When we talk about the spiritual realm, many believers still have a vague notion about heaven and the spiritual realm in general.  Many still think of it as ethereal, airy, or even ghostly.  They think of it as a place without real substance and, perhaps, still think of winged saints floating on clouds and playing harps. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The spiritual realm is very real and very substantive…both the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.  In the same way people imagine heaven as some place without substance, they think of hell in the same way and tend to fictionalize Satan because we have a deficit in our overall view of the spiritual realm.

Let’s begin with the unseen realm, in general.  Paul declares, “For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).  If something is eternal, it has more substance, more power, and is a greater reality than those things that are temporary.  The bodies we will  receive at the resurrection will be eternal, immune to disease, and untouched by death.  They will not age, feel exhaustion, or break down.  They will be spiritual bodies with substance while living on a restored earth.  Like the glorified body of Jesus after the resurrection, there will be substance.  He ate.  He talked.  He let his disciples touch him, put their hands in his, and touch the place where the spear was thrust.  Yet, it was superior.  He could pass through walls, change appearance, and ascend into heaven or Paradise with that body. So the spiritual realm is far superior to the natural realm.

In the current heaven, the one Randy Alcorn calls an intermediate heaven in his book Heaven, he notes that there is already a heavenly Jerusalem revealed to John and described in the Book of Revelation.  The heavenly Jerusalem currently has streets of gold, the throne room of God, myriads of angels and saints who have already gone to be with Jesus.  There are gates made of pearl. There is a heavenly tabernacle after which the earthly tabernacle was fashioned (Heb. 8:1-2).   Alcorn calls it an intermediate heaven because, the Book of Revelation reveals that at the end, the Heavenly Jerusalem will come down and rest on a restored earth where we will be God’s people and live with him forever. The promise of Eden will be reclaimed.

So, the spiritual realm is not a ghostly, ethereal place with little to no substance.  It is real. It is solid. It is eternal.  It has buildings, a throne room, a sanctuary, court rooms, bowls of burning incense, powerful angels who do the bidding of God and saints who are waiting for all this to culminate in the return of Christ to the earth.

Likewise, the demonic or satanic realm is real and solid.  Paul tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground” (Eph. 6:12-13). Power, organization, and demonic forces exist in the spiritual realm that oppose the will of God and strategize against God’s people.  Paul also states, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13). Dominion requires a domain, a territory, an area of authority.  There is a kingdom of darkness over which Satan is the prince.  He has territory, armies, and rulers under him that do his bidding.

Jesus called him the prince of this world and Paul states, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:1-20).  “Kingdom” implies territory, power, subjects, armies, etc.  Satan is no match for Jesus, but in his sovereignty, God still allows him to exercise power and the authority people and nations give him on this earth.

In these last days, the kingdom of darkness is pulling out all the stops.  Those humans who serve Satan – witches, warlocks, satanists, etc. actively and willingly serve him and oppose the people of God.  Many others are unwittingly used by the enemy to oppose righteousness in the earth so that entire cultures now call evil good and good evil. 

All this is to remind us that the spiritual realm is very real and more powerful and consequential than the natural realm.  Those who deny the reality of these things or who do not take them seriously will be easy targets for the enemy.  They will live unaware of Satan’s schemes and so will easily step into his traps. They will be ineffective soldiers who do not know how to wage war with divine weapons.  They will search out solutions for all their problems within the natural realm. When the source of their problem is demonic attacks and satanic strategies, they will not be able to touch the spiritual roots of their crisis and will never gain victory.  They will not be able to pray effectively and will not wield the authority and power of Christ against spiritual enemies. Churches, nations, and families will be ravaged by the enemy because they will not know how to recognize or stand against the attacks that scripture says are inevitable.

Let me encourage you to pay more attention to the spiritual realm.  Jesus has given us all we need to overcome the enemy, but we have to be aware of the enemy’s schemes, know what is in the arsenal of heaven, and know how to use the divine weapons he has provided.  Be blessed in the days ahead.

Do you ever find yourself experiencing a sense of longing for something that you can’t quite identify? Maybe it is the sense that something unidentifiable is still missing that would make your life complete. Maybe it’s a haunting feeling that someday you will lose something or someone that that is very central to your life right now and that anticipated sense of loss releases a kind of sadness that is vague but very real. Have you ever thought about things you love in his world that you might miss when you have departed…even if your destination is heaven. Maybe it is the warmth of family, the sound of children laughing, a sunrise on the ocean, stars sprinkled through a desert sky, or mist rising off a mountain lake. Maybe it is the warmth of holidays or a wedding that you sense you will never experience again once you leave this world.

As believers, we anticipate heaven and know that something marvelous waits for us there, but somehow we sense we will still miss things we have come to love and appreciate on planet earth. We may even feel guilty for wanting to hold onto this physical experience more than we want to go to heaven as if that is a “worldly” rather than a “spiritual” mindset. Part of the challenge is that most of us have a very vague notion of what heaven will be like. The stereotypes of culture about heaven aren’t helpful. You know … the idea that we will drift on clouds playing harps or that we all become etherial and angelic beings without substance…spirits floating around with little to do. There is also the pervasive view that we will simply worship God every moment of eternity and in doing so, lose our sense of uniqueness and identity. We may believe we will just be part of enormous crowd declaring the praises of God…forever. As much as I love worship and God is worthy of it, that sounds mind numbing after a thousand years.

Perhaps, we also wonder if we will learn in heaven, create in heaven, achieve in heaven, build in heaven, compete in heaven, have fun in heaven or simply live an eternity that, if we are honest, may sound boring and unfulfilling…yet, at the same time, we know we will be thrilled to be in the presence of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It seems confusing.

But here is the good news about heaven. Heaven, ultimately, will be on this earth that we were designed to inhabit. If we read scripture carefully and literally for the most part, God’s plan is not for us to drift in some ethereal spiritual realm forever, but to inhabit the earth that he will restore to its original state before sin. Remember, he looked at his creation, including man, and called it all “Good!” Solomon said that God has placed eternity in our hearts. Because eternity is the idea of everlasting and everlasting means a state that goes back forever as well as forward forever, some of our unfulfilled longings may be for the earth we were created for before sin and the curse prompted a down grade. When I feel sad that I will miss the sunrise, a spring rain, or the Grand Tetons when I transition to heaven, I may be longing for the very things God initially intended for me to enjoy forever.

Paul tells is in Romans 8 that the creation is groaning to he released from its bondage to decay and will be released when God’s children are resurrected at the end. At the resurrection, we will receive bodies no longer subject to decay or death and so will all of creation. There is, of course, a heaven now that we call Paradise that seems to be an intermediate heaven where the saved will wait in comfort for the end of time. But it is not all that heaven will be because heaven will be on earth and God will dwell with his people there. All indications are that it will be much like the earth we know but without sin, without death, without natural disasters, and will be an incredible upgrade in every respect.

It was God’s original intent that man would rule over the earth, develop it, cultivate it, establish godly culture with godly art, music and architecture. God will not give up on his original intent for men. I believe we can anticipate learning, discovery, amazing art and music, and certainly festivals. The heavenly Jerusalem will settle on this earth and we will go up to the great city to celebrate God and all of his blessings. We will all be family and so our sense of family and familiarity will not wane but will be enhanced. There will be animals such that the lion will lie down with the lamb. Who knows what technology or travel or music will be like, but it surely will be part of heaven. What we won’t have is pain, hospitals, war, crime, loss, grief, or cemeteries.

We need to think more about heaven in concrete ways. We don’t need to feel as if we will never see the things we love about this world again, but will see them and experience them as huge upgrades to what already thrills us. We don’t even need to feel unspiritual when we think we might prefer earth to heaven, because in the end, they will be the same. So the next time you see something or hear something on this world that takes your breath away, thank God for it and look forward to being thrilled by even greater things when we live under the new heaven and on the new earth!