I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea" (Revelation 1:10-11 NKJV).

      For John to be “in the Spirit” was for him to be in the spiritual realm. This is also sometimes referred to as the “kingdom of heaven.” This is where spiritual beings and landscapes become more real to us than those in the natural realm. When we start to see angels and other spiritual beings, it is usually because we are entering their realm, rather than them entering ours.

      It is possible for all who have been born again by the Spirit to begin to experience this realm, become more comfortable in it, and begin to grow up into their new creation nature. As we do this, we become more spiritual than natural and more at home in the Spirit than we are in the natural.

      It was in this realm where I experienced the things I wrote about in The Final Quest Trilogy. When I had these experiences, it was like living in two different worlds. I was caught up in the Spirit for several hours a day, often for several days in a row. Altogether, these took place over years. Then, I would go through a period when I would not have these experiences for several years.

      What we call the supernatural realm is really super-natural. That is, it is not a place where the natural laws are violated so much as one where the boundaries of the natural laws are extended. Living in both realms seems very normal and seamless. This is what I believe happened to John when he received the book of Revelation.

      That this happened to him on “the Lord’s day” did not mean that it happened to him on Sunday, which is at times referred to as this in Scripture. Rather, he went in the Spirit to the “day of the Lord,” which is also the one-thousand-year period in which Christ will rule over the earth to restore it and heal it from all the trauma it has suffered in this age.

      John’s experience of not only being caught up into the spiritual realm but being caught up into another time period was a common experience for prophets. This can—and should be—a common experience for all who are called to mature in the new creation nature.

      At this time, few may be experiencing the spiritual realm, but the numbers are increasing as we approach the end of this age transition period. This is why we are told in Joel 2 and Acts 2 that “in the last days” the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon all, and the result of this will be prophetic revelation—dreams, visions, and prophecy. This happens to the old and young, male and female. That should include everyone.

      As one of the ancients said of the new creation, “We are not called to be natural beings who have occasional supernatural experiences, but we’re called to be supernatural beings who have occasional natural experiences.” To mature into our new creation nature, which is spiritual more than natural, we become experientially “seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (see Ephesians 2:4-7). When we are seated with Him in the heavenly places, we will have a much different perspective of everything on earth. This will become more common as we come to the end of this age, because then we will need prophetic revelation from dreams, visions, and prophecy for guidance to navigate these times.

      We’ll also need the authority of being seated with Christ on His throne to be the influence we’re called to be as the bridge between this age and the next. As we’re told in Isaiah 40, we prepare the way for the Lord by building a highway. This is the path of God’s higher way. We’re called to help all who live on the earth to find this highway to enter the kingdom of God. This will happen at the same time that the kingdoms of men are crumbling, as we read in Daniel 2.

      Daniel saw many of the same things John did in Revelation, though they were sometimes expressed differently. We will seek to connect these two visions as we proceed in this study.