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The Unseen Realm from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

I often find abandoned ruins intriguing. Some structure that people poured so much time, labor, and money into creating. Then it's just left to return to nature, time moves on, and it is forgotten. Everything in life that you see around you is temporary and will return to the ground it was taken from. Yet, there is another realm unseen to the human eye that is eternal. We are given glimpses of it in Scripture.

When God created Adam, He breathed into him the breath of life:

(Genesis 2:7 NKJV)  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The breath of God that brought Adam to life was as invisible as the air around us we breathe. It has been passed down through every generation from parent to child. The Holy Spirit similarly comes to us, as the air we breathe in. When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He told them this:

(John 20:21–22 NKJV)  So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

The word Spirit there is "pneuma," which is where we get the English word "pneumatic" for air-powered tools. The Holy Spirit could be translated as "Holy Air." He can be all around you and inside of you. He can possibly even be passed by mothers to their children, as with John the baptist:

(Luke 1:15 NKJV)  ... He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Our physical body here is merely a tent that our spirit lives in, possibly with some friends. The Apostle Paul described it like this:

(2 Corinthians 5:1 NKJV)  For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Again, we see temporary contrasted with eternal. Our physical body here, the tent, is just a temporary shelter for our spirit to live in, but we will have an eternal home in the heavens. We can also shelter evil spirits, who are as invisible as air, and move in and out of people and animals. Consider when Jesus cast the legion of demons out of a man, and they went into a herd of swine (Luke 8:33).

We brush elbows with demonic forces every day, and most of the time, it's so normal we don't even notice. Remember that angry co-worker that seems to despise you? There is a spiritual war raging behind the scenes, and they are doing what they were instructed to do by their master. We don't wrestle with flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in various forms living in the unseen realm (Ephesians 6:12).

All Scripture encourages us to focus on the eternal and not be seduced by temporary pleasures.

(Matthew 6:19–21 NKJV)  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Heaven is eternal, without war, hunger, pain, sickness, or disease. We will live forever in the very presence of God. It's the great retirement plan for Christians, and we should be preparing for it. Yet, we can't see it from here, and why not? Jesus continued on in the next verse:

(Matthew 6:22–23 NKJV)   "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."

Interesting. What can you see around you? What did Adam and Eve see before the fall? Let's go back to the beginning of the Book. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, a literal paradise on Earth. They were probably covered with the light of God. They were sinless, and their whole bodies full of light. They were given only one commandment, don't eat the fruit from the tree in the center of the garden. So what are the steps that made them spiritually blind?

(Genesis 3:1 NKJV)  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

Stage 1: Begin to question the word of God. This is always how the enemy comes in. By introducing a gray area that suggests that Scripture wouldn't apply to you. "Did God really say?" Or when he came to Jesus, "If You are the Son of God" (Matthew 4:3 NKJV).

(Genesis 3:2–5 NKJV)  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Stage 2: Begin to doubt the goodness of God. The enemy led Eve to believe that God was holding something back from them. They felt He didn't want them to become powerful or more intelligent. In reality, Adam and Eve already had the knowledge of good. So by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they only gained the knowledge of evil. Bummer. As always, it was a worthless trade.

(Genesis 3:6–7 NKJV)  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Notice that Eve already saw the tree. She even found it pleasant to her eyes. Then she and Adam ate some of the fruit, and their eyes were opened. What eyes? Well, apparently a different set than they had been using, a much darker set. Sin had opened a new pair of eyes that could see their nakedness and shame. Notice the very next verse:

(Genesis 3:8 NKJV)  "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."

Adam and Eve no longer saw the form of the Lord; they heard Him walking. I believe this was the Lord Jesus Christ who walked in the garden in the evening. John 1:18 tells us that no one has seen God, yet they saw Him. And we know that Jesus often prayed in gardens while He lived on Earth (John 18:1). The Apostle Paul described Jesus Christ like this:

(Colossians 1:15–16 NKJV)  "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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."

Adam and Eve could no longer see in the spiritual realm, nor their children. Yet, there are glimpses into eternity given throughout Scripture when the Lord opened someone's spiritual eyes.

(Numbers 22:31 NKJV)  "Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face."

Balaam's eyes were opened to see the Angel of the LORD, though He had been standing there the whole time. Also, anytime you see the "Angel of the LORD" in capital letters, it's probably a Christophany, an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is eternal, has been here since the beginning of time, and He steps in and out of our timeline.

Once, the king of Syria tried to capture the prophet, Elisha. He sent his troops to surround the city. Elisha's servant was terrified:

(2 Kings 6:15–17 NKJV)  And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Wouldn't your battle be easier if you could see the Lord's army standing around you? To know that, in fact, you are not alone but being guarded by angels? That if you need advice or wisdom, you could just ask Him. That your needs will be met as they come. That is the view of eternity. We should always keep the unseen realm in mind, as the Apostle Paul told us:

(2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV) "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to see. Forgive me of my sin, and break the chains that hold me back from serving You with my whole heart. Open my eyes to see. Make what is important to You important to me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!