Introduction to the Deeper Christian Life Part 1 (July 1988)

Now then, Adam said he should have eaten the tree of life. There was something marked off in God for him. He shouldn’t have eaten the tree of life. He would have had more than the spiritual realm. He would have had all of God in him, but he ate another tree, and the spirit went out. Died out of disgust at what was around it. Survival of the spirit in this case was suicide. I don’t mean that. But you understand what I’m saying? You know what happened to him? He died in that realm. The globe began to darken and finally disappeared. He sinned. Sin entered into his body. His spirit died out, and hung there a dead carcass, a carcass of death.

And this is what God does. Can you now see the garden in its overlap? Can you see the overlapping garden? God takes the place where the spiritual realm and the physical realm overlap, and He pulls them apart until they touch, but there’s no longer an overlap. Now, right there, where they touch, is a door, and God seals the door. Now, the door opens this way. You’re going to have to just believe that for a moment. The door does not open this way. And on this side, God put cherubim and gave them a whirling flaming sword. And God said, “Don’t let anybody on that side get in here. Nobody comes this way except by my permission.” And the door was closed, and our race was captured to the side, and we’ve lost our habitat. Our natural habitat is over. We’ve been pushed out of it. We’re wayfarers, sojourners, and we’re in an area that is foreign to us; still is. That’s why you’re not home. And you’re not home. That’s one of the reasons you’re thirsty. And you’re going to understand this very deeply. There’s a void in you, and there’s a void for two things. One of them is your real life. And the other one is your natural habitat. And the door closed. And God and angels are on this side. And man is on this side.

Now, I want to go with you really quickly about all the times, some of the times, that door opens, because I want you to know there has been commerce between these two realms. Outside of the spiritual realm and outside of the physical realm, both are in Him. There is God. He is no longer the All because He has created the spiritual and physical realms, but He is still God. Now then, I want you to help me recount times when that door opened. Help me quickly. Alright. When Abraham met Melchizedek, the door opened, and a priest from the other realm walked into our realm; that’s one. Let’s do the Old Testament first. All right. When Enoch got to go that way, he was just about the only one; he and Elijah, right? Got it that way. Alright. When Jacob wrestled, when the door swung open, and an angel came out and said, “Let’s have a wrestling match.” There was another time in Jacob’s life when that door opened at Bethel; at Bethel, he saw the door, it was right up there, and he was down here, and there was something resting on a stone on this end, and something resting on the door, the gate of heaven there. Angels walked down there and walked to that door, and he said, “My goodness, alive, the two realms can be joined by a ladder.” And then he said, “I’m going to build a stone altar here, and I’m going to call this place the place where God is housed.” And where is God’s house? Where two realms meet. That’s what Bethel is. It’s the place of two realms. That’s where God is at. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

Give me another Old Testament. Moses on the mountain saw God. Moses went up the mountain again and entered a place where there was a sapphire pavement, taking the 70 elders with him. And Joshua, you never read that. It’s not in the Old Testament, you don’t think, but it’s there. And they went into the other realm, and they were terrified and horrified and almost fell down dead, right. No, you read it. It’s in Exodus. I’ve forgotten what chapter, it says, They went in there, and they sat down, and they what? They ate and drank. They took the Lord’s supper. They sat down with God and ate and drank. What does that mean? They went into that place, and they fellowshipped with Him. Eating and drinking is a fellowship.

Once Moses looked into that place and saw something glorious, magnificent, grand, great, incredible, he could not comprehend it. And God said, “Build something that is a replica of that.” He said, “How in the world could I build?” The Lord said, “Just build a little miniature replica of that.” “I can’t, I’m out in the desert.” “Well, do the best you can.” And so, he got all the people together and, as best he could, he built a little miniature replica of that thing to represent what he saw in the other realm. He had a God consciousness, and he had a consciousness of another realm.

Can you help me some more? Angels came and visited Abraham in his tent. Elijah, do you remember? Elijah said to the Lord, “My servant is all afraid; show him, lift the veil.” Good land, they were surrounded by an army that had come roaring through that door. Joshua, standing there about to fight the enemy, was not capable of seeing the unseen. And God opened his eyes. Someone stepped out of the other realm, and he said, “Who are you?” And He said, “Well, there’s a host around here of heavenly creatures who are going to fight with you today, Elijah, and I am in charge of that.” The door opened. Wow. Isn’t that wonderful? Do you like that? Praise the Lord.

Oh, but here’s the best one of all, in the Old Testament. Young man, very blue. His hero has died. Very, very sad. A lot is cast that day as to who will go into the Holy of Holies, once a year, only once. Perhaps they had a rope tied to him in the tradition of in case he saw God and died to be able to pull his body out. He will go into the Holy of Holies, on the only day it is open for one priest to go in. Now then, the Holy of Holies, as you all know, is a cube. It’s perfect. Now, that is what Moses saw. He saw the other realm, and that little room is a picture, a replica, a miniature of that other realm. So, this young priest walks into this replica of the other realm. He’s about to perform his duties when, behind him, some mighty hands just kind of rip open the fabric of creation and pull it apart. And the young priest realizes there’s something going on behind it. What do you see? “I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and His train filled, and the angels were crying, ‘Holy, holy, holy.’” He saw the real Holy of Holies. He had seen the throne of God where God dwells, and the miniature replica got to look at the real thing, and there was a big difference. Now there’s one thing we have learned, and that is that that door is mobile. One day, it was on a path, and the donkey could see it, but the man sitting on the donkey couldn’t see it. An angel came through. So, can you understand that that door moves?

Alright, let’s come to the New Testament quickly. There was the time at John’s baptism, the baptism of Jesus with John, the door in heaven opened on the day of Pentecost, there came roaring out of the heavens, something like a gushing mighty wind, a roaring mighty wind. There was a time when one Paul of Tarsus saw that door open, and the woman at the well. We don’t have time to talk about the woman at the well; we’d be here for a week. That is one of the richest things in all of scripture. Man, what happened at that well? Wow. Okay.

Stephen saw the transfiguration. Moses and Elijah came this way to the door, and Stephen saw that door open, and he saw the other realm and died, not caring a bit. John, where was John? Where was John? He was right in here, and he saw, I believe, Revelation 4. He saw a door standing open, and the Lord said, “Come here.” And immediately I was in spirit. I walked through the door, and I was in spirit.

Now, those are all exciting, but I’ll tell you the greatest time that door opened. It was like none other, although there will be one more that will rival it. Will you come back with me to God the All? Can you see the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Godhead? Can you see them living the Christian life? Can you see that? Please see that.

God belongs to that realm over there; He does not belong to this realm over here. He is very rich in His experience over here in this realm. Can you appreciate that, and can you remember that everything that’s real is over here? If you are going to find any water, it’s over here. You find any light, it’s over here. If you find life, it’s over here. You find a tree; the real tree is over here. By the way, you know what kind of tree that is? It’s a vine tree. The real tree is a vine tree. All the real things are over here. The real Passover is over here. The real food’s over here. The real drink’s over here. The real Spirit is over here.

One day, that door opened, and the most incredible thing that could ever happen happened. This time, the door is a woman’s womb, and out of the eternals, and out of God, out of God the Father and out of eternal fellowship with Him and out of the great riches of His eternal experience with Him and through the portal of a woman’s womb, there comes into our realm the eternal Son, clothed in the likeness of human flesh. Why? Why? Why? Now, Adam belonged to which realm? Tell me. Both. Here is a little creature about that big. Who’s His mom? Mary. He’s got a body, doesn’t He? Has He got a soul? Definitely belongs to the cattle and the horse and the sheep and the goats, belongs to this realm, right? But if you could look inside of Him, there, like before the fall, pulsates the Spirit from the other realm, a Spirit just like Adam pulsating from the other realm. Isn’t that wonderful? Not so wonderful. Wait until you hear what else is there.