As stated previously, humans are the only spirits that were created to have a physical body. Now, the spirit and soul are composed of a spiritual substance and the body is composed of a physical substance. Given that they differ in substance, an element is needed in order to keep them united. This is the function of the silver cord. When it breaks, man dies.
The New Age movement has observed a great deal of biblical principles and has corrupted them. These principles are only valid in the context that God spoke them; when not used in that way, they are defiled.
The spirit of man has the ability to leave the physical body to enter into the spirit realm. God gave man this ability; he was created that way. This was not invented by the devil; it is God’s design.
The Spirit of God has taken and continues to take several prophets to spiritual places, and their bodies remain alive in the earthly realm. Such was the case with Ezekiel, who was taken in the spirit to see what was happening in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 8:3 – he stretch out the form of a hand, and took me by a lack of my hair; and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the Northgate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
The expression “took me by a lock of my hair” refers to the top part of Ezekiel’s head. That is where he felt his spirit being lifted up between heaven and earth.
In other occasions, he was taken to the heavenly city.
Ezekial 40:2 – in the visions of God he took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it towards the south was something like the structure of a city.
Ezekiel 40:4 – and the man said to me, son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind that everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.
Here, he refers to this experience as visions of God; however, the angel tells him he was actually taken there.
We see similar experiences in the New Testament, when Paul the apostle is taken to the third heaven and he does not know if it took place in the body or outside the body.
Second Corinthians 12:2 – I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – how he was caught up in the Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
We also see John the apostle, throughout the book of Revelation being taken from one place to another in the spiritual realm.
These experiences are biblical and part of our spiritual abilities.
We must remember that the devil is an imitator and not a creator. He knows the spiritual world and the abilities of the spirit. For centuries, he has revealed himself to his followers and they have twisted everything with the help of demons. They have been able to do many things with great power, at the astonishment of everyone. However, God’s design is not for them to have extraordinary powers, but for us to have them in Christ. This way we could establish God’s kingdom on earth and undo the works of the devil.
That is why the Holy Spirit wants to give us the wisdom of God, which neither the princes of this world, warlocks nor witches can ever know.
Further ahead, when I will speak about the functions of the spirit, I will describe this in more detail. In the meantime, we will continue to describe the anatomy and parts of the spirit.
It is important to point out that entering the spiritual dimensions is very different than astral projection. I’ll explain the spiritual doors they use, later on.
In a godly experience the first thing we need to understand is that God initiates it, not man. John, the apostle, while at the island of Patmos, said he was in the spirit. Once he was in that state, he was able to experience Jesus in his glory (Revelation 1).
However, God wanted to take him to higher places and it was God that told John to come up higher. In that moment, he entered a different dimension where he was able to see all the heavenly activity around the throne of God (Revelation 4).
Therefore, entering the spiritual dimension, or being in the spirit, is an ability we can all have, but being translated the higher dimensions, to other places or traveling through time is something that must be initiated by God, and not by ourselves.
Whatever the experience is, when it is from God, the person never loses her/his conscious state. The person is able to communicate with others around him and narrate what he is seeing. The experience can end at whatever moment the person wants.
That was the case of John the apostle I just described. He was in all those spiritual places that we read about in Revelation but he was describing them to his disciple, prochorus, who wrote the book by hand.
When an experience is not from God, it is known as an astral projection. The person is taken out of the body by a guardian spirit which will maintain the connection between the person’s body and spirit. The person will lose consciousness and will be in a trance, unable to speak with anyone. The experience will not end when the person decides it should end, but when the demonic spirit returns him to his body.