Most Christians have never understood what we know as consciousness, and for that reason they have never really known God. God is spirit and so is un-knowable so far as our natural senses are concerned. Neither can God be heard with the audio sense of hearing, for he speaks from the spirit that dwells within us, and can only be heard as that “Still small voice.” We cannot touch God, nor smell or taste God, so man has no capacity in his natural being by which he can become conscious of God. Therefore, I can tell you that God dwells within you, but you may never be able to prove that to be the reality of your life, because you may not have developed the faculty that would allow you to be conscious of his presence within.

The target of the serpent in the garden of Eden, was not Adam but EVE or the woman that was separated from Adam. This is because the “ Woman” represented the female aspect of the spirit that now had become a separate entity. Eve represented the SOUL which is the Womb of Creation, and that is why the snake was only concerned with the Woman. If the woman could be deceived then there would be no divine seed on the earth, for she has the womb. The quest for knowledge did not come from Adam who had all the wisdom and knowledge of God. But the “Soul” which involves the Mind, Emotions and the Will, was the one that sought after knowledge, not being satisfied with the knowledge that she received from Adam. So as a separate entity she begins to explore the only tree that God did not make available to them.

The serpent knew how to destroy her for it represented the carnal or natural mind, which she no had, because of her perceived separation from Adam. As a separate entity the woman had no input from Adam the spirit, so she was at the mercy of her now down-graded mind as represented by the snake. The snake in ancient days was the symbol of a wisdom, and still is in its portrayal with the many Idols of heathenism. So for the first time the natural mind of the woman began to reason and so rationalize why the tree was put “Out of bounds.” Without divine input she had no chance of silencing her mind so inevitably she reasoned that there was a great advantage to be gained by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree and God was wrong to keep it from them. Remember that this whole account is an allegory and is not literal. But is recorded for us so we would understand how the soul functions in everyone of us today.

As a result of the woman’s action she gave the fruit to Adam so he could also enjoy the great benefit she believed she had gained. Adam did eat the fruit but not because he was deceived, for he never spoke to the snake at all, but shared in the dreadful result willingly because he knew the day would come when he would be able to reverse the consequences of what the woman had done. The result of the Soul’s quest for the knowledge of “Good and evil,” was that they were lowered into the realm in which good and evil functioned, which is the material physical world. The Garden of Eden where everything was provided for them leaving them free to fellowship and commune with God, faded into the distance as they stepped out into a wilderness where Adam would earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.

Good and evil have nothing to do with the realm of spirit, for it does not exist there at all. That is why Adam could not stay there, having now embraced a life style that is controlled by the law of sin and death. I am stressing these things today because if we are to return to the Kingdom of God we must know how we came to leave there in the first place. We all came from the bosom of the Father for he has been our dwelling place throughout all generations. However, you are not living under the law of sin and death just because of Adam’s sin! No No, for YOU have also embraced the same knowledge that pulled Adam out of the spiritual realm in which God lives, into the physical material world. Let me ask you, “Do you believe in good and evil today?” Unless your spiritual eyes have been opened you will say “YES,” so you have also embraced the same knowledge that Eve did in the Garden of Eden, and God said, “The day you eat of the fruit of that tree you have the seed of that fruit functioning IN YOU and you are D-E-A-D.

The Lord told Israel through the prophet Isaiah, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” This was the judgment passed upon Israel because of their disobedience and idolatry. However, all of mankind has suffered from deafness as well as a problem with their sight, when it comes to spiritual things. The irony of this situation is that the Spirit in man IS GOD, yet man has no communication with this God who dwells within him. We must ask the question as to why this problem exists.

Man was created out of God in the beginning as SPIRIT, and that spirit is God. John stated that “In the beginning was the “WORD, ” and that word was the MAN who was spoken into existence in Genesis 1: 26-27. Then he continues on saying, “And the Word was one with God, and the Word WAS GOD.” The truth is that God and man were inseparably joined together in creation. That first Man God created was spirit, and he was the only Son God ever created. He was Christ Jesus the only begotten Son of the Living God. It was Paul who made it clear in Eph.2:10 that all of mankind was created out of that one Son. This means that whatever Jesus Christ is, that is what we are. Man’s true identity is not to be discovered by his outward appearance, which was lowered into mortality when Adam took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Flesh and blood now forms a VEIL that shrouds man’s true identity, which remains unchanged even though it is hidden from our natural sight.

Through natural “Sight” people read the Bible and so gain knowledge of what God did and said, but that knowledge is purely academic and so belongs to the realm of our humanity. Then they go to Church, where the Pastor preaches every Sunday telling them about God, so the faculty of natural hearing is utilized, but in most cases the voice of God is not heard. In Matt. 4:4 Jesus tells us that man shall not live by bread alone, which is a reference to the “Manna” that Israel ate throughout their wilderness journey. They believed that Moses gave them that bread from heaven, but Jesus had to correct them saying, my father was the one who gave you that bread. Then he reminded them that almost all who ate that bread from heaven died in the wilderness. So they ate the Bread from heaven or Manna, but they were missing something which was able to give them LIFE, and that was “To hear the Voice of God.” They never became conscious of God’s presence with them supplying their need, or arranging the circumstances of their life.

In order for us to be become aware of the spiritual world in which God dwells we must discover two spiritual senses that God has put in man. The first one is INTUITION and the other is WORSHIP. Using these two spiritual qualities of consciousness we are able to become aware of things that cannot be known with the natural senses. Intuition is a “Knowing ” that has little to do with the five natural senses. Intuition is an immediate and instinctive perception of a Truth, and a direct understanding without reasoning. It is a knowledge that does not come by way of our natural mind, but is a spiritual faculty. John the Apostle says, “You have an anointing and you know all things and you do not need anyone to teach you, for the Christ who is the anointing dwelling in you will teach you everything you need to know.” 1John 2:20;27. This is the only faculty of consciousness that can provide us with access to spiritual knowledge.

First of all, God is spirit and therefore is invisible, so our five natural senses cannot bring any awareness of the presence of God within us. Most Christians in the world have never “Seen” God at all, but most would declare that they KNOW GOD. However, their knowing can only function through the consciousness provided by their five natural senses that have no capacity to access the realm of spirit. The function of true consciousness that allows us to hear God’s voice, and to “See” into the invisible realm of spirit, is missing in the whole world today, and is robbing mankind of the Life of God made freely available to all. The natural sense of hearing cannot give us access to God’s voice for it is not external to us, nor is it in the Audio frequency but it is the voice of spirit. This requires a special receptor that is a part of our true consciousness linked to the Christ in us.

The prophet Jeremiah said to Israel, “Hear now this, O foolish people, you have no understanding, because the inner-man of the spirit is not functioning therefore even though you have eyes you do not see, and you have ears but you do not hear. Why do you not honor and reverence me, saith the LORD? Why do you not wait anxiously in my presence, who has placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests function by their own authority and power and my people are happy for this to be so, but what will be the result of such a situation. Behold you trust in lying words which no power to help you. Is it not incredible that THIS HOUSE, (my people) which is called by my Name, has become a den of robbers in your eyes, for even I have seen it, saith the Lord."

I never spoke to your fathers or commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices, but I did command them to obey my voice. Only then will I be your God and you will be my people, and if you walk in the way I have commanded you, then you will be blessed. But you did not listen to my voice, but walked in the counsel and imagination of your evil heart, and so you have not walked in fellowship with me. Jeremiah prophesied all these things unto Israel just before the nation was taken captive by the king of Babylon.

By refusing to walk in obedience to the inner voice of the spirit, Israel suffered from spiritual blindness and deafness, and the same applies to us today. The eyes and ears of the INNER MAN still have the capacity to see, and to hear the voice of God, but only when we are prepared to be obedient to what he says. If there is no desire to respond to the Lord then it will be according to the words of the prophet, as it is written, “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.” This represents the condition of so many of God’s people today.

The result is that their natural mind has been deceived into believing the words of men, and so the TRUTH has been lost to them. Truth is not a doctrine but is a person, and that person IS CHRIST who dwells in every man, but remains inoperative until activated by our obedience. The Father is drawing a people unto himself in this our day, and to those who will respond to that inner voice light and understanding is given. When suddenly the voice is heard the inner man (Christ) is activated and the darkness of our ignorance and unbelief is shattered and a new life begins.

Saul of Tarsus was bound by his religious upbringing, and violently opposed the new concepts that Jesus Christ introduced, but there was a drawing unto the Christ one day as the divine light engulfed him, that brought a transformation in a moment of time. Salvation is of the Lord and not of man. No man can come to me Jesus said, except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. So this is the day of salvation and the day of our acceptance before God. No one can have FAITH until they hear the voice of God, for the Scripture says, “Faith comes by “HEARING” and not by reading, and hearing by the Word of God.” The process of hearing therefore is dependant upon Jesus Christ who is the “Word,” and not the Bible. He is the one who activates our ability to hear when we seek for him with all our heart. A lack of desire to hear his voice, opens our mind to being deceived by the many other voices that are waiting to intrude, and these will prevent us from knowing the truth.

Without using the word “Consciousness” we have been discussing the discovery of the Christ dwelling within us. Our natural senses develop the realities of our life, and therefore all of our realities are in the physical material world, for they are determined by our natural sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. For this reason we are unaware of the fact that Christ, who is spirit, dwells within us. To become aware of his presence we must have a consciousness that can incorporate the invisible, spiritual world. Paul’s prayer was, “That I might know him (who is spirit) and the power of his resurrection.” But as the Greek word for Knowledge implies, knowing God can only be achieved by a very intimate and personal relationship with God. However because God is spirit it is not possible for us to have a physical relationship with God, so it is only as we discover our true identity as spirit, and learn to function spiritually, that we can know him. While we continue to believe that we are mortal human beings, we will find it impossible to truly know God.

*To read more from Des Walters go to guest links page and click on Des Walter.