FLATLANDERS

By David Brandt Berg

Fasten your seat belt! We are about to leave the drab and restrictive domain of the Flatlander and delve into the thrilling realm of the spirit world!

Come now and tune in to the mysterious dimension of eternal realities: the living world of forever rather than the dying world of now, the everlasting realm of eternity rather than the temporary space of time, the fascinating dimension that is largely unseen by us in mortal flesh, rather than this mundane plane, which is so temporary.

The Bible tells us to set our affection on things above—Heaven—not on things on the earth, for the things which are seen are only for a time, but the things which are not seen are eternal (Colossians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 4:18).

All God’s children of faith since the beginning of time have been looking for an unseen world, a “city which has foundations”—eternal foundations—“whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Not having received all that God had promised them but having seen those promises from afar, they remained strangers and pilgrims on the earth because they sought a better, heavenly, country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, and He has prepared just such a place for them, the awesome Heavenly City, New Jerusalem, which will come down from God, out of the heavenlies, to rest on planet Earth (Hebrews 11:13–16; Revelation 21:2–3).

This is the hope of all ages: that now unseen eternal world where we shall dwell with Him forever, the heavenly city described in the last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, and mentioned in many other places throughout the Scriptures. That’s what we’re all looking forward to—not pie in the sky, but literal Heaven on Earth.

But God’s invisible heavenly kingdom is already in operation and existence, here and now! It not only surrounds us but is within us. As Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

Science tells us that in order to exist, all material objects must have four dimensions: length, breadth, and depth, which comprise space, and one more—time. Einstein brought out clearly in his theories of relativity that time and space are definitely related. Nothing can occupy material space without time; things must have time to exist.

I’m holding in my hand an amazing little postcard, a beautiful underwater scene of God’s gorgeous and colorful creation. Now the strange thing is that as I look at this postcard nearly edge-on, I can really only see about two dimensions, length and breadth. I am in the land of the Flatlander who can only understand his own little world of two dimensions, with no depth whatsoever. He can’t see anything else. And as I look at this card edge-on, I can’t see anything else either. If I were a Flatlander, I would insist that there was no other world beyond my two dimensions, just because I couldn’t see it.

But as I move in a direction unknown to the Flatlander so that I’m looking down on the postcard from above, I find myself in an amazing world indeed, because this is a three-dimensional postcard. Suddenly it seems to have an altogether new dimension, depth. I seem to be able to see into the picture and observe some objects in front of others. A reed is growing in front of a lovely red coral, fish are swimming in between, and the pebbled bottom fades away into the distance, even beyond my new 3D vision.

So now we have entered a new world, beyond the scope of the poor Flatlander who can only see two directions, if he could exist at all, and we are looking in a new direction which opens a whole new beautiful world to explore. We have become like a god to the Flatlander, a being entirely beyond his comprehension.

We are now above his lowly plane of only two dimensions, and because he can neither look up nor down, we have passed completely out of his sight. Unless we stoop to his lowly level, he cannot see us at all, much less understand our new dimension. For him to be able to see us, we have to get on the exact same plane as him; the moment we vary the slightest fraction out of his plane we are truly “out of sight”!

 Our 3D world is one of almost unlimited space, so much larger and greater than his that he could not possibly begin to understand it or us. Ours is a whole new world, marvelous and magnificent, that the Flatlander does not even know exists, simply because he cannot see it.

Even if it were possible to show it to him, it would be so beyond his two-dimensional understanding that he would probably be like the old country farmer, who, the first time he saw a giraffe, said, “There just ain’t no such thing!”

The fact of the matter is that the dear little Flatlander, in his pride, hates to admit that there’s anything beyond his level. Poor fellow! How limited his vision, how narrow his realm, how restricted his scope of operation! Since he can’t go anywhere else, he just hates to admit that there is anywhere else. And he is particularly furious with anyone who claims to have been lifted up into that other world and caught a glimpse of what is beyond his own little domain. But just because he doesn’t believe in a realm that is invisible to him, that doesn’t make it not so!

And so it is with what the Bible calls the “natural man” who refuses to believe that anything such as a fifth dimension, a spirit world, could possibly exist, simply because he’s never seen it or been there. “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). And so he says, “There just ain’t no such thing,” simply because he never saw it before.

To dismiss the entire spiritual realm like that would be just as absurd as if you were to say, “I don’t believe that New York City or London exist because I’ve never been there.” How ridiculous can you get!

The Bible is full of evidence, stories, and positive declarations of the existence of this fifth dimension, the spirit world. Some of its immortal characters, having passed on into it through death, even came back to tell us about it. Others were lifted up into the realm of the spirit to get a brief glimpse or vision of it, and many received messages from there. And some of us have even been there! I have, so I know it exists.

And you can know too! If you really want to know the truth and are willing to admit that others have something you haven’t got but would like, and if you will humbly confess your limitations and ask God and His children to help you find that whole new world, you too can know the indescribable joys, the beautiful scenes, the delightful sounds, and the ecstatic feelings of that marvelous heavenly realm! It’s such a wonderful, happy place; it’s “out of this world”! You’ll love it! Why not try it? What have you got to lose?

David Brandt Berg (1919–1994) was the founder of the Family International.