Before we start with the seven dimensions, or aspects, of salvation, we might note that the unredeemed human being is graphically illustrated in Genesis 1:1,2 ("without form and void"), and also by the condition of bondage of the Israelites in Egypt. Chaos and Egyptian slavery are types of the unsaved person.

The "heavens and the earth" are present in each person, to speak in a figure, but the person is "without form and void" and he or she lives in spiritual darkness. The unsaved person is in a chaotic condition of spirit, soul and body, being one mass of confused elements. Slavery to the Pharaoh in Egypt is another type of the unredeemed person.

This is the way it was before Christ came into our lives. We were in personal chaos, at least in the spirit realm. We were in slavery to the powers of darkness. But then the Lord Jesus Christ came to us with His perfect program of redemption for spirit, soul, and body.

Phase One. Taking the first element of each of the four types, we have as follows: the creating of light, the dividing of the light from the darkness, the naming of the light and the darkness; the Passover, and the judgment on the gods of Egypt; the Altar of Burnt Offering; and the feast of Passover. Do you see how we have placed together the first aspect of each of the four types of redemption?

The factors that stand out are the division between light and darkness; judgment on the gods of the world; the blood of the Lamb as our protection from judgment; and the making of an atonement for our sinful condition through the shedding of blood.

The first step, then, in the plan of redemption, is the bringing to us the consciousness of the existence of good and evil, light and darkness. God makes us aware that we are to come out of the world, out of the land in which we have been held in slavery.

For the first time in our lives, perhaps, we learn we are dwelling in spiritual darkness. Immediately God makes provision for us through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. This marks the first step in our journey toward complete redemption.

Phase Two. The placing of a firmament in the midst of the waters, and the use of the firmament to divide the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament; the exodus from Egypt and the passing through the Red Sea; the Laver; and the feast of Unleavened Bread.

The main elements are the separation of the lower and upper waters by the firmament of heaven; passing through the Red Sea; the washing of the priests in the bronze Laver; and the removal of leaven from the bread of the children of Israel.

Phase Two portrays the various concepts involved as we descend into water baptism. Our first personality is assigned by faith to the death of Christ on the cross. Heaven enters us, as it were, and divides between our natural, soulish life (the waters under the firmament), and our born-again spiritual nature (the waters above the firmament—the waters of spiritual life and blessing in the Presence of God).

To be continued.