Life in Two Dimensions
He raised us from the dead along with Christ, and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
— Ephesians 2:6
A Christian is someone who lives in two dimensions. The apostle Paul explained it this way: "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth" (Colossians 3:1-2, NLT).
These verses are saying that believers truly do live in a spiritual dimension — where we walk in the Spirit and know God in the Spirit. Yet as human beings, we also live and move in physical bodies here on earth. Our challenge as Christians, then, is to transfer what we have in the spiritual realm into the day-to-day ebb and flow of events in the earthly realm.
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When I travel to another country and pass through its borders, I still maintain my U.S. citizenship. When I went to Israel a few years ago, although I had my passport that indicated I am an American, I had to live in their culture. As a result, there were a few things I needed to adapt to. When I needed currency, for example, I took funds from my bank in the U.S. and converted them into shekels to use in Israel. Of course, I didn't know what the exchange rate was, so on my first day there, I may have tipped someone fifty dollars to carry my bags to my room. (He was really nice to me the rest of the day.)
As Christians, we have riches, treasures, real assets waiting for us in heaven. When the Bible speaks of the heavenlies, however, we need to recognize that it is not only talking about something waiting for us in heaven after we die. It is also talking about the supernatural realm. So before we can effectively walk as believers, much less engage in spiritual battle, we need to learn about the supernatural resources God has given to us. We also need to understand they are treasures God wants us to start tapping into in the here and now, as well as in the by and by. They are provisions available to any believer who is walking with God.
