Life in 5D

Everyone knows about 2D and 3D. The two usual dimensions we deal with are best expressed (at least mathematically) as the x and y dimensions. To most people, these are width and length (or length and width, depending on your view point). In recent years we've become familiar with the third dimension, thanks to the development in movie technology. Mathematically speaking, the 3rd dimension is the z dimension, which the ordinary person refers to as height.

In science (and science fiction), it is often accepted that there is a 4th dimension - the space-time continuum, which we mere mortals simply call "time". (Because of the nature of the 4th dimension, it will never be possible to travel backwards or forwards in time, which is probably a good thing, all told.)

Scientists have (or so I'm told) toyed with the idea of more dimensions. What would another dimension look like though?

Oddly, the Bible gives a clear picture of a 5th dimension. It's called heaven.

Heaven is not a place, in much the same way that time is not a place. Heaven is a state of being. God doesn't live above the clouds, or in a castle up in the stars, or in a distant galaxy somewhere. No, rather, heaven is the dimension in which one is in the immediate presence of the glory of God. Where is that? All around us, all the time. However, in the same way we can't SEE time, we can't SEE heaven.

Why do I mention this? Because it's Easter. The Christian calendar has only 3 really important festivals, and the 3rd is often ignored. The first two are easy - Christmas (which is actually in July, not in December, but that's another whole discussion), and Easter. The other festival is that of the Ascension.

Anyone who's a Christian will know that we celebrate Jesus' birth because that's when God became a human being and Jesus' death because that was when he paid the price for our sins (the Resurrection validates all the claims Jesus made, and demonstrates his power over death). Why then do we celebrate the Ascension? After all - when Jesus hung on the cross he declared that 'it is finished'. If the work was done on the cross, and validated by his resurrection, of what value is the Ascension?

Something that struck me, as I have been pondering Jesus' ascension is this: Before Jesus came to earth, he was in heaven, a heavenly/ spiritual being. Once he assumed human flesh though, he never returned to being 'just' a heavenly being. For Jesus, taking on human flesh was irrevocable. When he ascended into heaven, he did so in a bodily form. He sits now, in heaven, in a glorified physical body. It never struck me before quite how irrevocable Jesus' decision to become a sacrifice for us was for him. Yes, he returned to heaven, to be with his Father, but for him, things would never be the same. His love for us has left an indelible mark on the Godhead - because Jesus will be, forevermore, in human form.

But returning to a more traditional consideration of the ascension: if Jesus hadn't ascended to heaven, then 1) The Holy Spirit would not have been sent; 2) Jesus would not be seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us; 3) the work of the Church would not have begun.

All 3 of those are crucial to the purpose of Jesus' coming. Jesus died for ALL people. In order for ALL people to hear, and receive, this news, God has chosen to work through people. Thus, the mission of the church is to go into all the world, preaching the good news. There is no way that would happen without 1) the Holy Spirit, 2) the intercession of Jesus, and 3) the Church leaving Jerusalem (which wouldn't have happened if Jesus had still been here physically.)

So - life in 5D: width, length, height, a time dimension (right now), in the presence of an awesome God. When the temple curtain was torn in two (at the moment that Jesus died), heaven became accessible to all. There is much more to life than what we can see with our eyes.... There is a whole different dimension, if we are willing to believe it.