The Heavens
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September 11, 2011 |
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 "You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You." (Nehemiah 9:6)
God the Creator dwells in the spiritual space that is completely different from our dwelling space. Many people think this visible world that includes the earth and the universes is all that exists. With the human understanding, even space scientists cannot measure and comprehend many of the things just in this visible universe. Then how much more vast, beautiful, and mysterious are the invisible heavens?
1. There are several heavens
Today there are scientists who acknowledge that there are many heavens (universes) that exist. For example, a well-known American physicist, Max Tegmark introduced a new school of thought supporting the existence of several heavens (universes). As a result of the astronomical observations, the theory states that our universe (heaven) is only a very small part of the entire universe and there are many more heavens that are believed to exist. The theory also states that these heavens or universes have their own unique characteristics.
Actually, there are other universes apart from our universe, and each universe is different from one another in physical characteristics; namely, their own time and space. Science cannot explain every aspect of the spiritual realm, but some researches ascertain that our universe is not all there is to the universe as we know it.
Above all, the Bible clearly tells us that there are several heavens. Many verses of the Bible emphasize that there are several heavens. Psalm 68:33 says, "To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice." 1 Kings 8:27 reads, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth—Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!"
2 Corinthians 12:2 reads, "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven." The verse is the Apostle Paul's words that he was taken into the third heaven. We can guess that there are the First heaven, the Second heaven, the Third heaven, and the more.
Deacon Stephen said in Acts 7:56, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Anyone who is in the First heaven can see the Fourth heaven where the resurrected Lord and Father God dwell when God opens his spiritual eyes.
2. The first heaven and the second heaven were prepared for human cultivation
In the concepts of their time and space, the Garden of Eden in the second heaven is very different from the first heaven where we live. Time and space of the first heaven have limitation, but the time and space of the Garden of Eden know no limitation. The second heaven and above belong to the spiritual realm.
In the second heaven there is a space of light that encompasses the Garden of Eden and a separated space of darkness for the evil spirits. Ephesians 2:2 talks about the evil spirits of the power of the air, and it is the second heaven where they exist. Genesis 3:24 said that God stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life at the east of the Garden of Eden. Why, then, did God make them guard the way at the east of the Garden of Eden?
Before Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God had given him the authority to govern all things in the first heaven. However, he was driven out of the garden for disobeying the word of God and eating the fruit. (Genesis Chapter 2-3)
Then God needed beings to guard the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden belongs to God, who is the Light, and it borders on the world of evil spirits to the east. So, instead of Adam, who had sinned, God stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction. By doing so, God stopped all evil spirits from crossing the border line into the Light.
3. The Garden of Eden where Adam, the first man who was also a living spirit, once dwelled
God created the first man, Adam of dust from the ground on the Earth. As written in Genesis Chapter 2, God planted a garden towards the east in Eden and there He placed the man. Since Adam was a spiritual being created with the breath of life from God, God put him in the second heaven that is in the spiritual world.
God said in Genesis 3:16 that He would 'greatly multiply the pain of Eve in childbirth'. It is a proof that Eve gave birth to children and had at least some pain in childbirth when she lived in the Garden of Eden before she ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 1:28 records that Adam and Eve were fruitful, multiplied, and bore children in the Garden of Eden.
In the Garden of Eden, there is no death and aging, even if a long time passes. There, nothing changes or perishes. For this reason, people in the Garden of Eden do not feel any change or difference in anything with the passing of time. In a sense, for them time seems to have stopped. The space of the Garden of Eden has no limitation and it is stretched out boundlessly.
In the Garden of Eden are Adam's countless descendants who he bore when he lived there. They have lived to this day and they have continually multiplied. They had come down freely to the earth in the first heaven before Adam sinned. However, from the time that Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden they could only come down to the Earth under very specific conditions.
4. The third heaven, where the heavenly kingdom exists
The third heaven has no limitation of both time and space. The third heaven has more eternal time and more boundless space than the second heaven. With knowledge of the first heaven, it is difficult to understand the kingdom of heaven located in the eternal time and boundless space.
For example, a balloon has a relatively smaller size and volume before inflating it. The balloon's size and volume can change according to how much you inflate it. The space of the heavenly kingdom is similar to the balloon. In this world, we need a large parcel of land to build a house, yet the space is limited. However, the space of the third heaven has no limitation in its size, volume, length, width, and height. In this sense the kingdom of heaven in the third heaven is endlessly free to build houses.
Among the heavenly kingdoms, it is in the third heaven where the saved children of God will dwell forever and ever. The apostle Paul received the revelations from the Lord and saw clear visions. In particular, he saw Paradise in the kingdom of heaven, a part of the third heaven as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. The heavenly kingdom is divided into Paradise, which is the 'outskirts' of Heaven, the first heavenly kingdom, the second heavenly kingdom, the third heavenly kingdom, and New Jerusalem where God's throne is located.
5. The fourth heaven, God's dwelling place
The fourth heaven is the original space where God has existed since before the beginning. That is, before He divided the entire universe into several heavens. In the fourth heaven, it is meaningless to use the conception of time and space. The fourth heaven transcends every kind of measure of time and space. It is where anything God desires in His Heart is accomplished instantly.
The disciples made the door fast, for fear of the Jews, the resurrected Lord came and stood in their midst as recorded in John 20:19-20. Nobody opened the door, but the Lord appeared in their midst. He suddenly appeared at the Sea of Galilee where His disciples gathered, and He had a meal with them. He stayed on the earth for 40 days and ascended into Heaven in clouds in full view of around 500 people.
Then what about the fourth heaven where God the Origin exists? In the beginning, God existed in the form of the light containing the sound. He harbored all universes in His heart and governed all things. God dwells not only in the fourth heaven but also the first heaven, the second heaven, and the third heaven. He governs all the heavens.
God created all the heavens and all things in them. He knows everything and has power to answer our prayers. Thus, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have true faith to rely only on God alone and receive answers to your prayer no matter what your problems are.
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