By Steven Phillips, PhD

Is this year going to be “New Year” for you or just a replay of the past?  Maybe the last few years have been all you ever wanted them to be.  Is your life full of meaning?  Do you have good relationships and people with whom you are sharing your life in meaningful ways?  Can you tell people in a few words what you are living for and why you are glad to be alive?  If the answers to these questions flow out of you in a resounding, “Yes!”, then you are to be congratulated – you are one of the fortunate ones!  If not, is this year going to be more of the same old drudgery or a turning point in you life?  I have great news for you... it can be a new year.  And, you don't have to wait through this day before you see it start to change.

Maybe you are missing one of the most important aspects of your life.  Are you aware that you are able to tap into and live out of a whole other realm of your existence.  You were created to be a three part being – body, soul, and spirit.  But here is the surprising part for most people – the spirit part of you is by far the primary realm of your existence.  It's the realm that sustains the other two.  You are a spiritual being who is having a physical experience right now – not the other way around.  If your life seems meaningless, maybe it is because you are not in touch with the spirit part of who you are.  Or, if you do experience that dimension of your existence, maybe it is only to a very limited extent.  Your “soul” which is your mind, intellect, personality, and emotions resides between the other two and is influenced by which ever side – the physical or spiritual – that has dominance.  So maybe you need to get acquainted with what is going on in your spiritual life and to do that, you have to know where your spirit resides.  The answer may surprise you.

If you are a Christian – or Follower of Jesus, as I like to call myself these days – something amazing happened when you gave your life to him.  You may not be aware of it, but you came alive in a whole other place the moment you let Jesus into your life.  It should and can be the primary place of your existence now and gaining access to that realization can change everything in your life.  Let me show you in scripture

In Ephesians 2:4-9 it says this, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  (5)  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  (6)  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  (7)  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  (8)  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  (9)  not of works, lest anyone should boast.” 

Please note, before you met Christ, part of your being was dead and now it is alive.  But where is it alive? It is seated together with Christ in heavenly places – Not just someday will be but is there now!  This is nothing you could have done for yourself.  You could not have simply figured out how to be a good enough person to bring this about.  You were dead in this area prior to this event and dead people have no ability to advance themselves.  It was a gift, whether you understood it or not.  But the truly important thing to understand is from that miraculous moment on, the part of your being that makes up your spirit began a whole new life in a heavenly realm with Jesus.  You are there now... and you are also still here, at home in your body.  If that seems weird, it shouldn't once you realize that we are made in the image of God.  We seem to have little trouble conceiving that God dwells in heavenly spiritual realms but he is also right here with us now, at the same time.  The work that Jesus did in our lives made our spirits alive in that realm also. 

Or think of it this way, my body is alive here on earth now and “houses” my soul (mind, intellect, personality, emotions).  My spirit became alive in heavenly places with Christ when I asked him to come into my life.  It resides there,with him, basking in the presence of the Father's love and it receives life from “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward (me) in Christ Jesus.”  Because my spirit is made in His image, it has the capacity to “co-habitat” in both realms at once. Here is the real “kicker” –  the fact that we may or may not be aware of this dual residence existence does not change the reality of it.  And, perhaps the greatest news of all is the fact that we can be aware of it to a far greater extent than we now experience.  We are even called to enter into a greater and fuller appreciation of this other existence. 

If all of this sounds totally new to you, read the following verses in Colossians 3:1-4, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  (2)  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3)  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (4)  When Christ, who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”  Again, this passage tells us that “we were raised” up with Christ and sit (even now) next to him at the right hand of God.  We are suppose to set our mind (soul/intellect) on these things more than we do on the physical things of this earth.  That old life (existence) is dead by comparison to the new life that opened up to us in this realm.  The secret to a more meaningful existence begins where our spirit abides – in His Presence.  This is such a reality that it changes how we will be seeing the idea of “going to heaven” one day.  Because verse 4 above says, “ when Christ appears” in glory (heaven), we are going to appear with him there!  You see, we would already have to be there with him for that to be the case.

One translation says, “Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth.”  I like that thought also.  What are you passionate about?  If I told you that you are right now also living a whole existence in a heavenly realm and that you can tap into that heavenly life, living out of that existence, and that doing so will bring new life to your physical existence here on earth, would you be somewhat passionate about that idea.  You can be!  You can live your life right now from a place of security, sufficiency, acceptance, joy, and life giving experience.  You can know what it is like to draw down what you need in your life in this earthly realm from this place and change your circumstances in this physical realm.  If your life is boring or unfulfilled here, I know a place where that is not the situation.  And you can experience it, now.

I am going to begin writing about this place of existence (this other realm of life) for the rest of this new year.  Everything I intend to write about can be clearly shown in scriptures and is something that many, many people have experienced throughout history.  Some of it will be personal accounts and some will be from close acquaintances.  It is something that numerous people are suddenly coming to understand and share in many circles that might surprise you.  It may challenge you – quite possibly even offend some of you (although I can't for the life of me understand why) – and even cause you to question the way you have seen your entire life in the past.  For some of you it will answer questions you have had for years.  One thing I can guarantee you is, if you allow God to show you more about this reality, it will change you.  If something inside of you is beginning to quiver a bit, get ready, this quite possibly is going to be an amazing year for you!  Life isn't going to be boring any more. And, a journey of an eternity is about to begin.