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It is important to understand the
three realms of the spirit because:
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also
walk in the Spirit.
Romans 8:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak
through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He
condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the
flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but those
who live according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God.
The spirit realm is, however, invisible, so our
spirit man must be trained to walk in and experience
the spirit realms. I say realms because there are
three of them.
Another word for spirit realm as used in scripture
is heaven. Heave in scripture can mean sky, air and
expanse of atmosphere – spiritual atmospheres.
The apostle Paul identified three of these spiritual
atmospheres called heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who
fourteen years ago––whether in the body I do not
know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God
knows––such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
It is a given that if Paul was caught up to the
third heaven there is also a first and second
heaven.
In every other place where heaven is used in
scripture, we are not told which heaven is being
talked about so you have to figure it out. In each
case the word “heaven” will fit into one of the
three spiritual atmospheres.
So, hopefully, this study will help us understand
how we fit into each one of the heavens.
God Made the Heavens
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.
Genesis 1:7-8 Thus God made the firmament, and
divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament; and
it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So
the evening and the morning were the second day.
Heavens (plural)!
The word heaven in scripture expresses several
different concepts. In the physical sense, heaven is
the expanse over the earth in which the stars and
planets are seen in space. Most common belief of
man.
Genesis 22:17 In blessing I will bless you, and
multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the
stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the
seashore; and your descendants shall possess the
gate of their enemies.
But, there are three heavens.
1. The atmosphere (air) where we live here on earth.
Our body identifies with this atmosphere, and we
experience it with our five earthly (bodily,
physical) senses – eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and
touch.
This is the heaven that we are most in touch with;
experience the most. This is the first heaven.
2. The second heaven is above us and has influence
on our soul – mind and emotions.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. All things were created
through Him and for Him.
Satan was expelled from the third heaven and is now
on the earth among us (power demons), but he rules
from the second heaven.
Ephesians 6:12 or we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
Places – two: first and second.
Luke 10:18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven.
3. The third heaven is where God rules from. It is
the highest location of the Kingdom of God or the
Kingdom of Heaven. This is the heaven that Satan was
thrown out of.
The third heaven is where God’s angels reside, and
it is the present location of the New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The third heaven is where one receives revelation
from God.
Revelation 4:1-2 After these things I looked, and
behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the
first voice which I heard was like a trumpet
speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will
show you things which must take place after this."
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a
throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
Heaven’s Rule
We know that God is in complete control of and rules
over the third heaven, and He also can rule over the
first and second as He wills, but He allows others
(us and Satan) to have dominion over the first and
second heavens.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to
them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and
subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over every living
thing that moves on the earth."
The first Adam gave his dominion away to Satan, but
the Second Adam gives it back to His people.
1 Corinthians 15:45-47 And so it is written, "The
first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam
became a life–giving spirit. However, the spiritual
is not first, but the natural, and afterward the
spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of
dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
Luke 10:18-19 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
In order for redeemed man to function in this
authority, he/she must be able to spiritually access
the third heaven (realm) by which this authority is
activated.
Man’s authority (dominion) is to function in three
realms.
1. Earth – authority over the body (healing and
prosperity) in the first heaven where one has world
consciousness.
2. In the second heaven one has self-consciousness.
Soul – I will – as a result of thoughts and emotions
either influenced by Satan or one’s spirit man who
is seated in heavenly place.
3. The third heaven is where we have God
consciousness.
Man has been given the right of rule (self-control)
in the first and second heaven.
The Heavens
Were created as invisible environments (atmospheres)
where one must live in spirit to experience them.
There are invisible creatures that also live in the
heavens – God’s angels and Satan’s fallen angels.
The whole point of the heavens is to establish a
right of rule (dominion). Will you establish yours
and learn to experience these realms?
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