The importance of awareness: Part 1

The importance of awareness:  Part 1

Ezekiel 1:1	Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
Numbers 24:4	He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

We were designed by God to have access to His world while still on this earth.

This is not Just for Prophets and seers, we all have the capacity to access by sight, hearing, and feelings the realm of the Spirit of God.

Heaven came to earth on few occasions in Old Testament

Genesis 28:12

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Jacob spoke prophetically about this incident

Genesis 28:17

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Jacob said the house of God is the gateway to heaven

This was a profound prophetic statement; Jacob was saying that the House of God was a gateway to the other side, the other realm, that of heaven. If we consider that this is the first mention of the house of God in the bible, it takes on much greater significance. The law of first mention is a principle of biblical interpretation in as much as all the prime ingredients of a subject are contained in the first mention of that subject in the bible. This connection of the house of God on earth with an open heaven is of primary importance and clearly signify that it was always Gods purpose that the church, the house of God would be a gateway to heaven. This gate way is not figurative but must be taken literally as it was when it was first spoken of.

The House of God is twofold

First: When you were born again you became the House of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Secondly: The corporate body is also the house of God where God dwells.

Matthew 18:20	For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (The CORPORTATE BODY)
1 Timothy 3:15	But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,   (The CORPORATE BODY)

The two worlds met in Jesus when He walked this earth.

John 1:51

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

We are not just physical beings, we are also spirit and the spirit man within us has access to the world in which he now lives. We must remember we all existed as a spirit long before we became human. Even under the Old Covenant God promised that we could live our days here on earth as “days of heaven on earth” 

Deuteronomy 11:21

That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

How much more we of the New Covenant can have access to both realms.

John 3:3

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The word see in this verse means just that “to see” The Greek word is eido, Be aware, behold, look ,  perceive, see.

When you were born again and filled with the Spirit you were given the capacity to See, and Hear, the Kingdom of God. When Jesus died on the cross the veil in the temple (the house of God) was parted Matthew 25:51. Under the Old Covenant the veil barred the way to the other side where God dwelt, the realm which Adam once in. After the fall it was only on relatively rare occasions that the average person was taken beyond the veil.

When Jesus died and rose from the dead one of the first things that people saw were many of the Old Testament saints who had died.

Matthew 27:51	And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52	And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53	And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

This is significant in as much as it indicated that the veil has been rent. The people became aware of Old Testament saints who had died, they saw them walking around in their resurrection bodies. The veil between the two worlds was rent, this was a sign that the Kingdom of God was now accessible to those who would be born again.

The apostle Paul understood this when he wrote;

2 Corinthians 4:18

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

You cannot enter into anything in God until you believe you can. We need mindsets broken which have closed us to walking with the Lord in spirit. We need to lay a good sound biblical foundation for what we believe so that the devil will not be able to discredit us. However many things we have been taught have limited us to a three dimensional world when God wants us to walk with Him in His realm. One of the problems we have we tend to spiritualize things we don’t understand and things we feel we cannot attain to while in this life, this limiting both God and us in our walk with Him.

It is time to go where few Christians have gone before, and enter into the fullness of our salvation, walking as Adam walked with God.

Blessings
Neville Johnson  24-Nov-08