OTHER TEACHINGS
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
Colossians 1:16 “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.”
Whenever the Bible talks about invisible things it is referring to the spiritual realm, in this case it is
dealing with the interactions of the spiritual realm with the visible physical realm.
Since the visible realm is three dimensional, when you associate it with the invisible spiritual dimension it becomes fourfold, that is why our text includes a fourfold reference to the creation:
Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
The epistle to the Colossians gives us tremendous insight into how the visible and invisible creation interacts and operates.
Let us define first the difference between the physical and spiritual dimensions so that we can learn the mysteries of how the invisible world operates and learn how much it influences our physical world.
Colossians 1:12 “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (energy).”
The spiritual or invisible realm is one that is made of energy, we cannot see energy that is why it is invisible to us. The creatures that live in the spiritual realm are made of energy that is why we cannot see them either. But the fact that we cannot see them does not mean that it does not exist and they are not actively interacting with the visible realm.
As a matter of fact, at the core of all physical tangible matter there is an invisible quantum reality that science is still trying to explain. From the Bible we know that the spiritual realm is an eternal one, and so science has discovered that the sub-atomic particles that give form to all physical matter transcend time and space, that is they can be in two separate places at the same time.
2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we do not look (put our focus on) at the things which are seen (visible), but at the things which are not seen (invisible). For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Now when Paul says that we have been qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light, what he is telling us is that we have been given power to manipulate that invisible energy, which is radically awesome if we can just barely grasp its implications.
Colossians 1:9 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”
Paul is so excited about the faith of the Colossians in the Gospel of truth that was preached to them, that he is telling them that he cannot wait to see them come into the revelation knowledge of what just happened to them, through the agency of spiritual understanding.
Just as he was telling the Corinthians not to put their focus on the mundane visible things, but to put their hope on the eternal invisible things that are not of this world.
Can we get just as excited as Paul was about the reality that we too have received the Gospel of truth, and that we also have been qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light? We should!
Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
This three-dimensional world has been plunged into spiritual darkness by the devil and all his minions, Jesus has delivered us from the darkness of this physical world and has placed us in the high, and out of this world kingdom of the Son of His love.
John 8:23 “...You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
What does it all mean to us, what are the advantages of being able to operate in the kingdom of the light?
Matthew 16:19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven (spiritual invisible realm), and whatever you bind on earth (physical visible realm) will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
A key is used to unlock things that we previously had no access to, a key can also be used to lock things up that we do not want anybody to steal from us, why would Jesus give us the key if we did not have with it the access to the lock as well?
Now as we look at this verse of Scripture from the scientific point of view, and know that all physical things are held together by this invisible force that holds the atomic particles together that form all that is tangible, then we can extrapolate that we have been given the power to loose that which is bound, and to bound that which is loose, whether in the invisible fourth dimension called heaven, or the physical three dimension we call earth.
Colossians 1:10 “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Obviously, we need to know and we need to understand how it all works, that is if we want to put it to good use, for we can also read in the text of what Jesus told us, as binding on earth that which has already been bound in heaven, and loosing on earth that which has already been loosed in heaven, so that spiritual understanding is critical.
All things were created through Him and for Him. Our opening text.
Rule number one, follow The Word!
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Now if we want to fully understand the meaning of how The Word created everything we need to know what The Word of God is.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living (life giving) and powerful (energy)…”
The Word of God is life giving, life sustaining energy.
When God said, Let there be light, He released all the energy that exists in the universe today, and it was out of that energy that all physical tangible matter was formed, including intelligent human life.
John 1:4 “In Him (The Word) was life, and the life was the light of (the energy that created) man.”
So that all things were created and are sustained by The Word of God including intelligent human life.
At the very core of our physical being we are held together by the energy that is in The Word of God. So that whatever is loosed on the earth that the Word of God tells us should be bound, we have power in the name of Jesus, The Word of God, to bind it and vice versa.
John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
We have access into the invisible spiritual realm in the name of Jesus.
Philippians 2:9-10 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.”
Paul takes it one notch higher and tells us that in the name of Jesus we not only have the power to bind and to loose the very cords that hold everything together in the visible and invisible realms, but also over those under the earth, where the seat of demonic power resides in the belly of the underworld.
That means that in the name of Jesus we have power over life and over death, as long as we follow the precepts laid out for us in His Word, to bring forth God’s reconciliation into this physical world.
Colossians 1:19-20 “For it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”