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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(2) - The Heavens |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 1:1 |
Date |
2009-07-03 |
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Genesis 1:1
[1] In the beginning God created heavens and the earth
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 2nd Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, I explained about the appearance and the heart of God the Origin who existed alone before the Creation.
I said God as 'God the Origin' spread through the entire universe in the image of Light that contained the Sound.
God the Origin, who existed alone like this, wanted to have another being who could feel the all things and share His love with Him.
So, He embraced the (concept of) Human Cultivation in His heart, and laid out the blueprint for Human Cultivation through the very last day.
When people construct a building, they have a drawing for the building first.
And they begin the construction based on the drawing. Before they raise the actual building, they spend a considerable amount of time laying groundwork of the foundation.
They insure foundation work to support the building is sure, sound and strong.
By the same token, before God actually began the process of Human Cultivation, there was a very long period of time He spent in advance preparation.
Starting from this lecture, I will explain what kind of work God the Origin did after He conceived Human Cultivation.
By the way, to understand this Genesis Lecture, you should correctly know the definition of the terms.
For example, when I use the term, "the Original Universe," you should know what it refers to.
The original universe doesn't refer to the universe you see now with your eyes.
It is the universe where God existed alone before He started the Creation.
In addition, when I say "God the Origin," I am talking about God who was filling up the whole original universe in the form of the Light that contained the Sound.
This way, I don't need to explain what these terms refer to or mean every time I mention them.
The same applies to 'the Original Light,' and 'the Original Sound.'
I urge you to understand and remember the terms that may newly appear in this Genesis Lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters.
What was the very first thing that God the Origin did for the Human Cultivation?
He formed 'the Sound-containing Light' that spread throughout the whole original universe to cohere, and came to have a certain form as light.
To cohere means to gather together to form a united whole.
The place where the Original Light that contained the Original Sound cohered is the vertex of the spiritual realm.
By the way, the original sound initially sounded at this vertex of the spiritual realm and spread out.
The original sound that sounded from the vertex of the spiritual realm permeated the original light, and then spread to the whole original universe.
VERTEX: meaning from a special application of the term 'vertex' used in astronomy defining 'a point on the celestial sphere toward which or from which a group of stars appears to move.' In this context, 'vertex' would be "a point in the Original Spiritual Space at which the Original Light cohered, was permeated by the Original Sound, and from which the Light and Sound spread out and into the Original Universe
But now, God made it cohere at the vertex of the spiritual realm, and became a certain form of light.
Of course, in this cohering light was the Word, the essence of God, which is the Sound.
Once God the Origin cohered in light, He divided Himself into three different lights.
They were the God the Holy Father, God the Holy Son, and God the Holy Spirit; God the Trinity.
I will come back to this in the next lecture.
At the same time when God the Origin cohered into a light, heavens of different dimensions were made.
Here, 'heaven' has the same concept of 'the space of the universe.'
There was initially only one Original Universe, but now different universes were made.
How could the single one and only original universe become a number of different universes?
As the original light that spread throughout the original universe cohered at the vertex of the spiritual realm, the intensity of the light varied and it caused a number of different universes to come to exist.
The intensity of the light used to be always the same anywhere in the original universe. But now, the intensity was the strongest at the vertex of the spiritual realm, and there were other places which had weaker intensity.
For example, if you install 10,000 light bulbs of the same brightness in a temple, it will be bright the same intensity everywhere in the temple.
Now, if you turn on only one light bulb in the center that is as bright as all the 10,000 bulbs, what will happen?
The closer to the bulb, the brighter it will be, but the farther, the dimmer.
Likewise, when the original light cohered as one, different spaces were formed according to the brightness of the light.
By the way, this Original Light is Spiritual Light.
Therefore, as the intensity of the brightness of the light changes, 'the density' of the attributes of the 'spirit' also changes.
What is the attribute of the 'spirit?'
It refers to the imperishable and unchanging characteristics.
The attribute of the 'flesh' that is opposite to the spirit is the perishable and changeable characteristics.
As the original light cohered as one, the relation of the brightness of the light and the density of the spirit became different with distance from the vertex.
Then, the Original Universe, which had been as one, became a total of four universes.
And God called each of the universes the first heaven, the second heaven, the third heaven, and the fourth heaven respectively.
There are verses in the Bible that imply that there is not one heaven but many heavens.
Nehemiah 9:6 KJV says, "Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee."
And 2 Chronicles 6:18 KJV says, "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!"
Both the verses use 'heaven and the heaven of heavens.'
There was heaven, and the heaven of heavens. The plural form, heavens, means there are more than two heavens.
You can clearly see here that there are at least 4 heavens.
In addition, Psalm 68:33 and Jeremiah 10:12 also mention "heavens."
Likewise, the fact that there are many heavens is also written in the Bible.
Then, how are these heavens different from each other?
The place where God the Origin cohered as the one light is a very special place that belongs to the fourth heaven.
Therefore, the light is the brightest in the fourth heaven. So is the density of the spirit.
The next is the third heaven, and the second heaven comes next.
To this second heaven the heavens are of the spiritual realm.
But only the first heaven is not of the spiritual realm, but a fleshly world.
The first heaven is filled with the attributes of the flesh and there are almost no attributes of the spirit in the first heaven.
The original light of God also is diminished to almost nothing.
The world where you and I live now, the universe that we see with our own eyes is the first heaven.
However, this first heaven was not something that was newly created at this point.
It already existed in the original universe.
Likewise, the second, third, fourth heavens also existed in the original universe.
The original light that was initially unified as one in the original universe, divided into these four.
However, you should not understand the spiritual space in the way you understand the fleshly space.
In the fleshly space, if you cut a certain space into four parts, each space becomes smaller than the original one.
But this concept doesn't apply to the spiritual space.
It is because there is no limit in the spiritual space.
When the vast limitless universe divides into four, it becomes four vast limitless universes.
No matter how many times it divides, it is the same.
Therefore, even if the original universe divided into four heavens, there is no limit to each heaven.
Not only the second, third, and fourth heavens, but the first heaven which is a fleshly world also doesn't have limit.
Even with the current highly developed science, the end of the universe hasn't been found yet.
That's why people say the universe is huge and endless.
As the first heaven, which is the fleshly world, is vast like this, how much more vast are the other heavens which belong to the spiritual realm?
Now, at the moment the original universe divided into the four heavens, each heaven didn't have 'contents' in it yet.
God just divided it properly in accordance with its own purposes, but the contents of each heaven had not yet been created.
For example, when people build a house, they make different rooms in different areas of the house according to the purpose of the rooms.
Living room, children's room, kitchen, garage, etc; they are different in size and location according to their purpose.
And each room is separated by walls.
Right after the house is built, there are spaces separated by walls, but they are empty spaces with no furniture and living supplies.
The moment when God the Origin cohered into a light and the original universe divided into the four heavens the universe was at the same stage as this house.
However, they were not completely empty.
There were countless stars like today.
The galactic systems and countless stars already existed.
They were already in the original universe where God the Origin existed alone.
Even though God the Origin existed alone, it doesn't mean that there was nothing in the original universe.
There were countless stars and the galactic systems which are extremely large group of stars.
By then, however, there was no earth and the galactic system to which the earth belonged.
The earth, our solar system, and our galactic system were created later as the foundation for human cultivation.
In this original universe, as God the Origin cohered as a light, the space where the spiritual attributes almost diminished to nothing is the universe that we see today with our eyes.
Now, how did God separate each of the heaves and for what purposes?
God separated the first heaven to make it a foundation for the human cultivation.
The second heaven was prepared as a space for the spirits of the darkness which are necessary for the human cultivation. But it was also for Adam who would be created as a living spirit.
The third heaven was separated to build Heaven where the good grains received through the human cultivation would enter.
The Bible clearly says that this Heaven is located in the third heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:2 says, "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven."
And 2 Corinthians 12:4 says, "[A man] was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak."
Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven, and it was Paradise he went to.
Paradise is one the many dwelling places of Heaven (in the third heaven).
From this, you can see that the third heaven is the space where Heaven is located.
Finally, the fourth heaven is the space for God the Trinity.
The very place where God the Origin cohered into a light is in the fourth heaven, and this fourth heaven shares the same dimension as the 'original universe.'
God created the heavens according to their own purpose, but as I said, there were no contents yet.
For example, the earth, our solar system, and our galactic system had not yet been created in the first heaven which is the foundation for human cultivation.
Also, Heaven was not built in the third heaven.
Only suitable spiritual space for Heaven was formed that would serve the purpose of Heaven.
I'm still talking about the moment when the Original Universe was initially divided into the four heavens.
They became filled with contents through the work of God's creation.
By the way, you should understand one more thing about the spiritual space at this point.
In a fleshly sense, there is a first floor (the ground floor), and the 2nd floor above the first floor, and then the 3rd and the 4th floor.
And to go to the 4th floor, you must pass through the 2nd and the 3rd floors.
If you want to come down from the 4th floor to the first floor, you must bypass pass through the 3rd and 2nd floors.
However, it is different in the spiritual space.
You can go to the 1st floor directly from the 4th floor as you and the same is true from the 2nd floor.
You can also go directly from the 1st floor to the 3rd or the 4th.
I said the first heaven is the fleshly world, and the others - the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th heavens - belong to the spiritual world.
If all the heavens were fleshly world, just like the floors of a building, the 2nd heaven would end where the 1st heaven ends.
Where the 2nd heaven ends, the 3rd would begin, and the 4th heaven should come next above the 3rd.
If thinking of the fleshly work were applied, in order to go from the 1st heaven to the 4th heaven, you should first go the end of the 1st heaven, and enter the 2nd heaven.
As you go to the end of the 2nd heaven, you could reach the 3rd heaven, and after you crossed the 3rd heaven, you could finally reach the 4th heaven.
If the spiritual world were like this, the Lord who resurrected and ascended into Heaven 2,000 years ago, would have had to pass through somewhere in the 1st heaven.
Our Lord said He would manage the construction of our dwelling places in Heaven in the 3rd heaven, and come back to take us.
If the 2nd heaven came at the end of the 1st heaven, and then the 3rd heaven, even if our Lord travels at the speed of light, He would still have to be in the 1st heaven even now.
When would He construct our houses in Heaven, and when would He come back to take us?
Acts 1:9 says, "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight."
When the Lord ascended into a certain point of the 1st heaven, a cloud covered Him, and He went out of sight.
At this certain point there was the gate to the spiritual realm, especially to the 4th heaven.
Therefore, He didn't need to go to the end of the 1st heaven. Without even bypassing the 2nd and the 3rd heavens, He could go directly to the 4th heaven.
Another example is Acts 7:55-56, which is the scene that Deacon Stephen saw the spiritual realm with his spiritual eyes.
It reads, "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.""
When Deacon Stephen was full of the Spirit as his spiritual eyes were open, He could see the heavens opened up and the Lord standing at the right hand of God.
When the heavens opened up in the first heaven, he could directly see the Lord in the 4th heaven.
Since the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th heavens are spiritual realm, you cannot understand them from the perspective of the fleshly world.
These heavens are spiritual realm, in different dimension, and so they are strictly separated from each other. But their spaces can overlap each other.
"In different dimension" means that each heaven has different intensity of the light and density of the spirit.
The 'dimension' here has concepts that are different from the term 'dimension' which used in this world.
It is the 'dimension' which can be categorized differently according to the intensity of the light and density of the spirit of heavens.
The 4th heaven has the highest intensity of the light and density of the spirit.
Therefore, the 4th heaven is called the highest dimensional space, in other words, the 4th dimensional space.
The next is the 3rd heaven, which is the 3rd dimensional space, and then the 2nd heaven, which is the 2nd dimensional comes next.
The first heaven which is the fleshly world is the 1st dimensional, the lowest dimensional space.
In this way each heaven has different dimension, but the spaces can overlap each other.
Therefore, if a gate to the spiritual realm opens in the 1st heaven, you can go to the 2nd, the 3rd, or the 4th heaven.
However, not just anyone can go anywhere as they please.
The beings of higher dimension can freely travel to the lower dimensions, but the beings of the lower dimensions cannot.
Therefore, God the Trinity, Who is the Being of the 4th dimensional can travel anywhere from the 1st heaven to the 4th heaven.
In the Bible, for example, there is a record that the resurrected Lord traveled between the 1st and 4th heavens in a short period of time.
The Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene after He resurrected.
It was the dawn of the first morning after the Sabbath.
John 20:17 says, "Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'""
By that time, the Lord had overcome the authority of death and resurrected. He completely accomplished the providence of the cross that God had entrusted to Him.
And so, He should go to the Father first, and greet Him and report.
But He met Mary Magdalene who visited the tomb first, and so He said, "I have not yet ascended to the Father."
And He told her to say "'I ascend to My Father."
It was the incident that took place in the first morning after the Sabbath; at the dawn when the Lord resurrected.
And, John 20:19 tells you that the Lord appeared where His disciples gathered in the very evening.
It reads, "So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you.""
At this moment, the resurrected Lord already met God who is in the 4th heaven, and came back to the 1st heaven.
In less than the time of a day, He traveled between the 1st and 4th heavens and back.
However, it doesn't means that it takes a number of hours to travel from the 1st heaven to the 4th.
It is because the concept of time in the spiritual realm is different from that of the fleshly world.
Another interesting thing here is that, even though the disciples of the Lord shut the doors where they gathered, the Lord appeared before them.
It was possible because the resurrected Lord is the Being of the 4th dimensional space of the 4th heaven, and thus He is not restricted by the fleshly world, which is the 1st dimensional space.
On the contrary, the beings of the 1st heaven are the 1st dimensional beings, the lowest. And thus, they cannot go beyond the 1st heaven.
However, if they become the beings of the higher dimension, they can go to the higher heavens.
For examples, the saved souls are the citizen of heaven, and they are the beings of the 3rd dimensional space.
Therefore, once they take off the 1st dimensional fleshly body, their spirits, which are of the 3rd dimension, can go to Heaven of the 3rd heaven.
However, even on this earth, if you accomplish the heart of spirit and whole spirit, you can experience spiritual space.
It is because the intensity of the spiritual light and the density of the spirit that come out of the spiritual person is consistent with the dimension of the 3rd heaven.
I believe that you can understand all these well because your faith has grown up greatly and you have had experience with such spiritual spaces.
Many incidents are found in the Bible that took place within the spiritual space.
Those incidents can be understood well only when you know the concept of the spiritual space and flow of spiritual time.
If you want to know more about this field, please refer to the sermon series, "The Space and Dimension."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Tonight, I explained the works that God the Origin did first for human cultivation.
God the Origin existed in the whole original universe in the form of the light containing the Sound, and then cohered into one light at the vertex of the spiritual realm.
At the same time, the original universe which was initially one, divided into four different heavens.
The reason God made these heavens is that each heaven would serve a different purpose for human cultivation.
In actuality, God initiated all these works for the sole purpose of gaining true children.
He did so to gain each one of you.
God the Father created the vast and endless universe just for you.
Therefore, I urge you to become His true child through the human cultivation and to become joy to God the Father.
By doing so, may you share the heart of love with God the Father in Heaven that was prepared within the love of God, and enjoy a happy life forever, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen] |
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