Celebrating
Love of JESUS, Hope of Heaven, and Faith in the Word of God.

INSIDE THE GATES OF HEAVEN

CHAPTER 17

 A CLASS FOR COVENANT COMPANIONS

I promised you that we would visit a class where ladies and gentlemen were being instructed in the companionship of Heaven -- the eternal relationships between sweethearts in the perfect conditions of Heaven. 

In some of my visits to Heaven I joined in activities there.  One of these activities was teaching a class of men and ladies about the covenant companion concept.  The reason I teach this class is because I learned this subject while living on earth.  It is a fact of Heaven that we cannot be rewarded in Heaven for something we did not do on earth.  And the things we learn in Heaven must be taught by someone who learned that subject while serving God on earth.  Every spiritual subject must be learned first from Jesus Himself before we as humans can teach it.  These things can be learned and taught both on earth and in Heaven.

So one day as I stood up to teach my class, I noticed Adam and Eve in the left rear section of the auditorium; and I wondered why they came to my class.  I thought surely they must know more about the covenant companion concept than I do.  The Spirit of God made known to me that just as Jesus on earth followed the ordinance of water baptism, so companions in Heaven must follow the procedure of attending a covenant companion class.

Nevertheless, I felt like the man who, as the story goes, was in Heaven describing the great flood of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, when someone told him that Noah was in his audience!

We go now to a spacious auditorium with large rooms on both sides.  As we face the platform we see a large group of men and ladies in the room to the left.  Bright angelic beings are arranging them so that men and ladies file into their seats alternately, a lady and a man, a lady and a man, etc., until all the seats are filled.  Here now is the oration:

My companion and I greet you by the grace of God our heavenly Father, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom of Heaven.  Welcome to this class, and to the knowledge of things which will make you worthy to join those who worship with exceeding joy in the Most Holy Place of God's presence.

Having sought the face of God and obeyed His Word, you are those who are called and chosen and faithful, and therefore privileged to attend this in-depth study on the relationship of Christ and His Bride the Church, the covenant companion concept, and the intimacies of Heaven.

Let's begin with some words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:3-11,15:

"I would like you to realize
that Christ is the head of every man,
and a man is the head of a woman,
and God is the head of Christ.
A man should not pray or prophesy with anything on his head,
but a woman should have her head covered when praying or prophesying,
because to have her head uncovered is as shameful as having it shaved.
So if it is shameful for a woman to be shaved,
let her be covered.
A man should not have his head covered
because he is the image and glory of God,
but a woman is the glory of a man,
for Adam did not originate from a woman --
the woman was taken out of the man.
For man was not created for the woman's sake,
but the woman was created for the man;
therefore the woman's head should be covered
as a symbol of her authority among the angels.
However, in the Lord,
the man and the woman are not independent of each other..."
(vs. 15)
"A woman's long hair is a glory to her,
for her long hair is given to her for a covering."

We have in this passage the divine order of headship -- God, Christ, man, woman, angels.  Among physical people on earth, this headship is not completely fulfilled.  But in this City, everyone is spiritual and this divine order of headship is in full effect -- God, Christ, man, woman, angels.  The man and woman are never independent of each other, but while their purpose on earth was physical, their purpose in Heaven is spiritual.  While on earth they represented Christ and His Bride the Church, in Heaven men and women are the Bride of Christ.  As Christ is in Heaven united spiritually to His Bride the Church, so the man and the woman are in Heaven united by spiritual union.

We are met here today to consider this spiritual union and the seven intimacies of eternal companions.  Let's begin with the creation of Adam.

"And God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...
So God created man in His own image...
In the image of God created He him,
male and female created He them."
Genesis 1:26-27

Adam's body was made of dust, but Adam's life is in the Breath and Spirit of God.  Adam's companion was a rib from his side, chosen, created and given by God.  Eve did not come by the will of Adam, but by the will of God.  Eve partook of, and shares the life of Adam as the Bride partakes of and shares the life of Christ.

Adam was willing to die to be with Eve because when she ate the forbidden fruit, he ate it, too.  Jesus also died that His Bride might be with Him.  But the fall of man was no accident in the plan of God, because God intended that mankind obtain the knowledge of good and evil in order to be more like Him.

"And the Lord God said,
Behold the man is become as one of Us
to know good and evil."
Genesis 3:22

From the very beginning God intended that men and women should be very much like Him, as He has said, 'in our image,' 'after our likeness,' 'as one of us.'

We live now either as mortals on earth, or as spirits in Heaven, but when Jesus completes His Bride on the resurrection day, we will all have glorified bodies like His own.

"The Lord Jesus Christ...
will change our body of humility,
and make it like His body of glory..."
Philippians 3:21

Then we will be complete -- spirit, soul and glorified body in the City of God.  Then we will partake of the Life of the Spirit of God, and enjoy our place in the divine order of headship.  Then the man and the woman will be companions by an eternal heavenly covenant and enjoy their companionship by seven spiritual intimacies.

(to Chapter 18)

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