than what was once proposed by the nominal church system. It is with a broadening of our understanding that one grasps the revelation that heaven is the mind and the earth is the body.
As has been discussed in the three previous parts, we see that 2 Peter 3 clearly shows that the heaven and earth are to be righteous. (3:13) Righteousness cannot be ascribed to inanimate objects – such as a physical earth or literal heaven. But we see Peter, inspired of God stating that the NEW heavens and NEW earth will be righteous.
A small point perhaps, but nevertheless a valid one that the character of God CAN BE given to man. Righteousness is part of the character of God. It is part of His nature. Dirt cannot have righteousness ascribed to it! A star cannot be "righteous." If the new heavens and the new earth are spiritual, we may assume that the old heavens and old earth are also spiritual. Righteousness can be given to a people conformed to the image of God. Righteousness can be given to those who are alive in Christ.
In Genesis chapter one where light and darkness are created (1:3-4), we note in verse 14 that light is to divide the DAY from the NIGHT. Most would think that the DAY period would refer from roughly 6AM to 6PM. A basic twelve hour day period followed by a 12 hour night period – with variations of some degree.
As one reads carefully, we see that the SUN, the MOON, and the STARS are given for the NIGHT. That is to say that the night is a 24 hour period which includes the natural daylight and night. Verses 16-17 refer to the idea that the SUN is given for the "day time" of the NIGHT. The moon is given for the "night-time" of the NIGHT. Do you see this and understand? God did need to establish lights of a lesser note for the NIGHT. God divided the NIGHT into a period of time with the SUN for the one part of the NIGHT and the MOON for another part of the night.
So far we have discussed the lights of the NIGHT as if they are natural lights – which they can be. It is stated in Corinthians first the natural then the spiritual. (15:46) What then are the "lights" of the NIGHT? They are the stars of heaven that fall (1/3). The stars represent ministries of men, as the Scriptures show. The various lights are truths of the Scriptures that are not the whole truth, but are found in the NIGHT light of Adam!
The NIGHT represents the Adam man. Adam has some light in that he understands some scriptural truth – the law, sin. His whole being of darkness focuses on such. Many of the lights (whether day or night) in the NIGHT represent truths that the denominational systems have camped around and made a point of fellowship (believe this or you are out). If you note most church systems have trained the people to focus on SIN, the OLD NATURE, the FLESH, DEATH and the UPLIFTING of the ministers above the people – so that the people can never obtain truth that the ministers do not give them.
As was previously discussed, the LIGHT or the DAY is referred to as the Pre-existent Christ, who appeared later as Jesus Christ. There is no darkness in Him at all. What then is the LIGHT? It has nothing to do with the light and darkness of the NIGHT. God did not need to give light for the LIGHT. For LIGHT is the very fullness of light.
Now, the issue becomes more complex. Are you in the light of the NIGHT? There are only two men in the world. There is either the MAN OF GOD or the DESCENDANT of ADAM. Adam needed the natural light. Adam needed the SUN, MOON, and STARS. Why did Adam need such? Because he was of the earth. He was of the lower nature. He even chose death over life. Death will chose death. Darkness likes darkness. This is why darkness cannot comprehend the light.
Oh, darkness may have a revelation of light – that person might get "saved" or even "filled with the Spirit." But the light that they have received is active in darkness. It is obvious they are not in the LORD'S DAY. For those who are in the NIGHT, even though they have some "light." see God acting in "signs, seasons, days and years." (vs.14) The Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the time of Jesus sought signs and wonders. Yet, they were carnal. They lived in the light of the adamic man. They did not live in the spiritual man.
It is hard for some to hear what we try to express at this point – that many saints have A light, that is A revelation of the Lord. But it is alive in their Adamic where they live. So their revelation is in the NIGHT even though it dispels darkness while it is in the night, they fail to understand and grasp the counsel of the will of God. Such statements as the following reveal they are in the NIGHT with their light: "I'm saved and going to heaven. That is all there is to it." Or perhaps you have heard: "I'm a son of God and I'm going to rule and reign with Jesus."
Both statements are made out of the NIGHT. While that Adam has seen A light of truth – being saved or ruling with Jesus – Adam will corrupt it. And he does so by the very life he lives. For the saved Christian living in the Adamic, denominational system brings the truth DOWN to the earth realm. One can't rule with Jesus! Jesus rules thru you. One who thinks he can rule is deceived by the very thought because he lives in the NIGHT. True, sons will rule in righteousness. But how many saints have you heard who see sonship state that they "can't wait until all power is given to them and they will straighten out those sinners, mete out judgment." The people of the LIGHT give LIFE. The people of the NIGHT give judgment and death for they are in the NIGHT of understanding.
For some the DAY OF THE LORD is a terrible day. It will be for those who abide in the NIGHT, the adamic life. But the LORD'S DAY is that day of LIGHT, and there is no NIGHT in it. Those who live in that day come to uplift and give life unto creation bringing about the restoration of all things. While the church system and many preachers who preach the message see the END of things. Those who are in the LIGHT preach the LIFE of a new beginning and not an end.
There is a saying "Keep looking up." It is used as an encouragement to people. The problem with the saying is that it is all wrong. The perspective of the saying is that people are DOWN and have to look up for deliverance. This is true of the NIGHT and the people who live in the light of the NIGHT – or the understanding of Adam. But the people of the LIGHT – or those who live in the understanding of Christ have another saying: "Keep looking down." Why? Because they have the proper perspective. They are one with Christ.
Those who live in the adamic nature, that fallen nature, do not have understanding of truly spiritual things because they dwell in the darkness and inhabit the earth! They are at home on the earth and in it. Revelation 12:12 states that it is woe to those who live on the earth – in the Adam nature.
Their interpretation of the Bible is towards the NATURAL fulfillment of things. Their visions are of the natural – earthquakes, famines, healings, deliverances etc. Not to say that these revelations and words to them are wrong. They are correct in the realm wherein they labor. But the work that is done in Adam for Adam, that person who lives in the light of the NIGHT, is but a continuous struggle to survive and remain. For the NIGHT is all around them. They get spiritual "shots in the arm" by the revelations of "light" that come into their Adamic nature. But it energizes ever so briefly and another fix is needed.
But there is another realm. The realm of LIGHT. It is different than the light of DARKNESS. It is not found in Adam, the creation of the earth that lives in the night. It is found in Christ, revealed by the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ, who came OUT OF HEAVEN – not out of the earth. He was the fullness of LIGHT. His interpretation of life and all that He did was LIGHT. In Him there was no darkness.
Those who live in the Adamic state can never be like Him. They never can be like Jesus. True! The Adamic never will be! Or others in the night state that Jesus is fully going to possess the Adamic and preserve it and change it into a better form of Adam. Foolishness! The man made in the image of Christ is first of all spiritual. Second of all heavenly.
Adam is neither of those and can never be. Adam is of the earth and is controlled by darkness. He chose of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because it was of the NIGHT. The earth will always choose the NIGHT. Even the light given to the planet in the natural is still in the NIGHT. For the Lord is creating a man in His Image, and His Image is the fullness of light and there was no darkness in Him at all. God is creating a manchild of the LIGHT.
This light being has no darkness in him. For he that is being birthed and is growing in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is of the Light. He is not of Adam. He is not of the earth. He is not of the carnal mind. Then what is He? He is of the LIGHT. He has the mind of Christ. He is of Christ. He is the new creation man that lives within the old earthly creation – but has nothing to do with the old. The old is merely the fertilizer for the new.
Those who live in Christ are the children of the Day. They are born from above. Their life is hid in Christ. Death has no dominion over them (not that the old Adamic isn't going to die but rather that the Life of God is spiritual and is not related to the Adam). Satan cannot touch them, even as Satan could find nothing in Christ. (Jn 14:30)
If you are in Christ, really living in the new man, you cannot sin – 1 John 3:9. Those who say that is blasphemous – do so from the realm of Adam and not Christ. They look at things from the eyes of the old man. Those in Christ do not sin nor have any desire to sin, because they are in love with God and His nature.
Those who say they are Christians and commit adultery/fornication are but deceiving themselves. Why? Because if they understood God and His nature they would not do such acts. Marriage is the development of a relationship that assists in comprehending the plan of God.
Those who commit adultery/fornication in the spiritual area – false gods, vain imaginations, etc. are also in the same genre. For they cannot begin to understand God if they do not remain in the spiritual marriage with Him. Adam cannot comprehend God. What purpose has light with darkness? Man cannot serve two masters, Mammon (Adam) God (Christ). Darkness (Adam) may get a revelation of a spiritual truth but it will not change Adam. Adam cannot be saved. Death reigns in Adam. Life comes in Christ. (Romans 5:17) Adam can NEVER produce life. His consciousness, albeit religious, is not life. It is religious.
The new heaven and new earth (our new mind and body) develops within it the NEW JERUSALEM. For the city that is from above is that which is spiritual and not natural. It is a realm of life that is made manifest in the individual person.
Fundamental and evangelical preaching tells the saints that the Jerusalem found in the book of Revelation is 12,000 miles square and descends from heaven to be set up where the old Jerusalem now stands in the nation of Israel, and that Jesus will rule from the throne in that place when the Christian government will be set up.
Thus, the saints look for a literal city to appear in the sky following the rapture and tribulation period on earth. At that point the saint also is taught that the kingdom is revealed. The problem with all this theology is that if one reads Revelation, even if it were true on the natural plane, outside the city are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, as well as death still working. If this were the kingdom why would there be suffering outside of the new Jerusalem, since the theology taught is that the tribulation would remove death, and the lake of fire and hell will put people there?
The incongruities of the standard evangelical theology is amazing. While we will not discuss it any further for that is not our point, what we will discuss is the New Jerusalem and what it really is.
The city, if you have not noticed our thought, is a people corporately as well as individually. It is not a literal city found in the natural earth; rather it is a spiritual place found in a people. With this premise in mind, let us first see that the city is a people and be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Revelation 21:9 "And there came unto me of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come up hither, I WILL SHOW THEE THE BRIDE, the Lamb's wife."
Revelation 21:10 "And he carried me away IN THE SPIRIT to a great and high mountain, and showed me that GREAT CITY, the holy JERUSALEM, descending out of the heaven of God."
It is evident by the scriptures themselves that the BRIDE of Christ, which we know as the church, that body of Christ, is what the writer saw. The angel showed him the BRIDE, the wife of God. Verse nine is very clear on that statement. There can be no question, and by the same token there can be no disputation of the truth that the BRIDE is the Lamb's wife – even evangelical Christian theologians agree on that.
The scriptures interpret themselves. This can be seen in many places, some of which we will use in this article. But 21:10, the following verse, shows that the man is carried away and shown what the BRIDE is. Remember the angel tells the man to COME UP HITHER. Once the man ascends into that higher spiritual plane, he sees the BRIDE as it is shown him by the angel. What did he see? He saw the NEW JERUSALEM.
There is no other truth. It is plain for one to read and interpret. Since the bride is the church, that body of Christ, the NEW JERUSALEM is the CHURCH. This thought alone shatters some "spiritual understandings." It is not a physical city, 144 miles square descending out of a literal sky, but rather a manifestation of a people that have come to the Mount of God! Since we are not to build a "theory" or base our theology on just one Scripture, we will establish it on two or three witnesses. Consider the verse: Revelation 21:2 "And I, John, saw the holy CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a BRIDE adorned for her husband."
Here again we have the same comparison of the thought of husband/bride that we find in verses 9-10. In Ephesians we also see that statement that Jesus gave Himself for the church, as a husband will for a bride. (Ephesians 5:23-27) The truth of the comparison holds. For the church, that new Jerusalem, is made for the glory of God as a woman is the glory of her husband.
Isaiah 62:12 "And they shall call them, the Holy PEOPLE, the redeemed of the Lord; and thou shall be called, Sought Out, a CITY not forsaken."
Here again it is evident that a PEOPLE are the CITY. There can be no doubt that the city in Revelation is NOT a literal city but rather those who have adorned themselves with the very nature, the very qualities, that their Husband requires. Those qualities are the characteristics, the very nature of God. For God will give His glory to no man. Thus, the wife of God, the bride, must be clothed upon with that which attracts her lover. God is not attracted to the adamic nature, that fallen corrupt nature. But rather is drawn to that which is like His nature. For how can two agree unless they be of the same mind? Hebrews defines the new Jerusalem as saints:
Hebrews 12:22-23 "But ye are come unto mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem to the general assembly and CHURCH of the firstborn."
Some would continue the verse and say that it says "in heaven." True it does. But heaven is not a physical place but a realm of spiritual presence. The city of Jerusalem is a habitation of the spiritual people of God in which God Himself rules and reigns. The New Jerusalem is the FIRSTBORN, those who have entered into a spiritual depth of life.
In the NEW heavens and NEW earth is a city. A city untainted by the Adamic nature. It is this city that has no need of natural light – for the SON is the LIGHT of it! The SON is the LIGHT. Back to Genesis 1:1-3 again. For the LIGHT is CHRIST. Back to our first chapter on heaven and earth!
This NEW Jerusalem is NOT a natural city – if it were it would have natural lights. If it were a natural city it would have more than one street too! (verse 23 says the Lamb is the light, verse 21 states "street" not "streets." What a glorious truth hidden from those who interpret with a natural eye. In my Father's HOUSE are many mansions John 14 states. We, the corporate body of Christ, are the house. The mansions are each saint on an individual basis. He has come with the Son and made his abode in us. (John 14:23) The word "abode" in the KJV is the same word translated "mansion" earlier in the chapter.
Jerusalem was the heart of the nation of Israel. Of this there is no doubt on the natural plane. It is also true of the spiritual plane. For God reigns from Jerusalem. In some saints there are still whoremongers outside their city – still resident in their heaven (mind) and earth (body). Those who are the first born from the earth have silence in their heavens because there is no death working. They have the mind of Christ and have been redeemed. There is no war in the flesh for they reside in the NEW creation man still hidden by the veil of the Adamic flesh until the appointed time.
But to make that even more clear, let us look at the new Jerusalem and see what it really is. Scripture many times interprets itself, but we have to know where to look and for what. In finding some scriptures that relate directly to the new Jerusalem, one would first look to Isaiah since he wrote much concerning the city.
Isaiah 60:18 "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shall call thy WALLS SALVATION and thy GATES PRAISE."
In this one verse alone, we can easily see that the idea of a literal city is not accurate as Isaiah, clearly speaking of the New Jerusalem, cites the fact that WALLS are SALVATION and GATES are PRAISE. Walls/salvation and gates/praise. Salvation is given to people – not to a rock wall. Praise is an attribute given to a person – not an inanimate object like steel gates. Thus, we can easily see that the walls and gates of Revelation that are connected with Jerusalem are spiritual words having spiritual interpretation.
Yet, we must also realize that Isaiah is talking about the New Jerusalem in that whole chapter. In fact, if one would read verses 19-20 it directly relates to Revelation 21:22-23. What we are trying to express is that Isaiah 60:18 is NOT taken out of context or used inappropriately to prove a point but rather the verse and the following verses clearly relate to Revelation chapter 21.
Why 12 gates? Why 12,000 furlongs as a cube (height, length width)? Twelve is the number of divine order in the Holy Scripture. As one studies the Bible this becomes evident. A cubic vessel – the same height, length and width – as the city (verse 16) is also a perfect order. A cube is three parts, symbolic of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Zeros on a figure are used in symbolism as a point of exclamation or emphasis.
The gates speak of praise. TWELVE GATES OF PRAISE. We have perfect praise from those whose mind is stayed on the Lord and His divine order or government. Jesus, our elder brother and pattern to follow, was in perfect divine order at all times. Thus, His life was a praise to God. His life glorified God. Praise associated with singing is not limited to that context as Christ's life was a praise to God. It was in harmony with the purpose and pleasure of God.
TWELVE STONES IN THE BREASTPLATE. Some would say that represents the twelve tribes and others would say it represents the twelve apostles. Both could be and are correct. But the idea we would express is that the twelve stones together represent the very fullness of light. The twelve are the refraction of light into different colors. But put together represent the very fullness of light out of which the very glory of God is revealed.
THE URIM AND THUMMIN, the stones that foretold through their casting, were in a pocket of the breastplate. These represented the will of God as revealed. The twelve stones were indicative of the light that they held within the pouch that was embroidered. The stones in the walls represent the twelve tribes' colors, or if you will, personality traits.
We also note that Ezekiel 28:13 (the chapter the evangelicals use to describe Satan-which is not true because it really describes Adam – write for our booklet Enoch, Elijah, Judas and Lucifer) states that the anointed Cherub was covered with precious stones. The stones are the same that are found in the New Jerusalem. So, what we are saying is that Christ is bringing the church into an even greater glory than the first creation man had.
We noted that the Walls were for salvation. How high is your salvation? Some come and partake of the first course or level of the wall which is that of Passover – experiencing Christ as the WAY. Others come again and do partake of Pentecost – experiencing Christ as the TRUTH. Some come a third time which is Tabernacles – and experience Christ as the LIFE. Thus, your wall, your salvation can have many levels. How can a city that has walls of SALVATION and gates of PRAISE, has Jesus as its LIGHT and not natural light, and has ONE STREET for 12,000 square miles be a literal city? It is not. It is obviously not. The city of Jerusalem in Revelation is the capital of the NEW heavens and NEW earth. It is a spiritual realm found in some saints who have entered into it.
As we return to the thought of the NEW Jerusalem being the bride of Christ, we must consider the story in Matthew about the ten virgins. Five wise virgins with extra oil (speaking of the Pentecostal experience) and the five foolish virgins (speaking of salvation and the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost) waited for the coming of the Lord. It has been taught by many that the five wise who were able to enter the marriage feast because they did have enough oil (due to God having worked the anointing into their lives), were the bride of the Lord.
This is NOT SO. The bride came with the Lord. These 5 were merely attendants at the wedding. Pentecost entitles one to come to the manifestation of the marriage. The 5 wise virgins were not wise enough! For there is one bride for the Lord, but many who aspire to be. The bride came with the groom. Passover and Pentecost, both feasts and experiences of the Christian walk, do not make you acceptable to be part of the a bride.
The bride experienced three feasts Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. As a comparison see Song of Solomon. The beloved was HERS (Passover). Then the beloved was hers and she was His (Pentecost). But the final experience she proclaims: I am His. Only the bride lays down Passover and Pentecost, which are experiences for the Old Adam, experiences that some use to energize Adam rather than remove him.
The NEW Jerusalem is the bride of God. Ten beautiful virgins came. Five left to get more oil because they did not have enough of the life of God worked into their being. Five remained and entered the celebration. But they were not the bride either, although they could attend the marriage feast. There is only one bride – those saints of the same vision who enter into the tabernacles experience of LIFE. They manifest HIS LIFE only.
We have briefly discussed the concept that the old heaven (the carnal mind) and the old earth (the adamic body) have passed away. The NEW heavens (the mind of Christ) and the NEW earth (the incorruptible seed) are now present in the natural body. The NEW creation man lives within the old creation. The man of the dust of the earth, Adam, still exists though he is dead. But the new creation man, the one made from the heavens in the image of Christ is here but has not come forth yet out of the tomb in which he resides (Adam).
Now, we shall consider the idea that there is another, one of many we might add, interpretation of Revelation 18: 1-4. The typical church doctrine has taught us for years that the truth of the beast, the political system, the religious system are all evident but are on the natural plane. That is to say that they are literal "hand touchable" entities that are clearly seen. The fall of Babylon is not limited to the natural. Many think that it has only the natural fulfillment. It behooves us to comprehend the truth that Babylon resides in us! For that which is seen on the outside of us – the natural world – is that very thing which the inside of us has created. Babylon resides and lives in the Adam man. The carnal outer man is in conflict with the inner man at all times because of the very nature he has. It is corrupt. All that it produces will be and is corruptible.
The outer nature of the Christian in particular is that with which we are concerned. The adamic nature, that outer nature, is at enmity with God and even sets itself up as God in the temple of God, which we are. As this pagan religious outer man reigns, he is Babylon incarnate. Babylon is nothing more than the outer man controlling the saint through the desires of the flesh and the carnal mind.
Previously, the Christian has been taught to view the world as Babylon, which presupposes the concept of an external Babylon, outside of oneself. As long as that concept reigns in the Christian, the saint fails to perceive the real truth that Babylon resides within. Failure to perceive this concept keeps the saint from dealing with the old nature because the Christian envisions and expects the Babylon of the world to disintegrate without removing the very nature that produces Babylon from himself. Non-Christians have no desire to become Christians because they see incongruities in the life of the saint.
Babylon is first and foremost internal. It has an outward manifestation. As long as the Christian fails to remove that Babylon in himself, the world will not be attracted to Christ. The Christian must integrate in his life the (w)holistic way. Many saints seem to believe that Christianity is religious and should not affect their value system at all. It is all right to be saved, filled with the Spirit, see a deeper walk and understanding but at the same time think it is correct to watch "R" rated movies, etc. Such a philosophy eschews a disregard for the holiness of God and presents a "Babylonish" garment for people to see. The people of God were destroyed for just taking a few of the goodly garments from the enemy.
Joshua 7:21 "When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them;"
The sad state of affairs is that the sin of the one caused affliction and pain to the many. A lack of holiness destroyed the walk of many. It is this babylonish garment of which we wish to speak. For the babylonish garment is a cloak that one wears – that visible outer carnal nature.
Revelation 18:2 "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory and he cried mightily with a loud voice saying: BABYLON HAS FALLEN..."
The verses above show that the earth was illuminated. The earth, the lower nature, was enlightened by the glory – the very LIGHT of God. The angel, that divine messenger of the inner nature, descended out of heaven (the mind of Christ) and was made evident in the earth to such a degree that the glory of God covered the earth.
Consider the thought that the glory of God covered the earth even as the glory of God covered the anointed Cherub, Lucifer (Lucifer was Adam, see our publication on the subject).
The word "illuminated" comes from two Greek words – one meaning to shed rays and the other meaning to be luminous. The thought being that the angel radiated (shed rays) on the earth. But even more than that, the word luminous means having the ability to give light from oneself, one's own being.
With the authority of Christ the angel spoke. For when Christ spoke with authority the Pharisees stared in amazement since He had not studied under them. It is a word of LIGHT and LIFE. Such a creative word spoken from heaven destroys the bondage of the earth. Babylon falls when that old carnal nature peels away at the brightness or luminous glowing of the angelic being, which is revealed from within. The incorruptible seed in the individual comes forth and destroys the darkness and the understandings thereof.
Most of Christianity looks for the fall of the natural world's political-social-economic structure. To be sure that will also occur. But there is another perception that the abnormal (we say abnormal because the present church system teachings are abnormal when compared to what the Bible really proclaims) saint does not perceive.
The abnormal saint fails to recognize that Christ is within; that heaven is where He is (John 14:23); that the Adamic nature cannot enter in; that he is alive unto God; that he is a new creation man and the old is done away. Such truths are not in the consciousness of the abnormal saint because he lives in Adam and church teaching and does not reside in the LIGHT but in the DARKNESS of the earth realm.
A previous chapter shows that DARKNESS has two parts – the light of the night (moon, stars) and the light of the day (sun). But both are in DARKNESS. One is a greater light and the other is a lesser light. The reason light is needed is because of the fact that DARKNESS resides in the day and night! Religious teachings seek to illuminate the carnal man, that adamic nature. Such illumination provides a light in the darkness; it does not move the person into THE LIGHT in which there is no darkness.
Thus, those who live in such a realm cannot comprehend the ministry of the "angelic" since darkness cannot grasp light. But those who live in the LIGHT are empowered with an angelic ministry in the last days of Babylon, the last days of the night, the last days of the earth realm to go forth to HARVEST the 30, 60, 100 fold.
The angelic message proclaimed with authority enunciates the depths of the revelation of what God can do in a man if the man lives in the LIGHT of God rather than has enlightenment from God while living in the NIGHT. Reread the previous sentence and ponder it. The nature of Babylon falls and fails because the LIFE and LIGHT destroy the NIGHT and the light that the night has.
God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world but to save it. (John 3:17) Revelation 14:6 shows that the message of the angels comes forth to REDEEM men FROM the earth (see our message on angels to find out who they are). Thus, the word proclaimed by the angelic ministry is a word of release, a deliverance from the bondage of corruption spoken of in Romans 8:19-20. It is a word of restoration. (Gal 6:1) "Restore" in the Greek means to reach down, lift up and do away with! Such a release is proclaimed by the angel, which says "Babylon is fallen."
How did Babylon fall? Was it by its corruption weighing it down? Did someone turn tattle-tale and tell on it? Beloved, that is not how Babylon fell. Babylon fell by two means. Babylon was slain by the brightness of His coming, the coming of the Lord revealed in the angelic ministry. Second, the angelic ministry was alive in Christ (how could they be divine messengers if they were not alive in Him?) and their CREATIVE word, their verbal proclamation provided the decimation of Babylon, that carnal nature. Babylon was slain by the BREATH of His coming!
Isaiah 11:4 "…and he shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked."
That which is of the carnal nature is removed. It is removed by the brightness of the Lord. The very LIGHT of Genesis 1:3. The LIGHT of God removes the old heavens and the old earth. The LIGHT of God removes in order that it might establish the very LIGHT of God in the new heavens and the new earth. The glory from the holy of Holies emanates from the ark realm and fills the Holy Place with the very Light of the Holy of Holies. Thus, the Holy Place, that old carnal mind is done away with, and the mind of Christ is revealed. The part realm is removed, that Pentecostal heavens, that realm where the anointing comes and goes, where the flesh is influenced by the carnal mind unless it is under a special unction from the Holy Spirit.
Ah, the brightness of His coming is THE LIGHT. Darkness is removed. Death is done away. Destruction is no more. The debacles of life are no longer found. LIGHT reigns. Babylon is fallen.
"How so?" you ask. Well, friend, there are some saints who have become eunuchs for the sake of the Lord. They have set aside all desires to produce life after the lower order. They have desired only to manifest the very life of God and nothing else. These eunuchs are counted worthy to produce the life of God and do so by becoming "angels," the "divine messengers", as the Greek states. These angels are sent forth from heaven – not the natural heaven but the realm of life in the Spirit of Christ Jesus. They proclaim out of their being words of creation life, even as Jesus did. Their words bring down the heavens of carnality and destroy the fleshly earth. These, having been the advance guard of the age to come, reveal and proclaim the kingdom age. Thus, they release creation by the very life that they reveal and proclaim. Babylon falls because of the LIFE and LIGHT they have. Their very presence is enough because the glory they have fills the temple!
Ezekiel 37:9-10 "Then said he unto me, 'Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, 'Thus saith the LORD God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
These angel creations from the new heaven and earth are RAISED from the dead. This army that will proclaim the very nature of God is raised FROM the earth. REDEEMED from out of the earth. They are ALIVE in the new creation man. They live in the new order of God. They have become the LIGHT. They reveal the brightness of the new day. The kingdom of God has come. It is the angels that reveal it. The angels are able to slay the kingdom of Babylon – to slay the religious mind of man, the political mind of man, the social mind of man and the economic mind of man because of the work of grace done in them. Each of these four minds are carnal and contrary to the kingdom of God. Babylon is fallen by the angelic ministry, and the earth will be illuminated, have light in itself, due to the word of LIGHT and LIFE that the angels proclaim – BABYLON IS FALLEN.
We have tried to show that heaven and earth are found in a people, the very people of God. The people of God are to be the very example, the very revelation of Him who opened the door of heaven unto them – Jesus. For Jesus came that we might have fellowship with the Father and be where He is which is NOT in a literal heaven, but in the SPIRIT.
Some of the precious saints of the Lord still live in the old heaven and old earth of the Adamic nature failing to have appropriated their inheritance in God. Thus, some saints have Jesus Christ in them but while He is in them, they still reside in the old man, Adam. These saints have not yet realized, perhaps due to church doctrine, that the old man was crucified and is dead. (Romans 6:6)
It is difficult for some to believe they are alive and no longer living in Adam since the typical teaching in evangelical circles is that the saint is a sinner saved by grace who sins every day – which denies the truth of Romans 6:6. It is difficult to believe that you are alive if your focus is on the old heavens (carnal mind) and the old earth (natural body). Yet, many saints have been taught to believe in what they see WITH THE NATURAL EYE AND NATURAL UNDERSTANDING. Such sight and understanding comes from the old heavens and old earth, which is corrupted by moth!
Poor is the saint who tries to energize Adam by the life of Christ that is in him. Jesus came to earth, not to energize Adam but rather to enable the believer to change his substance from the earthly image and be conformed to the heavenly image. Yet, it is no wonder the saint is frustrated, discouraged, feeble, and eats of communion unworthily and incorrectly! For the saint has been given an understanding that says perfection (the Greek – maturity) comes when one gets to heaven, and thereby nothing can be obtained now as far as development goes.
The life of God in the saint is NOT TO RESURRECT ADAM but rather the life of God in the saint is to BURY ADAM AND ALLOW CHRIST TO COME FORTH OUT OF THE TOMB OF ADAM. After all, if we have been crucified with Him, then we LIVE in Him and not in Adam any longer. Mentally, a Christian will agree to such a thought, but experientially deny the truth thereof and there is the rub. Like the Pharisees, most Christians have the right doctrine but do not have the life.
The Greek intimates in verse 6 of Romans 6 that the "body of sin" not only means the natural body but the very soul as well. Adam was made a living soul, Genesis states in chapter 2. What does this mean? Simply that when we are crucified with Christ the "body of sin" is removed, that is, the sin nature no longer exists – that soul (adamic) which did live died because of sin. We know that the soul that sins dies. (Ezekiel 18) The soul was revealed for what it was by Jesus (Emmanuel – Savior of His people) who gave His soul (Isaiah 53:10) as an offering for sin.
Yet, we find many saints so indoctrinated by the church system that they do not believe that they are alive in Christ. Why? Because by teaching the people that the sin nature still exists in them the church system has power over the people and controls them. The system feeds them spiritual food but denies them the life working of it. The saint falsely believes that he has to energize the Adamic nature rather than develop the new creation man. He believes, because he has been taught by the church, that the old nature can be reformed. It cannot. It is destroyed. The normal saint controls the old nature by Herculean efforts of self control, legalistically keeping the Ten Commandments and is exhausted by the effort. If the saint realizes that the new creation man is alive and focuses on him, walking in the Spirit is relatively easy.
Paul goes on to say that just as a dead body is buried in the ground, that buried body literally cannot sin any longer. Of this there is a surety. Paul is saying by using this analogy that the saint who has been freed from sin (Romans 6:18) cannot use his mortal body, that natural body, any longer for sin. This is a true statement but the truth of it is lost with many saints because they still sin – miss the mark, look to the wrong identity as Bennie Skinner says. Many saints still focus on the Adamic, that old nature and deny Christ! They deny that they are in Christ and are free to express the very image that HE is in them.
Beloved, the old heavens has passed away. The new heavens are here. The old earth is passed away. The new earth is here. Can you not see and understand? 2 Corinthians 5 clearly shows that there is within this mortal body another body (have we not written about this before?). What body do you say? The body of a new heavens and new earth.
We see such a type and shadow in the New Testament when we see Jesus come forth out of the tomb. The tomb represents the old nature, that carnal man, that casing in which we live – that adamic man. The stone is rolled away and out comes the new creation man – Jesus who reveals where he lives – in the new heavens and new earth. It might be pointed out that Jesus always lived in that realm. The stone was rolled away because of where He lived. He raised Himself from the dead! The life He lived in the flesh was the very life of God.
The new heavens and the new earth are to be revealed IN A PEOPLE. The saints are already moving in that realm of life. The full revelation is not visible to people even as Jesus was not visible as the son of God to them. For while He lived 33 1/2 years, He revealed the son of MAN ministry. Very few had the revelation that He was the son of GOD. But Jesus did not reveal himself as God until the resurrection.
Jesus was the resurrection BEFORE he revealed it. Did He not tell them at Lazarus' funeral that the resurrection was not the chronological time but a PERSON? Himself. Did He not raise Lazurus from the dead? Jesus could not have done such if it were not true that He was the son of God. The idea we are trying to express is that Jesus lived IN GOD. He did not live in any old nature. His natural body was controlled by the Spirit.
Consider Paul. He did not live in his natural body either but rather actually lived in Christ Jesus. (Gal.2:20-21) Paul even states that the Son was revealed IN him. (Gal.1:16) Since Scripture is inspired, we can rest assured that what Paul wrote to the Galatians is true. When Paul states that Jesus, the Son, WAS revealed in him, Paul is saying that Paul "Christ" was seen. Jesus Christ (Christ meaning Messiah or anointed) is another way of saying Jesus the anointed. Paul, alive in God, his life hid in Christ Jesus, thus becomes the very appearance of Jesus because Jesus is made manifest through Paul.
The very divine express image (Hebrews 1:3) that Jesus was, is made manifest through a people who have been conformed to His nature. A bodily change is not necessary. Paul became that "son of man" expression even as Ezekiel was (the phrase "son of man" is used about Ezekiel and in the book of Ezekiel more than any other place in Scripture).
Paul revealed the resurrection life. Paul who was in Christ raised himself from the dead because of the nature of God being strong enough in himself to do so, even as Jesus did so. Some would say that Paul did not have a changed body, a glorified body. So? Relationship makes one alive in Christ NOT physical change or a certain dispensational time. Neither time nor change have any relationship to the resurrection. Did not Paul say we should follow him as he followed Jesus (1 Thess.1:6, 1 Cor.4:15-16)? How did he say such unless he was like Christ?
Paul was alive unto God. He was not alive in Adam. He did not reside in Adam. When he arose from the dust of the earth, after being knocked off the ass when God visited him on the road to Damascus, Paul left the dust.
He shook the dust off himself (Adamic nature). He arose (resurrected out of the Adamic drive), and sat down in heavenly places with God. (Isaiah 52:24)
Beloved, we must place our understanding not in the traditions of the church system which clearly seeks to create a following of people who are dependent on that system. Rather we must seek to be conformed to His image and not remain identified with Adam. Where the church system seeks to control, seemingly gives freedom, it does not because it allows life to be made manifest only IN ADAM. Heal Adam. Get the Baptism of the Spirit to bless Adam etc. It never directs the people to identify with Christ – if it did the ministers would eventually be out of a job as the saint matures.
God has called us to be heavenly creations – 1 Cointhians 15:48.
J.B.Phillips states: "… so shall we be made like the heavenly pattern."
The New English states: "… shall wear the likeness of the heavenly man."
The Amplified states: "… are those who are of heaven – heaven minded."
The new creation man, the one FULLY born of the Lord, the one FULLY tabernacled with God, is not conscious of being in Adam any longer. His concern for ADAM is not evident. Whether he lives or whether he dies, it is not important because Adam is not important. Only the Christ life is important.
The new creation man lives IN the grace of God because he is a heavenly creation; whereas, Adam exists a little longer because grace has been extended to him. See the difference? Adam cannot live by grace – he exists. The new creation man lives in grace. Adam is governed by the law of sin and death. The new creation man is under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Sin and death exist outside of grace but do continue because grace is. Sin continues because mercy is extended. Without mercy/grace sin could not continue because judgment would come. The new creation man is the very preservative of the earth because he is in grace/mercy and is the actual means by which grace is extended to the old heavens and earth – the soulish and natural man.
Adam exists BY the grace of God…The new creation man dwells IN the grace of God. Adam is ruled by sin and death…..The new creation man is governed by the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Adam, that living soul must die…The new creation man is a life quickening spirit. Adam is focused on the carnality…The new creation man is looking toward the finisher of his faith. Adam desires the things of the flesh. The new creation man sows to reap eternal life. Adam will dwindle and die…The new creation man will increase and live. Adam lives in the old earth and the old heavens, which will pass away…. The new creation man resides in the new heavens and new earth. The two shall never meet. Neither can one enter the realm of the other. For each is of a different seed.
1 Corinthians 15:49 "As is the earthly such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly."
If you are not IN CHRIST then you are IN ADAM. One cannot serve two masters – Mammon or God. It has to be one or the other. Yet, we find many serving God in Adam thinking that they are pleasing God when in reality their efforts are fumes of stinking sulfur in the nostrils of God. Adam can never please God. Adam was of the earth, earthy. He is not and cannot be spiritual – although he attempts to be spiritual and gives the appearance of such. It is a shell, a mockery of true spirituality.
When you read the account of Peter in the boat coming out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water, with whom do you identify? Peter. Yes, I know for I did. But why did you not identify with Jesus? Are we not to identify with Jesus? Only Adam will always identify with Adam. We remain in Adam as long as we identify with Adam.
Adam is a disease. Death is the cure. When you are in Christ you no longer identify with Adam. You see yourself as Jesus extending a hand to those who need it. Who needs it? The Peters. Remember Peter was A FOLLOWER of Jesus. He was a "saved" man, so to speak, one of the church, if you will. There are a lot of Adams in the church realm (Passover/Pentecost – Salvation/ baptism of the Spirit).
How does one tell if another is in Adam? They question whether you are in Christ. They question whether anyone can be in such a spiritual place. The reason they question is that they cannot see you spiritually but look on you outwardly. By the very action or reaction of some you can tell where they are. By the same token they also can tell the real ones that are in Christ from the false ones. The real ones in Christ have no bone to chew! They have no desire to cause division, exaltation. The ones really in Christ come to give LIFE. They give life by the very essence of who they are. If they are in Christ, the new creation man is revealed by the peace rather than contention in their heavens. There is no war where a new creation man dwells and therefore there is no war in him because he knows it is all settled. He does not have to prove his point; he does not have to win the battle. Why? Because he lives in the end of all things – the ascended Lord. For all things are going to be assembled in God in the fullness of time. (1 Cor. 15:28)
The new heavens and the new earth already exist. When He came 2,000 years ago, Jesus opened the heavens. He became the ladder, the door if you will, that we might ascend into the new heavens and new earth in which NO MAN had ever gone except He who came from there. (Jn. 3:13) Since then many have entered into that realm. Many have borne the image of the Lord. Few have seen them. Fewer still have accepted them. But the fact remains that the ascended life In Christ Jesus is here. The FRUIT of their existence is NOT found in WORKS but in CHARACTER. These reveal the Father's love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. (Gal.5:22)
Union with God produces God in the flesh, so that God is visibly seen by others who dwell in the Adamic. The religious person will not accept the truth of union with God. The religious person is bound in all denominations and in those who have come out of the system. The religious person has doctrine in place of life and cannot tell the difference. The religious person has knowledge in place of relationship and does not know the difference.
Union with God is a spiritual reality when one decides to enter into a deep relationship with God. The heavens open and the richness of God becomes a reality. Natural as well as earthly desires disappear because of the life that is entered into. Fleshly desires cannot disappear unless a better covenant replaces it.
The riches in glory. What a phrase. The imagination ferments with visions of what "riches in glory" means. Without any assistance from the Holy Scriptures the vain imagination conceives mental pictures of gold filled vessels adorning a palatial mansion. The imagination continues to develop the picture.
Heaven, the home of the saint, is filled with riches in glory. So, it is taught in the traditional church way. Many church traditions, even church theology, may not have truth in them. It is true that heaven is filled with the riches in glory. But the understanding of what the Lord is expressing to us is far removed from the vain imaginations of the mind.
We hope that we have made it plain that the life in God is the new heaven and new earth. It is not an altitude but a realm of living. Heaven is where He is, and He is in us! (John 14:23) The corporate house (John 14:1-3) is the body of Christ, and within the corporate is each individual house (each of us). What greater summation can be declared then BY JESUS CHRIST(Phil. 4:19)? God will supply our needs according to HIS riches in glory. God is not talking about supplying our needs when we "get to heaven" but NOW. We receive His riches NOW in this life.
There are two phrases in this verse that are connected – "in glory" and "shall supply." As you enter the new heavens, that deep personal relationship with Jesus, God will supply all your needs because of the depth of the riches, which are found in His glory. Out of His glory all our needs are supplied. Did you hear that? Can you see that? All needs are supplied from out of His glory. His glory, the glory of His head, was His Son manifested in the last days, visibly seen as Jesus. All riches come out of His glory.
We who have been ingrafted and have become inchristed are well able to draw upon the glory of God. All provision is supplied out of the magnanimous, glorious, nature of God. So, if there is a need in this life, it is met as we develop our Christian maturity within. We literally are being changed from glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18)
Ephesians 3:16 "That He would grant you, according to the RICHES OF HIS GLORY, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man."
The riches of God are not a natural thing. Rather the riches are the character of God given to us as an aid to embellish the inner man, that new earth/heavens that is to come forth out of the tomb of the old. Again, it is given to us in this life. The riches given are "OF HIS GLORY" meaning that the riches are actually a part of His glory. He gives us His glory so that the inner man might grow and be established.
In John 17:10 Jesus states that He was glorified in His disciples. God was glorified BY and IN His Son. (John 13:31-32) God strengthened His Son by being in Him. The very essence of God or His glory if you will, empowered Jesus to overcome all the trials found in this life. Jesus was so filled with the glory/life of God that the devil could find nothing in Him. (John 14:30)
This same God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has given to us from His riches the very glory which shall supply and empower our inner man. This richness of life is tantamount to the success of glory that shall be revealed in us. (1 Thess.1:10)
Romans 9:23 "and that He might make known the RICHES OF HIS GLORY IN the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us…"
The New English Bible states: "… and did so in order to make known the FULL WEALTH OF HIS SPLENDOR UPON VESSELS.." He extended mercy to us, while yet in Adam, so that He could deliver us out of the cosmos, that universe, that heavens and earth. He planned to reveal in us His very riches of His glory. We are to reveal His glory, even as Jesus did. Jesus came giving LIFE and MERCY which are part of God's glory.
When Christ in us is the HOPE of glory (Col 1:27), the hope is fulfilled when the saint enters into Christ, leaving Adam behind (and we are not talking about just being "saved" and still living in the desires of Adam). Israel, which means "like unto God", was called as a nation to reveal God to the world. They failed. Israel was the treasure house of God. God destroyed Israel (2 Kings 20:12-21) because Hezekiah showed the family jewels and wealth to Babylon (Adam). Israel today is LO-AMMI which means "not the people of God." God divorced them over their failure to keep the riches in the inner man.
Jesus never used the riches in glory to assist or bless His outer man. Jesus remained living in the inner man and used the riches to build Himself up in the inner man. The purpose in so doing was that He could reveal through the transfiguration that the outer man can be swallowed up by the inner man. The inner riches of the new earth and the new heavens will burst forth in this day of the Lord to be made manifest to the world.
God gives His glory to no man. He gave His glory to His Son because the Son was not a man, a descendant of Adam. God gives the riches in glory to us because we do not live in Adam, but in the new creation man, the one fashioned after His own image, the ascended Lord.
False Christs appear but they appear without the glory of God. The sons of God appear because they are the glory of God. We are talking about a glory that is self-existent, like the living creatures. The holiness of God emanates from the Holy of Holies. Those who have tabernacled there reveal the riches of His glory, for they reside in His heavens which is what the new heaven and the new earth are! A Christ body – not an Adam body.
Everything in heaven and on earth will be shaken. The dawning of the millennium begins in the last decade of the last century before the millennium. Thus, 1990-1999 will be a time of great turmoil as things will change. On the natural plane, almost every major discovery occurs at the end of a century or at the early morning of another.
The Americas were discovered at the end of a century (1492). The industrial revolution began at the end of a century. Steam engines began in the late 1700's. Combustion engines for cars and their development was at the turn of the century (1880's). Airplanes were in the late 1890's and early 1900's. Every century, when it turns, causes new developments that are IMPROVING, ENLIGHTENING, and ELEVATING the world. It is part of God's plan.
Yet, it is a time of turmoil. The industrial age wrought havoc with the age before it – removing it. Technology is also removing the strength of the industrial age. While the one age remains, is needed and continues, the new age dawns with great impetus and propels itself and mankind along with it. The new age enhances and enables the previous ages (agricultural and industrial) to become more productive. The change from the agrarian society to the industrial society caused tremendous turmoil in all families. Some people left the farms for the cities. Cities were overcrowded and did not have all the opportunities that the immigrants expected. Unemployment was great. Wages low. Jobs scarce. On the farm help was non-existent and still labor intensive; thus, food shortages occurred in the cities. That was the scenario of the change from the agrarian society to an industrial society.
CHANGE IN THE NATURAL IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY CHANGE IN THE SPIRITUAL. The spiritual change in Christianity brought about tremendous changes in the world. A major spiritual battle was between the RENAISSANCE and those the Christian REFORMATION (see the book Calvinism in History by the author N. S. McFetridge). The Reformation philosophy (about 1500 A.D.) was that God was sovereign and reigned.
The Renaissance started basically in France and held the belief that man (humanism) was sovereign. It was this struggle for truth that caused the development of the USA. Every major change occurs at a millennium (1,000 yr. time) or at the turn of a century. There is a cycle involved. The new age is so full of vigor and so many jump on to ride, that there becomes an excess, a fleshly robust debauchery. A recent example would be the '20's in the USA. The advent of trucks, the car etc. caused a revolution in the way the economy developed. Many were getting rich and partying while the farmers in the 20's were going broke – before the dust bowl drought of the thirties. The new ideas which fostered fleshly extravaganzas culminated in the thirties with Godly judgment on the nation. Then when the needs are great a great desire arises to seek God. The result is a return to morality, and a "golden age" of development (40-70's). Then comes the culmination of the century, the fullness of that "age's" impetus with the beginning of turmoil of new development.
The cycle again returns. The old order fights the new order that is developing. There is turmoil. Job displacement, etc. As it is in the natural, it is merely a sign of the spiritual and what transpires there. For spiritual penetration into new realms creates a battle with the old order. A new understanding is uncomfortable to those who think that they understand or have the full understanding in a certain area.
The agrarian (agricultural) age didn't end but was added onto by the industrial. It was enlarged, enhanced. The industrial age in its passing is being enhanced today by the new age – the age of technology. Each age continues but also exists along with the new.
Even in the book of Revelation there are seven trumpets. One does not sound and end followed by the next trumpet. No. The first continues to sound even as the second sounds and so forth unto the end so that all seven sound at once. Another truth to confirm that is that the trumpet of salvation is always sounding while some are moving into the trumpet sound of Pentecost while still others are moving into the trumpet of tabernacles.
We see dysfunction in the economy with displacement of many people from jobs their grandfathers and their fathers had and they had hoped to have. Why? In the previous age the job itself was the major part of the success of the age. Most "secure" jobs through the 1900's were of the industrial nature. But the new age is the period of technology which will make the industrial age more efficient through robotics, etc. This will cause human dysfunction and displacement. Great personal tragedies will result and these will compound into the economic and the financial sectors.
Businesses will fail. Banks are going broke – expect more. Insurance firms will have their problems but since they are more conservative and less risky in their investments they will generally survive. Yet, there will be a dichotomy in all this. Some businesses will excel because of their moving with the NEW. Others will fail because they will not change. Many people will be affected.
As these changes are being brought about in the natural so also is it in the spiritual realm. We have written these messages on heaven and earth in order that people would be transferred from one kingdom unto another, so that saints would be moved out of the old heavens and old earth into the new heavens and the new earth.
If the brethren do not change over, then there will be a radical change in their walk in Christ as they find they are not moving on but rather are at a spiritual standstill – which means death. For if you do not grow you do die. The "end-time" move will formulate into another "church system." Doctrine will take over for substance, the first sign of death. We see this occurring in groups as we travel across the country.
There is a new heaven and new earth. Many still look for it. Some have written to us and said they do not understand these messages on heaven and earth. It is like a clanging cymbal to them. Others have been highly encouraged. Why the difference? Perhaps, God hasn't opened some eyes to see it and if that is the case it is the will of God for them not to see. But if the desire of the person is to remain in the old heavens and old earth, then the shaking begins.
THE OLD IS TO BE REMOVED SO THAT THE NEW CAN BE SEEN. The old has to be removed. The new order is the way of God. IT ISN'T DESTRUCTION THAT IS OCCURRING BUT A CREATIVE BIRTHING. The old is removed, so that when the dust is settled, the new can be seen by all. IT IS NOT AN ENDING BUT A BEGINNING. There is an age overlap. As one decreases the other increases. The old is not destroyed because it is still needed. Salvation will always be available as long as there is a need for it!
IF YOU SEE THE TURMOIL IN THE WORLD AND FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ON THAT YOU ARE IN THE OLD PASSING ORDER. Those who are in the new order are developing, dwelling in the new way. They are not concerned with the old because they recognize the purpose of it and its relation to the current future. The old is merely a stepping stone into the new, just as the old was once the new and the age before it a stepping stone.
Ah, the new heavens and the new earth takes a spiritual birth, even as the natural new age takes form and develops as men conceive ideas into their minds which already exist in the spiritual realm. Unsaved men hear from God and create the new technologies. Each doing his part of the whole which then comes to a point of critical mass. (A critical mass is a term of science that is used when enough of an activity occurs simultaneously that the event takes on a life of its own; it cannot be stopped). This critical mass causes an explosion. The result is the passing of the old and the beginning of a new age/century/millennium
So it is in the spiritual. There are those throughout the world who are receiving from God. They are blowing their trumpet. Each trumpet sound increases the resonances and vibrations of the same tune. This embellishes the sound. IF
ENOUGH SAINTS MOVE INTO THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH, A CRITICAL MASS OCCURS. The result of the critical mass is an explosion. In times past it was a revival. This new day, the dawning of inchristed people, there is to be a full manifestation of who HE is. The new heavens and new earth are to be revealed coming forth out of the very people of God who have penetrated the new eon and bring it back for the rest to see!
The sign of His coming! Christ came in a woman. Hidden but growing, HE came. So today Christ has come in a people. He is hidden in them as He was in Mary. He is growing in them as He grew in Mary. As He came forth out of Mary even is He now coming forth out of our flesh to be visibly seen, manifested on the earth. He will be revealed coming out of the tomb of the old heavens and old earth (Adam) and manifesting the new heavens and new earth.
As the spies went forth into Canaan and sought the land, only TWO brought back the life of it – having eaten of its grapes. They reveled in the glory of the land and told it to others. But TEN who also went in said the land was too difficult to take. Hear and perceive. Many go into the NEW heavens and NEW earth but deny the possibilities of it. They fail to possess it spiritually even though they tasted of it.
But there are those who believe, and it is accounted to them as righteousness. It becomes theirs because they believed the report of their spiritual eyes that saw it and their spiritual taste that ate of it. The others saw it with their eyes but did not really see. They tasted of the fruits of it but did not digest it. IT DID NOT BECOME LIFE TO THE TEN BECAUSE THEIR EYES FOCUSED ON THE TURMOIL THE NEW WOULD BRING TO THEIR LIFE.
The new millennium in the natural is a time to establish the new way of thinking, enlarging the vision, seeing the possibilities and producing the product of the vision. In the spiritual, Joshua and Caleb came back to a people who had been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness and knew nothing but how to travel and live in a desert.
Now, it was up to these two men who had partaken of the life of the realm and eaten of its fruit to LEAD the people into the land. Hebrews 9:10 and 10:9 make it plain that the OLD must be removed for the NEW to be established. Jesus removed Aaronic ministry to establish the Melchizedec. Joshua and Caleb removed the well-worn path around the wilderness to START A NEW ROAD.
Imagine their chagrin at the response of the people. It was only those BORN in the wilderness, under 20 years of age that were encouraged to enter and believe them. The ones who came out of Egypt were desirous of DYING IN THE WILDERNESS. They refused the new way. They preferred the security of the old. IN REALITY THE OLD HELD NO SECURITY BUT DEATH.
Today, a new spiritual age has dawned. Some have entered into the NEW heavens and the NEW earth. Spiritually they live there, physically it can not be seen in their bodies. But the life in the new way will cause the change of the body when enough of the saints also enter in and create the time of CRITICAL MASS.
Joshua and Caleb so possessed the life that they caused a critical mass. ALL the people crossed the Jordan (Jordan means "flowing down" or "death") and entered into the Promised Land. They entered because the LIFE in Joshua and Caleb caused enough of an action in them to create the desire to move on into the new land. It took two to move over 1 million people.
Consider Deuteronomy 32:30: "…one shall put a thousand, and two ten thousand to flight…" The truth of the matter is that just a few, a remnant, could create the manifestation of the sons of God.
All it takes is the spirituality to possess the LIFE that is in the third heavens. First one must hear the call to "COME UP HITHER." Then one must have the VISION of it. Thereafter it must consume you as nothing else. Your only desire is to be
HIM in this New heavens and NEW earth. Oh, what a day we live in. In THIS DAY will God be made manifest. This is the day, for we are of the day, we are the LIGHT. As we previously stated, we are not the light of day in the NIGHT OF DARKNESS where there is day and night divided. (Gen.1:14) We are the LIGHT where there is no darkness. (Gen 1:1-3)
NO GROWTH IS DEATH. GROWTH IS LIFE. God's commandment is to multiply. It is an eternal commandment that is true on many levels. No growth in the natural is population control and it is against God's will. It also will destroy the world's economy. No growth means no need of products except for replacements. Consider that. The world's problem is not starvation. ALL the people of the world could fit in Florida if it were made like a city of New York. The rest of the world could more than produce enough food, electricity, etc. The problem of death and starvation is distribution, and that problem is caused by the fallen nature of man. We have friends in Africa who tell us the food is there but will not be distributed because of the government's political liabilities!
GROWTH IS LIFE. Expand in the realm of the Spirit. God has, since the time of Christ, been exercising the feast of Tabernacles. There are more inventions, better products, all in the natural because since the time of Jesus, God has been calling forth a remnant of people. They started out of the Roman Catholic church. They left the staid nature of the church to form the Presbyterians, or the Anglican, or the Mennonites etc. More truth was revealed to the remnant in these latter groups. They left these, now staid systems, and moved on. Methodists brought forth a message of Holiness. Pentecostals came along and brought forth the word on the Baptism of the Spirit. Every time there was a spiritual awakening, there was a change in the natural world.
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING causes NATURAL DEVELOPMENTS TO COME FORTH. So, the signs (new technologies etc.) we see in the land today are the result of some spiritual people penetrating into a higher, deeper engathering (tabernacles) with God. The total result is the elevation of the people of the world. Many people envision their country having the economic blessings the USA has – the cars, washers, dryers etc. Why? Because we have created a vision for them which might not have come to pass if there weren't a spiritual remnant pressing into the heights and depths of God.
SPIRITUAL LIFE BEGETS BLESSINGS TO THOSE ON THE EARTH REALM. Jesus brought immortality and life to LIGHT. (2 Tim. 1:10) Life and immortality always existed. Jesus brought them forth to be manifest. Spiritual life is always made visible on the earth. As those who are spiritual possess the realm of Him, they will make the spiritual manifest – become the express image of God. Possess Him who is your inheritance and He will possess your reins so that all you impregnate with Him will be life.
Having studied so far, are you ready for the revolution? The turmoil that we see on the natural plane is but an outgrowth of the spiritual revolution that we are to bring. Some are possessing that which is their inheritance in Him. The natural has begun to quake with the beginning of the end of this age and the dawning of the new.
THERE IS A REVOLUTION IN THE HEART AGAINST THE POWER OF EVIL, IN THOSE WHO WISH TO BE GUIDED BY THE POWER OF GOD. The old heavens and the old earth are at enmity with God. They are evil. Why? Because they devour mankind with their ability to make man focus on the natural, the spiritual man is hindered from coming forth in the new heavens and the new earth.
Everything in the old MUST be destroyed. The old tabernacle must be removed (Hebrews 9:10, 10:9) in order for the new to be revealed. By the very presence of Jesus, He removed the old order of Aaron and established the order of Melchizedek. He did nothing in the natural but reveal in Himself the new order which in effect did away with the old order.
The old order teaches that "someday" we will be in His image. It is similar to the philosophy of the "rapture" people. The lie is the same. It keeps the old heavens and old earth in control. All remains as it was. But Jesus revealed a NEW creation man. It shook the old heavens and the old earth when He took the kingdom by violence. He destroyed the old by revealing the new and made a way for those who desire Him to reveal Him in the new heavens and earth.
There is a war at the birthing of the manchild. (Rev.12) The child leaves its mother – the old heavens and the old earth, which have a glory of the moon (reflected) and the covering of the sun (Jesus). The manchild is not of its mother but of its FATHER. Mary carried Jesus. She was a surrogate mother. He came from heaven, she from the dust of the earth, Adam. He was totally of His Father. He did not have any part of Adam. If He did He could not have been our deliverer from this bondage of corruption.
Those called to be conformed to His image are being changed from the earthly to the heavenly. (1 Cor.15:42-54) The NEW creation man is arising from the earthly as he shakes the dust from off himself. (Isaiah 52:2) IT IS THE NEW CREATION MAN (RESURRECTING) ARISING THAT SHAKES OFF THE OLD HEAVENS AND THE OLD EARTH. The new man is coming forth out of the tomb of the old heavens and old earth to reveal life on another plane. So, the turmoil we see in the natural order of things is but a sign.
Jesus' birth WAS A SIGN. (Luke 2:12, Matthew 12:39) So, too the birth of the sons of God is a sign to the world that the old heavens and the old earth are not in control. As we study Jesus we find that His ministry was not an earth shattering ministry in that the world flocked to Him. He merely revealed who He was by His actions to those around Him in His nation. The manifestation of the sons is NOT a loud trumpet blast that will shatter the world apart. The coming of Jesus did not change the world but only affected those looking for Him. The world carried on.
The old heavens and the old earth remain in their course UNTIL it is the time for the new heavens and new earth to be birthed. It takes a spiritual revolution to cause the body of Christ to come forth out of their adamic shell. The elect will and are showing the way.
It is the saint who is militant that is triumphant. Daniel 7:13 states that there is one LIKE UNTO the Son of Man. The words "like unto" refer to one who is similar to but not the same as. Thus, it is not the LORD here but those who are fashioned into His image It is a corporate body of saints who have been conformed to His nature and reveal the new heavens and new earth. They are able to stand before God because they have made their home in the same heaven rather than in the one where Satan dwells (the old heavens).
Compare Revelation 1:13 and search other locations. You will find that the one in the middle of the candlestick, which represents the church order, is not Jesus but ONE LIKE UNTO. It is the manchild company birthed from out of the church and caught up to the third heavens, to the throne of God. (Rev12) It is this corporate Christ, the elect, not the church who reveal the truth of bearing the image of the son of God.
So, the revolution that is going on here on the natural plane with all things in a state of flux is merely a microcosm of what is truly going on in the spiritual plane as the sons are being birthed. The upheaval that occurs in the natural will continue for some time – years. All is part of the shaking as the sons shake the last vestiges of Adam off of themselves and reveal the new creation man in a fullness.
The SIGN of the coming of the son of man is evident. Jesus warned the religious leaders about looking for a sign and called them an EVIL and an ADULTEROUS generation. Evil because they were of Adam and thereby Mammon. He called them adulterous because they did not love Him who was the new creation man AND the sign to them. These leaders were looking for the wrong sign. They were not looking with a spiritual eye. They were adulterous because they were married to their doctrine and beliefs rather than their LORD. They did not know Him when He came unto them.
The return of the LORD again to this earth will be made manifest in a people who have been conformed to His image. The current adulterous generation, that religious audience, is looking for the LORD as they perceive Him to come – a conquering king (just as the Jews looked for Him, too). As the Jews missed the coming of the LORD, so will the church system.
Jesus revealed Himself as King when He manifested the NEW CREATION man, the new heavens and new earth. Immediately, the old heavens and old earth were done away with. The cumulative death throes are being revealed now in this hour. But those who continue to reside in the old heavens and old earth are a part of the "end-time." Their end is nigh. Those in the new heavens and new earth are part of the age that is appearing.
The sons of God, those who reside in the third heavens (2 Cor.12), will reveal the LORD who has come in them. The church system, looking for a literal Jesus appearing even as the Jews looked for a literal king, will miss the coming of God. For when Jesus came the Jews killed Him. When the sons appear as Jesus the church will not recognize them. They will crucify them and do so to Christ afresh (Heb. 6:6) not having their senses exercised to discern good from evil.
"NOW is the judgment of this world: NOW shall the prince of this world be cast out." (John 12:31) Jesus removed the barrier of the old heavens and the old earth (the carnal mind and the flesh nature). He did away with the power of evil at His appearance. Positionally, it was defeated when Jesus came, but experientially it was manifested on the cross and revealed in the resurrection. Those who have entered into Christ are in the new creation and like their pattern Paul, who followed the pattern of Christ; they are revealing the nature of Christ in their flesh. But the religious leaders are confounded and upset for it defeats their doctrines.
If the power of the first beast is not destroyed death remains. There are many natural revolutions. Each revolution, English of 1066, American of 1776, French of 1790, etc. all brought change but failed because the beast nature remained. A revolution founded upon righteous principles will fail because of unregenerate men. The beast nature of man precludes failure. This beast nature is found in the spiritual, mental and physical realm. This carnal nature will cause a spiritual person to become a religious person.
Jesus destroyed the power of the beast. There are some who have entered into His heavens. They do not war against Satan. The war is OVER for them. Their identity is IN CHRIST. Many saints war against the devil because their focus is on the devil and not God. The life of many saints is hid in the SECOND HEAVENS where the serpent makes war against the church. (Rev 12:6-12)
The church, of course, births the manchild INTO the THIRD HEAVENS. Satan doesn't work on that plane. His work is in the second heavens. While Rev. 12 is suggestive of Jesus to many, which is a correct understanding on one level, it is also suggestive of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19-20) Those who live in the new heavens and the new earth are not of this world, of the Adamic.
While they may have the body of dust, they live in Him and are of His body, which is a spiritual body not fashioned with hands. (2 Cor.5) If the earthly house would be removed, there could be seen or revealed a heavenly body which the one who resides in the third heavens would reveal. Paul lived in the third heavens. It is a spiritual realm that is above the natural heaven and earth. It has a life of its own. The life he lived in the body was the life of Christ. How so? He lived in Christ.
The people of the world could beat his body. They stoned his body. They shipwrecked his body. They finally killed him, having left him for dead twice before. But it did not matter. Paul did not live in his body. He lived in Christ and that is why he said death in the natural body was gain.
The people feared most during a war are the people who cannot be threatened with death. Many soldiers when threatened with death will "spill the beans" in order to live. Life in the natural holds sway over death. But those like Paul who live in the third heavens cannot be forced to save this natural life. Their dwelling place IS not a far away place but a CURRENT habitation. Thus, death has no sway over them. The enemy cannot therefore control them or manipulate them.
The enemy soldiers when confronted with a man/woman who is living in a realm above them can do nothing to manipulate them for the "cause." In essence, these are dead to the world, and the world holds no desire in them because they do not live in the world.
Such as Paul possess the new heavens and new earth. They minister from a realm that is not bound. Throw them into chains – they rejoice. Stone them – they resurrect. Snake bite them – they live on. Why? If it is not time for them to die in the natural they won't. They are bound up in the will of God and nothing can move them out of it. Jesus came to do the will of God. Paul did also. Do you?
Living in the new heavens and new earth removes one from the entanglements of the old heavens and the old earth. Who are Jesus' brothers? Those who do the will of God and those who lived in the same plane as He resides in. Who are your brothers and sisters?
Do you still give place to the old man? If you are in the new creation man – are you manifesting him? Where is your focus? The banks train their new employees to recognize the counterfeit bills that will come. They do not study counterfeit money. They do not even look at it. The new employees are trained to recognize real money. They handle real money daily and on a constant basis. Then when the counterfeit appears it is easily identified. In reality the banks practice Hebrews 5:14.
If you reside in the new heavens your focus is on the reality of it. Your whole being is devoted to the development of it. There is no other desire than to be conformed to the life of the new heavens and new earth. Consequently, the life in that realm creates a separation from all previous thought of the past heavens and earth so that your concentration is not on death, the devil, and destruction. Your life, which is hid in Christ and growing, concentrates on life, liberty and love.
As a young boy, one of my favorite pastimes was hunting frogs along the banks of a pond near our home. While I was unaware of their unique visual powers, which enabled them to elude me so easily, I later learned that the frog's optical field of perception only receives images that directly concern him – such as his natural enemies or the food he needs for survival. Therefore frogs are never distracted by unimportant things, but are aware only of essentials and whatever may be dangerous to them.
The Christian is taught, from many sources, but the main source of religious teaching in particular inculcates in the person a false understanding of identification. The frog easily discerns the truth of the situation. The frog quickly reacts in a positive manner to the vision presented to him. There is no doubt to his action. But the Christian has misidentification. He consistently identifies with the old nature, that Adamic nature. When the person seeks answers it is always concerning the outer man, that man of carnality. As an example, when the war occurred in the Gulf many Christians were seeking if this was THE war. The fundamentalists emphasized prophecy. Some from the East coast in this move wrote articles that the future proved to be wrong. Some were even so foolish as to call Saddam Hussein the antichrist.
Why mention all of this? Simply stated, these desires to be concerned for the natural things and natural man are carnal and not from the heavenly man but from him who is earthly. The natural was of no concern for Jesus. In fact, consider what Paul says concerning this in Philippians 4:12: "I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound: Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." This statement, inspired of God, brings to light that spiritual things are to take preeminence over the natural plane. In fact, the spiritual causes the appearance of things on the natural plane.
If there is no war in the spiritual plane, there would be no war manifested on the natural plane. It is the age of the cross-over and some of the sons are penetrating the third heavens and taking their rightful place – in heavenly places. As they sit down in the heavens, having arisen from the earth and shaken the dust off themselves (Isaiah 52:2), they have left the adamic and reside, dwell, live in, make their home in the heavens. Taking their rightful place made available through the grace of God expressed through His Son, automatically these sons cause a great disruption of the status quo. That which is at enmity with God is removed out of its orbit, its sphere of influence. The carnal mind goes reeling and seeks whom it may devour.
One can tell the old heavens from the new relatively easily. But one has to be looking for it! Recently, a man came to my house to interest me in "networking." This man was a Christian.
HEAVEN and EARTH, Chapters 1-10 [Charles W. Weller] 1