“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit,'” (John 3:6-8, NKJV)

We all live in three story houses. We live on the second floor, this way we can choose to go upstairs toward heaven or downstairs toward the earth.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NKJV)

If we are wise, we will choose to get all of our life’s needs from upstairs in the heavenly realm. This is the spiritual realm and it is where we were created to be, but because of man’s fall from grace, we lost the ability to go upstairs anytime that we wanted to. We were forced to be content with just the middle floor of the house and the stairs leading downstairs to the earth. We weren’t allowed to experience the spiritual things in life, so when redemption was given to us we took hold of it and Jesus made it possible for us to have access to the upstairs once again.

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)

The words, “to be conformed” tells us that this was the process for us to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” (1 Peter 1:2)

The word “elect” this is everyone who has asked Jesus into their hearts, because of this decision we choose to climb the staircase to the heavenly realm. But first, we have to be conformed into the image of Christ. This can be done as we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit for “obedience.” When we fall short of this, the blood of Jesus cleanses us and we are forgiven. This will allow us to pick ourselves up and continue toward the goal of being in God’s presence.

Paul gave us what we needed to pick ourselves up, he said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

Some people do not share the desires that we do, and some of them are happy and comfortable where they are. Some people have a deep hunger within them to know more about the Lord, and that hunger stirs within them and the more they try to go downstairs, they find themselves heading upstairs.

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

Man was not formed using clay, he was formed from the dust of the ground. If he had been formed of clay, then he would have been more manageable and he could be molded with ease. Instead man was formed from the dust of the ground and he was not manageable and therefore he was not moldable.

“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.” (Genesis 2:7)

Man was created to live on two plains of existence. He was created to live on the earth and in heaven. When man was formed of the dust of the ground, his soul was formed, which was his will, mind and emotions. When breath came into his nostrils, his spirit was born.

Because man was created with a soul, he was placed upon probation to see what he would desire more, his own soul or the spirit that was in him. Would he choose the earth or will he want spiritual things.

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,'” (Genesis 2:16-17)

God provided man with a will to choose Him or the earth. Man could be dependent upon God or he could be independent without God. He could serve his own self interests or serve God’s interest. His spirit could have intimate fellowship with the Father because that was what he was created for, or he could choose to please himself.

“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.” (Genesis 3:8)

The spirit of man was created to have intimacy with God. When mankind chose the earth over God, the spirit of the man died and no intimacy could continue. Without the spirit, man was once again dust, a soul only and no active fellowship with the Father was possible.

The reason people are the way they are today, is because they are independent from God. This is why there is no active fellowship with the Father, their spirits are dead.

In order for man to be able to restore fellowship and intimacy with the Father there has to be something added to their lives. They have to have their spirits “re-born.” They have to have the breath of life breathed back into them.

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” (John 20:22)

When Jesus Christ came into our lives as our Lord and Savior, we received the breath of God and that which was dead was born again and now we are able to choose once again do we go upstairs or downstairs. After our spirits were “born again” they will become needed to be fed. Just like anything that is born, our spirits needed to be given substance in order for them to grow. First it would be fed milk and then after a while it will need to eat solid food, meat. Sadly though there are people who are still sucking on the milk, whereas, others are being fed healthy meat. Why is this? It is because of choice. How do we get substance in order to be fed? We receive it from God’s Word. The choice for everyone is what do we really want? Do we want meat or are we content with just taking milk. Still many are receiving meat and the more they eat the more they want. The meat of the Word makes us stronger, where milk just keeps us alive.

Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we have redemption and we are faced with the two stairways. The one to the earth and the one to heaven. One is for our souls, reminding us of where we came from and that is dust, and the other is for our spirits, where the breath of God was breathed into us and it wants to be with the Father. One stairway leads to the natural life and the other stairway leads to the supernatural life.

Our natural life is from the earth, it is dust.

“And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” (1 Corinthians 15:49)

We also bear the image of God in our spirits, which is His breath.

We function in the earth, that is part of what we were created for. We were created to interact and live with others like ourselves. we were made to eat the good of the land and we were created to have dominion over the earth and be fruitful and multiply, but we were also created to be in the spirit, to have an intimate relationship with the Father. That is why our spirits were “born again.” We were created to be dependent completely upon the Father.

We have seen what independence can do, this is how man fell in the first place. He was independent of the Creator and did things as he wanted to, not listening to the Word of God. The devil wants to keep us from climbing the stairway to heaven. He causes us to think independent of God, therefore, he tries to keep us focused on our soulish desires. He wants us to only believe that we are dust and that we belong to the earth.

Jesus tells us a different story, He tells us that we are supposed to be there with Him in the heavenly places. We are supposed to surrender our soul of independence and become dependent upon Him. We are supposed to climb the stairs to heaven. We are to see ourselves as He sees us, as heirs, sons and daughters, children of God and righteous in God’s sight. We are to see that we are no longer just dust formed from the ground, but we are alive because of the breath of God inside of us. We have the ability to be in the Father’s presence and we have the ability to have fellowship with Him, this is what we were created for.

“And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)

We were created with a soul and a spirit to be able to function on the earth and in the heavens. The Lord created us this way so that we can grow and mature in both the natural and the spiritual life. We are able to exist within the natural and the supernatural.

We are able to exist in the natural realm through our five senses. We can see, hear, taste, smell and touch the natural things around us, but this is not all we were created to do, we were created to go into the the spiritual realm and use our senses there as well. In this realm we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch the supernatural things around us.

“In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22)

This of course is a wonderful thing, for us to be able to have an intimate relationship with the Father. To be able to see His face, to hear His voice, to taste and know that He is good and to be able to smell His fragrance. It is amazing that this infinite being who created us would want to commune with us, the finite creatures that we are, but that is what we were created for, to depend completely upon Him.

“Now concerning spiritual gifts,” (1 Corinthians 12:1). The word “gifts” was italicized , which means that it was added to the original text. It should have read, “Now concerning spiritual.” Our spirits were re-born, which means that our spiritual senses had to be developed just like our natural ones developed.This is why it is very important for us to spend quality time with the Lord In prayer, so that our souls and spirits can develop all their senses. The more we walk upstairs to the heavenly realm, the stronger our senses will become. As we become more in love with Jesus, more of our senses will become in-tune to His presence. We may not feel Him in our souls or within our minds, but our spirits will sense His presence. If we are only interested in letting our souls dictate our lives, then we will only function within the earthly realm. If we are desiring above everything else to set ourselves into the spirit, we will be able to function in both the earth and the heavens. We will be able to put the two together and bring the heavens to the earth.

As we learn to grow in soul and spirit, we will develop new and exciting gifts to be used in both places. These gifts will help us usher in the kingdom of God upon the earth.

The Father told man that he was to have “dominion “ over the earth. “Dominion,” means that we are to take authority over the things of the earth. This means everything in, above and upon the earth is subject to our authirity. This was what God wanted Adam to do, but Adam traded it away by wanting to be independent of God. Now, we are to go forth and proclaim the glory of God upon the earth. We are to remain dependent upon Him and we are to bring heaven to the earth.

We are capable to function in both the natural and the supernatural. We were given this ability when we were “born again.” In order for us to do what we were created to do, we need to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. We have the anointing and therefore, we have what we need to bring heaven to the earth, but without discipline and guidance we will be lost. That is why we have to listen to the Holy Spirit.

“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

The key to opening any door in heaven is intimacy with God.

“That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.” (Proverbs 8:21)

The Bible says that we have the mind of Christ Jesus. We didn’t get this through natural means, we received it by being in the presence of God. Our spiritual senses develop into maturity as we are tested and tried as to obedience of God’s Word. Just like Adam was tried and tested in the garden, so must we be tested to see where our heart is. Are we more interested in ourselves or God? Abraham was also tested in this way, when God saw his love for Isaac, He wanted to see where Abraham’s heart was. He asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. As we know, Abraham showed that his love for God was above all else, even his own son. God knew that Abraham’s heart was dedicated to Him. That is where God wants us to be. Are we dedicated to Him over everything else? Are we ready to bring the heavens to the earth?

The “Tree of Life” has risen from the dry ground. Jesus is that tree. The “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” is being used against us today. Satan asks us the following questions, “Has God said? Does He really want to take all this away from us? Does He want to deprive us from the pleasures of life? Would God really do this to us?” Looking at these questions, we can only conclude that God makes it easy for us to fall short should we choose to take this path, but that is not what He is doing at all, He is looking to see if we desire Him or do we want self gratification.

We must choose what we want, self or Him. Do we want to go downstairs or do we want to go upstairs. The “Tree of Knowledge” is downstairs and the “Tree of Life” is upstairs. If we give more thought on the things of the world over the things of God, we will cause the soul to become stronger and the spirit will weaken. We have the choice of which is fed, our soul or spirit. After all, isn’t that what Adam did, he fed his soul, the dust of the ground and let his spirit, the breath of God die.

Why was this test given? It was because there was such a high value at stake, that is why God placed such a huge penalty if man made the wrong choice. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Adam made the wrong choice and he died and he was unable to stand in God’s presence. Adam said, “…I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”(Genesis 3:10) Adam was “naked” and this had nothing to do with him being without clothing. He was naked because his spirit had died and he no longer had the breath of God within him. With the breath of God he was covered with the “Shekinah Glory.” Without the glory upon him he had no covering to enter into the presence of the Father. There was no communion, instead he was experiencing conviction and condemnation so he tried to hide from the presence. The glory is the covering that is required for us to enter into the presence of God. Because the glory was not upon Adam anymore, there was no fellowship in the heavens and the Shekinah Glory became a “flaming sword” keeping man from the “Tree of Life.”

The Father loved man and because of His compassionate love for them, He slew an animal and covered their nakedness, (their bodies and souls) this was a kind of “redemption” for them. This was a way for them to commune with the Father again. This would not be easy for them, but if they desired it above all else, it would be possible. The blood had to be shed in order for Adam to be covered. It was put in place for them to temporarily replace the shekinah covering that they once had. It allowed fellowship, but it didn’t allow the presence that they once knew.

“So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24)

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus’ redemption was just part of what He was doing for us. On the mountain top when He was with His disciples, He revealed to them the Shekinah Glory . He did this when He transfigured Himself before them. He was revealing to them what soon would be available for them. In His resurrection and ascension to the Father , the Shekinah Glory was covering Him. The reason the veil was rent is because now we have access into the presence through the Shekinah Glory that is covering Jesus. The flaming sword is no longer keeping us from the Tree of Life, and we can walk into the presence and experience the glory.

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18)

When God came into the garden in the cool of the day, He called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam answered Him and this shows us that there was communication between God and man. We can choose to speak to God from our souls or we can choose to speak to Him from our spirits. Adam was able to speak to God from his soul because his spirit was no longer living. Many people speak this way to God, but they still have the choice to go upstairs or downstairs. Many are content with just being saved instead of trying to seek God’s presence.

Adam made a choice and we also have to make a choice. We can choose to stay content with just being saved and having a ticket to heaven, or we can choose to seek God and His kingdom and be able to go into his presence and bring heaven to the earth. The Lord is looking to see what we really desire. Do we want to go upstairs or downstairs?