The Existence of God and the Spirit World (excerpt of The Theology of Robert B. Thompson)

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT WORLD (EXCERPT OF THE THEOLOGY OF ROBERT B. THOMPSON)

The Existence of God and the Spirit World
The Two Worlds Reunite

The Existence of God and the Spirit World

The Bible states that the things we see were made from a world we cannot see.

It is fashionable today in the modern nations to speak and act as though there is neither a God nor a spirit world. In fact, in America the argument is advanced that if, in a public institution, we suggest that there is a God and a spirit world from which the physical world was created, we somehow are opposing the Constitution of the United States of America. We are involving the state in religion.

Although such a position certainly was not in the minds of the framers of our Constitution, it nevertheless is maintained as though it were valid and sensible. It is clear that the fear that mankind might have to answer someday to a supreme Being is giving rise to this indefensible position.

In actuality, the reality of God and of the spirit world, while it is associated with religion, is factual entirely apart from religion. A religion is a set of ideas and activities that have been developed by people as they seek to accommodate their lives to their beliefs about God and his will.

Sometimes God intervenes in the affairs of people, and a religion then is constructed around this occurrence. This certainly has been the case with the Judaic and Christian religions.

In time past, religious organizations have intervened in politics and also have persecuted severely those who had different ideas about God and his will. It is this destructive activity that the framers of the Constitution were resisting, not the fact that there is a God and a spirit world. Those are just facts, like the existence of the stars in the firmament.

To deny the existence of God and the spirit world is to be as blind as those who at one time vigorously asserted that the earth is flat or that the earth is the center of the solar system. To insist there is no God and no spirit world, refusing to consider this point of view, is dogmatic and easily can become destructive of intellectual freedom.

If we wish to resist a religion or religions, that is our choice. But to deny the existence of God and the spirit world goes against much evidence. The natives in the bush know better than this!

It may be true that most people have in their heart of hearts a memory of the Garden of Eden, the first home of mankind. Sometimes beautiful music evokes a picture of a land where there is all the beauty of nature and no problems, pain, or death. There also may be a rainbow-covered castle in our imagination.

Did this ideal setting for which we may long evolve from amoeba? Not likely. It is a part of our consciousness because we were created in a garden, in the Paradise of God.

People find it hard to believe that the physical world in which we live came from nothing. It had to originate from somewhere at some point, even if its arrival was piecemeal. Isn’t that so? Yet educated people parade around in their assurance that the world just happened. But they do not actually know where they came from; neither can they comprehend infinity nor eternity.

We are like bugs on the ground who carry off pieces of garbage, meanwhile waving their feelers at us. This is what we resemble when we claim there is no God and no spirit realm.

All people, even the most assured, are remarkably fragile. We have been created with a need to place our trust in Someone greater than ourselves who can and will meet our needs and help us survive in this world. King David accurately described the world as “the valley of the shadow of death.”

Indeed there is a spirit world and a God who created the world and us. When we in our arrogance and self-will attempt to cut Him out of our lives we are left with little more than confusion and frustration.

What hope do the godless have? When they die (and life on earth is short at best) they are gone, they think. Finished, they suppose. They imagine it will be as though they never had existed. Their loved ones hope to see them in Heaven. The hope of seeing our loved ones again after death is instinctive with people. But according to the godless, it is a vain hope. Thus they take away the chief hope of ordinary people, even of their own loved ones, although they have no way of knowing if they are correct.

The presidents of our country hope to leave a worthwhile legacy. But who cares? The president dies and we continue with our problem-filled existence. Whether our memory of the president is favorable or unfavorable, it makes no difference to him or to us. He exists no longer. So all of his painful travail has not brought love, joy, or peace to him. He has resigned himself to the fact he no longer will exist; but he hopes after he is dead, people will honor his memory.

In actuality, the very opposite is true. The deceased president will have a conscious existence somewhere. He may be at peace, looking down on the benefits he has brought to his nation by doing what he believed to be in the best interests of the people.

Or else he may have yielded to the pressures applied by wicked individuals, or to his own desire for self-aggrandizement, and made decisions that caused problems for his nation in the future. In which instance he will be viewed with scorn in the spirit world, and perhaps later in the resurrection.

There is no telling how long a period he may be given to rejoice exceedingly because he was conscientious and brought strength to those who trusted him; or to agonize because of his tormented conscience, due to his self-seeking and cowardice. One or the other will be his true legacy.

Sholom Aleichem, the famous Jewish writer, had many misfortunes in his life. One among them was the instances in which he had very little money. Now he can look down from the spirit world and see the millions of people who have enjoyed and yet are enjoying his writings. We need to think much about this, because some people who have greatly enriched our lives produced their works while they themselves were suffering.

The publishers who deprived Sholom Aleichem of his due profits may not be as content as he when they realize their own wickedness and the pain it caused the author. There are, I believe, rooms in the Land of Darkness reserved for those with tormented consciences. Also, they will be viewed in the spirit world as greedy.

In the time to come, people shall give an account for every idle word they have spoken. Nothing shall be hidden. What was done in secret shall be proclaimed from the housetops.

There is a reward for patiently doing the Lord’s will while we are persevering through afflictions. It is that we will be able once we are in the spirit world to see the good we have done.

My opinion is that the normal, natural response of a human being to his journey through life on the earth is to place his faith, trust, and hope in a God who is able to help him right now, and who will be there when he dies to bring him into that land of never-ending love, joy, and peace that was on the earth in the beginning.

Many scientists assume there is no One who designed nature. But a person of average intelligence looking at nature can see the design, unless he is trying to deny the existence of God. If there is no God, he reasons, there will be no day of reckoning in which he will have to account for the things he did he knew were wrong.

Sometimes when I am learning a piano composition of classical music I think of the multitude of subtle operations that are required in addition to the contact of fingers on the keyboard. Hearing and feeling work together, as well as mental analysis and memory, and a sense of rhythm and beauty. How utterly impossible this would be to evolve! Also, for the composer of the music to evolve. This is nonsense!

The wide range of emotions we feel listening to the symphonies and operas of the various composers certainly did not evolve from random divisions of cells.

Music came from Heaven. It did not originate in random movements of atoms and molecules. As the Lord Jesus stated, “A man can receive only what is given him from Heaven.”

Over no period of time would random occurrences ever produce the ability of a classical pianist to perform Chopin’s Preludes, Opus Twenty-eight, with suitable expression; nor could an ape evolve to the point he could compose such piano compositions.

The hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than an attempt of people to live their lives without God. Otherwise they could see the intelligent design in nature—unless they were educated to the point of blindness. The evolutionist himself or herself is the final proof that evolution has not taken place. We of today appear to be less wise than those of ancient times, as measured by our behavior.

The pursuit of evidences of evolution, or of life on other planets, is an indication that man is trying to assure himself there is no God.

Please notice also that no animal, no matter how brilliant, worships God. But the most primitive people worship and fear God, having a sense of God, until their mind is blinded by “scientific deductions and explanations.” It is evident there is a difference in kind, in the matter of worship, between the most intelligent animal and the least “civilized” human being.

There is an aspect of creation that geologists do not always factor in. A thousand years is as a day with the Lord. Scientists think of geologic time in terms of billions of years, not realizing that in the spirit world, time is not significant. God could experience billions of years of biologic time as a moment in which he contemplated his acts of creation.

On one occasion while recuperating from a sickness I watched a documentary on the television. The documentary explained the reproductive system of the human female. I was astonished at the complexity of the various parts of the system and how they interacted in the process of birth.

Then I thought, “I’ll bet the male system is just as complicated.” It came to me at that point that there is no way in which two parallel systems that interact the way these two systems do could evolve, whether by the survival of the fittest or by a chance mutation. This is nonsense of a high order!

As we consider the issue of whether or not there is a spirit world, we remember the sense that people historically have had, and yet do have, that there is a spirit world, and most likely a God or gods who operate from this unseen dimension. The historical, universal assumption by most people—even today—that there is a spirit world and a God, must figure into the evidence. After all, the basis of science is describing what is, not what we assume or conjecture. Isn’t that correct?

The main problem in accepting the existence of a spirit world is that it is invisible, that we cannot measure or weigh it. Actually, the same may be said of energy. We can come to the conclusion that heat is related to the movement of molecules. But precisely what is heat? Precisely what is it that increases as molecules are agitated? Heat can be measured and felt, but does that tell us what it actually is, other than a form of energy? Is energy an emanation of the Person of God?

An investigation into the exact nature of the phenomenon known as “heat,” or the attraction between certain metals known as “magnetism,” would be honored by any scientist, I suppose. But not a discussion of the design we see in the physical creation. Could it be that this is because the former do not present the prospect of a Day of Judgment?

We can observe and measure the effects of energy, such as heat and movement, but the original source of energy and its exact nature is somewhat mysterious, isn’t it? We claim energy can neither be created nor destroyed nor added to the universe in any manner. (My personal opinion is that God on occasion does add energy to the universe. The scientists are reckoning without God, it seems to me.)

We accept energy as a fact, not because every aspect of its nature is understood by us but because of certain manifestations.

But, someone may protest, “We can control energy and govern and measure the outcome.”

This is a fact. But stop and think. If we could control God and govern the outcome, God would not be God. Would he? If we could measure God he would not be God. Would He? If we could define and measure God, controlling Him and governing and measure the outcome, He would not be God, the Source of all energy and matter.

I will tell you one thing from my own experience. For over sixty years I have hypothesized (assumed) there is a God and a spirit world, and have acted accordingly. I have reasonable intelligence and a good education. There is a God! There is a spirit world! I have proven this, to myself at least.

To this day some aspects of light and gravity are not thoroughly understood. When they are, and can be controlled, we may have no more problems with transportation.

It is evident there is a physical world, and also that the physical world is a form of energy. But the physical world either is a product of intelligent design or it is the product of random forces.

If we hypothesize that the physical world is a product of random forces, then we might expect a lack of predictable design.

If we hypothesize that the physical world is a product of intelligent design, then we might look for some evidence of this. There is much in nature that suggests design. One example is the frequent occurrence of the Fibonacci series of numbers that occur in nature. Another is the consistency of the laws of physics, such as energy always is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. The predictable nature of mathematics itself is hard to account for if one subscribes to a world of random occurrences, it seems to me.

Another factor is the number of specific answers to prayer that are far, far too numerous to be discounted as though they form no evidence of the spirit world and of God. It is possible that the person reading these words has had specific answers to specific prayers.

Perhaps the reader has read one or more of the many accounts of people who have died, in that their heart has stopped, and then have been revived to tell us of the marvels they have observed. Also numerous individuals have had supernatural experiences, visitations from deceased relatives, dreams, visions, etc.

I have no doubt whatever that over the course of world history there have been several million instances of visitations and episodes that cannot be accounted for by explanations that do not include the supernatural. In other words, there are far more witnesses of God and the spirit world than would be necessary to prove the case in a court of law.

Two excellent accounts of a supernatural experience are (Return From Tomorrow, Dr. Ritchie, a psychiatrist, Chosen Books, Waco, Texas, 1978); also the visions of the Chinese children in the Adullam orphanage in China, (Visions Beyond the Veil, H. A. Baker, Osterhus Publishing House, Minneapolis, Minn.).

Anyone reading one or both of these accounts will be persuaded, I am sure, that they are valid. There are many more published accounts of similar supernatural experiences, some doubtful, others that appear to be authentic.

The scientist who is making a case for evolution by carbon dating and examining bones is missing the forest while examining the trees. He needs to step back and consider the entire range of human experience. Determining whether or not there is a God and a spirit world by carefully examining bones could be compared to digging up Beethoven’s body and cutting it up carefully in an attempt to discover the source of the Ninth Symphony.

Actually, it often is true that the whole is more than the sum of its parts!

Given the lack of final proof of the source of the physical world and of the evolution of human beings, and the lack of our ability to measure and weigh and otherwise describe God and the invisible spirit world, we must consider the probability of each viewpoint in terms of what we have experienced in life or what our common sense indicates. Isn’t that a fact?

Since it goes against our normal thought processes that the existence and apparent design of the physical world just “happened,” and since there is a possibility that there is a God who brought our habitable world into existence and who appears to answer specific prayers in a specific manner, and belief in Him is historically and universally the attitude numerous people have—even some well educated people of today, I think it reasonable that the probability of the latter being true is greater than that of the former.

It is possible that an individual who, in spite of the wealth of evidence to the contrary, holds it is more probable that there is no God and no spirit world from which the material world originated, has an agenda that is affecting his reasoning.

A young person from our church entered college. There she encountered students who were questioning the existence of God. She asked me to help her out with some proofs.

My response was, “Tell the students that if they want to know if there is a God and if Jesus Christ is his Son, then ask him. God can talk and He will answer your question.”

If you want to know if someone is in the next room, knock and then ask.

When I was nineteen years of age I wanted to know if there is a God. I read in the Bible where Jesus said, “If you want to know whether I came from God or whether I am speaking out of my own Spirit, then do what I say and you will get your answer.”

In the glorious idealism of youth, I responded, “Okay. I will do what you say. If the Bible proves out to be as incomplete as other philosophies I have investigated I will declare that the Bible is a fabrication.”

“But if I can see that God is behind the Bible, and it is true and unfathomable, I will testify to that.” I was very serious about this, being an idealistic type of person.

I was nineteen then. Since that time I have progressed in the study of education to the point of being awarded the degree of Doctor of Education from the University of Rochester in New York, a respected institution. During the doctoral program I studied the mathematics of probability. The results of the research carried on in advanced programs are often reported in terms of probability. I do solemnly declare that the probability of the events of my life occurring randomly is so low as to be not significant.

I truthfully can say I know there is a God, that Jesus Christ is his Son, and that the Bible in its entirety is the authentic, absolutely dependable Word of a living God. I have lived by the words of the Bible for all these years.

This is my testimony, and I declare it before God, his Son, his angels, and the entire world of mankind. I am keeping the promise I made when I was nineteen years of age, on the Island of Oahu, in the State of Hawaii.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3—NIV)

The Two Worlds Reunite

In the beginning the spirit world and the physical world were one world, as nearly as I can tell. God walked in the Garden in Eden. Can you imagine that? God himself walked in the Garden and was available for Adam and Eve to talk to.

Little did the two children realize what an unbelievably awesome privilege was theirs.

Isn’t it often true that we do not appreciate the good things that are given to us!

There were many losses that resulted from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. One of the most grievous of the losses was that of God placing a “firmament,” as it were, between the life (waters) under the firmament and the life above the firmament.

We have such fanciful ideas of the “life that is above the firmament,” that is, of the spirit world, of Heaven! Within the past few years I have become more aware of what is going on in Heaven. It is nothing like I had pictured. Heaven is just an ordinary world. The angels do not have wings. The people are going about their business. Most are in a good environment. Some are in areas of punishment. All are awaiting the Day of Resurrection.

I have written three books about my new awareness so people, especially children, will not be afraid of dying. They are: Godwill Castle; Heaven—God’s Wonderful World; and John and Mary Visit Heaven. “Wonderful World” has been published and can be purchased at a Christian bookstore. I would appreciate your prayers that I will get the remaining two published, because I think many Americans are going to be facing death in the fairly near future.

As I said, one of our biggest losses has been the “space” placed between us and Heaven, the true, eternal world from which our present physical world was constructed. We can’t see the people who have died and gone into the world that is invisible to us, and that is a pity. I think they can see us on some occasions.

I am becoming interested in the next world, the real, eternal world. I think Heaven is drawing closer to the earth. The Throne is drawing nearer to the footstool. Perhaps many Christians are experiencing, as I am, an increased awareness of the real world.

It appears our nation is heading toward trouble. We have called for Tash, and Tash has come (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle). By this I mean we Americans are throwing away what was purchased for us by the blood, sweat, and tears of the pioneers who went before us. We simply cannot grasp the fact that it was the faithful Christians who brought down the blessing of God on America. Now we are throwing it away as new religions and satanic lusts occupy our time.

My recommendation to all who will listen to me is to draw as near to Jesus as you can every moment of the day and night. By so doing you will save yourself and those who will listen to you during the dark, evil days now approaching our beloved country.

Yes, the two worlds drew apart because of disobedience. But the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ has made it possible for there to be a convergence of the two worlds, the spirit (Heaven) realm, and the physical realm.

The Bible promises us that the Lord Jesus Christ will return and establish his Kingdom, God’s will, on the earth. For this we pray, don’t we?

The conflict between good and evil, truth and the great lie, is intensifying in our day. We may waste our time railing against the politicians. They are not causing the conflict; they only are pawns. The truth is, there are titans of the spirit world who are confronting one another. Christ is confronting Antichrist. The Father is confronting Satan. The Holy Spirit is confronting the False Prophet.

Satan is intent on destroying the United States because for so many years we have been thought of as a Christian nation.

The Christian who does not fervently embrace Christ will default to Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet. Numerous Christians already have done so and they do not realize it.

If we are wise we will ask God for a “report card.” We will do so without delay. When we are in deception we do not realize we are in deception. We must pray continually that God will not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

We can read the Bible, pray, and go to church, and still be in powerful deception. The only way out of deception is to deny ourselves, take up our personal cross, our personal imprisonment, and follow Jesus every moment of every day and night.

I hope you are hearing me. To not give Jesus your best effort may cost you part or all of your inheritance.

The day in which we are living provides a tremendous opportunity to gain one of the thrones of the Kingdom that still are unoccupied. It also is a time of tremendous danger that someone will steal our crown of rulership.

Below are some passages that may help us realize that God intends to once again live on the earth, as in the beginning:

The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death. So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD. (Psalms 102:19-22—NIV)

This assembling will take place on the earth, not in Heaven.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. (Psalms 96:11-13—NIV)

Notice that the coming of the Lord to judge the earth is an occasion for rejoicing on the part of righteous people. It will not, however be a time of rejoicing for the wicked, whether or not they profess faith in Jesus Christ!

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16—NIV)

The passage above describes the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to set up his Kingdom on the earth. This marks a great increase in the reuniting of the two worlds.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:6-8—NIV)

It appears the future of the American people is grim. Too many of us have chosen to serve Satan. A multitude of children have been murdered in the name of “freedom of choice.” As a result, there shall be difficult times ahead in our country. We need to realize that the creation is in the throes of birth. The “baby” that is to come forth is the new world of righteousness that shall be installed on the earth at the return of our Lord Jesus.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21—NIV)

God, through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, shall restore all that has been lost through the disobedience of people. This does not mean, however, that Satan and everyone else will be saved. It is that which was spoken by the Prophets that will be restored.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30—NASB)

I honestly do not believe that many Christian people are aware that the salvation we have now is a sealing, a down payment on the redemption that is to come. The Lord Jesus died in order to buy back (redeem) that which God had created through him. When the creation has been redeemed, the two worlds once again shall be united. As it is today, the whole physical world, including much that terms itself “Christian,” lies in the lap of Satan.

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:11-14—NIV)

By “our salvation is nearer” Paul is referring primarily to the redemption of his body from sin and mortality. Paul groaned for the adoption of his body. He was speaking of the making alive of his body by being clothed with the body fashioned from the Holy Spirit reserved in Heaven for him. The clothing shall take place in the Day of Resurrection, the period that is the centerpiece of the Divine salvation made possible by the blood atonement.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (I Peter 1:3-6—NIV)

Once again we see that our salvation is in the future. It is kept in Heaven for us. Our faith is causing us to be shielded by God’s power until the Day of Redemption comes, the time when the two worlds once again are reunited.

The promised reuniting of the spirit and physical worlds has commenced in our day, I truly believe. Our task is to maintain an awareness of the Lord Jesus in all we think, say, and do. Before you know it, Jesus will be with us on earth, just as He was with the first two people.

Do you remember that at the beginning of this brief essay I mentioned that the spirit world, of which I am becoming increasingly aware, is not some mystical “Oz,” as so often occupies our thinking? Please consider that the following passage is describing life on the new earth after the present heaven and earth have passed away. Notice how familiar life will be in eternity.

Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD. (Isaiah 65:17-25—NIV)

Notice that there will be children and animals, and that the people and animals eat. Remember, we are speaking now of the new heaven and earth reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It won’t be much different from our present world, will it? I like this better than the idea of going to Heaven to live in a mansion.

Don’t you?

The two worlds, the physical and the spiritual, will be reunited when the Lord Jesus returns with his saints. The Holy Spirit will flow out from Christ in his saints and the whole earth will be filled with the Spirit of God. The Glory of the Lord will cover the whole earth. The waters of God will cover the dead sea of mankind.

We who are living in the Spirit now are a firstfruits of that which one day will bring liberty to those of mankind whom God saves.

Don’t focus on the sin in our nation. It is going to become worse. As much as possible, commit all you think, say, and do to the Lord Jesus. If you do, you will be one of the instruments God uses to bring together the Throne and the footstool.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4—NASB)

(“The Existence of God and the Spirit World”, 4024-1)

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT WORLD (EXCERPT OF THE THEOLOGY OF ROBERT B. THOMPSON)

Table of Contents

The Existence of God and the Spirit World

The Two Worlds Reunite