Rumors of Another World

In John 18:28-37, we have the account of Jesus, after suffering through a sham trial by the Jewish leaders and convicted falsely of blasphemy, being turned over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, for execution.  Since Rome will not execute Him on the basis of that charge, they trump up the charge to the capital crime of “insurrection,” essentially accusing Him of plotting to lead the Jews in a violent overthrow of the Roman government, and then establishing Himself as king.   Thus, Pilate’s first question to Jesus in verse 33 is “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate therefore asks Him in verse 37, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answers “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause (purpose) I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.

Now what should most grab our attention in this passage is Jesus’ statement that His kingdom is not of this world. It appears that Pilate let this go without question.  However, being the sarcastic individual I am, I might have asked, well, just what world are you from Jesus – Mars-Venus-Jupiter- Walley?

Sarcasm aside, foremost in the truth that Jesus came to bear witness to is His revelation of the existence of another world, another realm or dimension, another reality that exists apart from the material universe; a reality that transcends the human experience of life in this world. It is the world that Jesus came into this world from.

It is the world of spirit, the heavenly realm of existence where God, who is eternal Spirit, dwells, and from which the present material universe originated (Genesis 1).  It is thus the realm from which God sovereignly  rules over all of His creation, wherein He personally and wisely ordains, orders and superintends all things that come to pass in nature, among the angels and in the affairs of men (Psalm 104).

There are those men and women in our world, referred to as materialists, who do not believe in an unseen or spiritual world – a supernatural world if you will. And then there are those who believe that if such a world does exist, it is less real, less substantive, less important, less desirable than our present material world, thus they give very little if any consideration or attention to it over the course of their life in this world.  It is ironic however, that these same people will offer these trite words of comfort at a funeral “well, we know that they are in a better place”.  I am always tempted to rudely inquire as to how they know.

The Bible is the only means by which we can know anything about the glory of the spiritual realm, as it was given to us by the One who alone has resided in that realm throughout eternity – namely God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and thus it is the real world – true reality.

In addition to God, the spiritual world consists of holy angels, powerful beings created by God to fulfill His will within creation (Colossians 1:16).  We see them in both the Old and New Testament acting as messengers (Luke 2:8-20), as protectors of God’s people (Psalm 91:11), as agents of judgment upon God’s enemies and unrepentant sin (Genesis 19:1-13), and as proclaimers and protectors of the Holiness of God (Isaiah 6:1-3).  We are told in Hebrews 1:13-14, that angels are presently commissioned to minister, mostly unseen, to those in this world who are the heirs of God’s salvation, those who have entrusted their lives to Jesus.

Also we have in the spiritual realm fallen angels, called demons or devils, the chief of whom is a being called Satan (Revelation 12:7-9), who rebelled against God’s purpose for creating them and then proceeded to incite in mankind that same rebellion.  In doing so, they brought destruction and corruption into God’s good creation.  God’s purpose in allowing them to do so, as with all that God does, is ultimately for His glory.  However, specificity regarding this remains only in the mind of God.  We get some idea from Job 1 and Job 2, of how God uses Satan to test the genuineness of our faith in His goodness and love. Beyond that, all I know for sure is that they will all be judged and confined forever to a place of everlasting torment (Matthew 25:41) (Revelation 20:11) at the end of this present world.

The Bible provides numerous instances of when the spiritual world temporarily breaks into/ invades our material world. There were numerous angelic manifestations, the most notable being in 2 Kings 6:13-17, where the Prophet Elisha opens the spiritual eyes of his servant to see the angelic host protecting them in a time of great peril.  An angel appears to Mary and Joseph to announce they would be the parents of Jesus the Messiah.

In addition to the numerous angelic appearances, we have God speaking to Moses out of a burning bush in (Exodus 3:1-5) and appearing to Isaiah (Isaiah 6) to commission his prophetic ministry.  In the New Testament we have, on two occasions, God the father speaking audibly regarding His love of God the Son.  In one of those instances, Jesus pulls back the curtain so that Peter and James see Him in all of His glory as well as meet Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-8).  We also have the Book of Revelation, which provides numerous looks into present activities in Heaven, angelic judgements and the coming together of the material and spiritual world in the creation of a new heavens and new earth, upon Jesus’ second coming (Revelation 21).

Why should all of this be important to us while we are in this world?  Well, first and foremost because Jesus thought it was important enough to reveal, and to reveal Himself as King over that realm.

But secondly, it is vitally important because the spirit world also presently consists of those who, through death, now reside there in one of two places, Heaven or Hell.  And where you and I end up residing upon our death is determined by the relationship we have with God the Son, Jesus Christ, while in this material world (John 3:35-36).

Grace and Peace ×