Believers in Jesus are people of multiple realms and multiple dimensions. We walk in the dimensions of faith, hope and love. We live in the seen realm of today; we look at the unseen realm of tomorrow. We are people of the spiritual realm. And, we are people of the natural realm. With our spirits we contact God, the Creator of the Universe. With our bodies, we take out the trash! How does one live a balanced two dimensional life?

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1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• In this verse, three realms are described: spirit, soul, and body or spiritual, mental, and physical.
• What I want you to see today is that not only are we people of multiple realms but we are also people of multiple time dimensions.
• As believers in Christ, we are people of the present and the future.

Elements in the Multiple Dimension Backdrop

The Lords Table

1 Corinthians 11:26 (KJV)
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

• The ‘today component’ is the communion table that we celebrate, the bread which represents the body of Jesus and the cup which represents the blood of Jesus.
• In the ‘today dimension’, we appropriate all that this table represents.
• But we do all of that against the ‘realm of tomorrow’ because while we are so engaged in the activities of the Table, we are looking for the future return of Jesus.
• So, we live in the today, but all the while, we look at tomorrow.

Our Lifestyle

2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV)
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

• It is a wise thing when engaging your current ‘present’ activities that you calculate tomorrow into the equation.
• Believers know something about tomorrow.
• We know that there is a judgment Seat of Christ.

Our Witness to Others

2 Corinthians 5:11 (KJV)
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

• Because we know something about tomorrow, we persuade men.
• Because we understand as believers the fear of the Lord and that Hebrews 10:31 says “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’, we do something today; we persuade men.

Our Sowing into the Kingdom

Galatians 6:9 (KJV)
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

• Here we are again, the two dimensions, today and tomorrow.
• Where is the tomorrow part? It is the phrase ‘due season’.
• We are going to reap in due season that means tomorrow not today.

Galatians 6:7 (KJV)
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Our Work for the Lord

1 Timothy 4:10 (KJV)
10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

• Because we have hope in God, we labor and strive today.
• The word’s ‘labor’ and ‘strive’ are working or energy words.
• Are you working for God today?
• A healthy believer has both today and tomorrow firmly in his sights.
• Your confidence in tomorrow is one of the things that separate you from the world.
• The world lives in the today.
• They want everything now.
• But you are not as they are.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

What Time Dimension is Faith In?

• Faith is today according to Heb. 11:1.

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

• Faith is in the now.
• We believe God now.
• If it’s ‘not now’, it’s not faith.
• It is very important when you are believing the Lord for something in your life, to get the time dimensions correct.
• The Word of God teaches it this way, “I believe God HAS ALREADY healed me and I receive it right now.”
• “I believe God WILL deliver me” mixes up today and tomorrow.
• The scriptures teach deliverance in the past tense because of Jesus victory at Calvary.
• We should rather state, “Because He HAS ALREADY delivered me, I am free now.”

Mark 11:24 (KJV)
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

• What does Mark 11:24 say about having an answer to prayer?
• When will you get the answer?
• You get the answer, ‘after you believe you receive it’.
• You have to believe you receive and THEN you get the answer, not the other way around.

What Time Dimension is Love In?

• What about the Bible admonition to walk in love’?
• Is love in the today or the tomorrow dimension?
• You can’t love somebody tomorrow.
• You cannot be mean and hateful today and love you tomorrow, that doesn’t work.
• Love is today.
• The old saying fits here. ‘Don’t give me flowers tomorrow, give them to me today.’

What Time Dimension is Hope In?

• Did you notice that there is another element in 1Cor. 13:13 and that is hope.
• Is hope in the today or tomorrow dimension?
• Hope is a future expectation.
• If you are in hope, you’re in the future.
• If you hope to get it, it means you don’t have it yet.
• By its very nature, hope is in the tomorrow dimension.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (KJV)
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

The Hope Dimension

• A redeemed body.

Romans 8:23–25 (KJV)
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

• We hope for the redemption of our body, a tomorrow attitude.
• Can anyone see the today parts?
• We wait eagerly for it today.

Hope and the Resurrection.

Acts 24:14–15 (KJV)
14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: 15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

• We hope for the resurrection tomorrow.
• What are the today parts?
• I do serve God today.
• Believe the Word today.

Standing unashamed before Christ. 

Philippians 1:20 (KJV)
20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

• We hope to stand before God without shame, a tomorrow attitude.
• We allow Christ to be exalted in our bodies by life or death, a today attitude.
• But I want you to hear Hebrews today on hope.

Hebrews 6:19–20 (KJV)
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

• So, in these three elements in 1Cor. 13:13, we have both today and tomorrow dimensions.
• Faith, hope, and love are already but not yet.

Call to Action:
So, have you seen that it can be vital to know what realm you are operating in? Maybe you need to make some adjustments and pull your believing of God into the right realm, into the right dimension. That is what this Christian life is all about, adjustments.

Episode Resources

You can find a more full treatment of the information on this subject by clicking on the link below.

1. Already But Not Yet [Podcast] (Part 1 of this Series)

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QUESTION: Have you experienced any difficulty in getting answers to prayer that you know from the Word that you should have received? How did you get past that to the answer? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.