So, when I take up my cross and travel, where am I going? I’m heading to the gate of Eden. No one enters God’s Eden without passing through the flaming sword. The ultimate salvation of believers in Christ is the return to God’s Eden.

“So the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. So he drove out the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden, he placed cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23-24 (KJV)

The Garden of Eden was undeveloped; it was still a work in progress before Adam was cast out. The reason God had to drive them out and place a flaming sword was to completely close off access to the tree of life. However, in the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, John saw the ultimate development of Eden, which is Heaven. He spoke of the tree of life in Heaven:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7 (KJV)

“On each side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2 (KJV)

God’s Eden was a place prepared for humanity; God has nothing to do with Heaven because it exists by itself. God drove man out of the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way, meaning God closed the gate that led to the Garden of Eden.

Every possible way that man could use to enter was covered. And what covered it was a flaming sword. This means no man enters God’s Eden without the baptism of fire. Luke 3:16 (KJV) John answered, saying to them all:

“I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose: He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”

No man enters God’s Eden without first being willing to journey with his cross to Golgotha, the place where your head is executed. There is a flaming sword. No dead person can enter it. Mortals were cast out overnight. And you must pass through the gate of a flaming sword to enter God’s Eden. You must go through God’s realities. You must pass through burning coals. A man must travel with the immortal God into the dimensions of spirits.

There are dimensions of fire that protect the Kingdom. There are flames of fire. The flaming sword. A man must submit to the direction of God’s word. The piercing sword of the word.

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17 (KJV)

God has stopped calling men to preach; He is now calling those who have entered Eden and bringing them out for the work of ministry. No one can be used until they have passed through the piercing sword of flaming fire to Eden to see and possess certain spiritual realities.

Afterward, they re-emerge on earth with unspeakable and unknown dimensions to bear witness to the character and essence of Christ. The King of God’s Eden sits on the Throne; His name is Jesus, and no one meets Him without passing through the flaming fire. The reason it’s called a hill is that a hill is a high place. Mountains and hills are the same. The hill of death is the mountain of death. God said to Moses:

“And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. And no man shall come up with you, nor let any man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.” Exodus 34:2 (KJV)

Why didn’t God give the Ten Commandments in Moses’ room? Moses had to climb the mountain to meet God. Some want to see God in the flesh, their way. There is a journey to see Him. There is a price to pay to see Him. God told Moses he had to travel alone, no other man or animal should accompany him. Why? They hadn’t paid the price yet. He said, “Moses went up to Mount Sinai.” And Moses began his journey.

The mountain is a difficult zone. Mountains are rugged, barren places, full of demons, full of devils; mountains teem with scorpions, rattlesnakes, and cobras. Mountains are full of deadly reptiles. There are demons to pass through, demons to overcome, there are depressions, oppressions, anger; there are boundaries we must break free from.

The path to the mountain top is the path of crutches, the path of tearing, the path where God’s things are more important than the things of this world. Just as God’s treasures are more important than the material things of this world. God said:

“Moses, until your flesh is crushed in your journey up the mountain, you will not see Me. Come to receive the timely instruction of My nature for I am God. When I speak, the world trembles. When I step out My feet, My footstool is so large that the earth cannot contain it. Heaven can only contain Me when I am seated. But when I stand, My size is above heaven.”

What can contain this God? Nothing! Why do you think money is your need? Why do you think material things of this world are your needs? A lawyer found God, and the law is nothing. A Pharisee found God, and being a Pharisee is nothing. Paul lost his nature and privileges as a Pharisee in order to pursue a God he had encountered and whom no man could explain.

Do you think we’re in a religious institution? Welcome to a dimension where religion doesn’t exist! God is a personal reality to specific individuals. God is not a general reality. God is not a public reality. God reveals Himself in victory. God reveals Himself to a man who seeks Him.

“But without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (KJV):

He said: “If anyone seeks Me with all their heart, I will reward them with Myself.”

God is my reward. Jesus is my reward. What we have believed, what we have seen, what we have known, what we have touched, what we have believed; we know there is a testimony in our heart that He is God, that He is real. Don’t you know there is a journey required to enter God’s Eden?

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32 (KJV)

There must be a building. There must be a journey up to the hill of Zion. There must be a building to be able to claim our inheritance. No one is born again and automatically accesses the Kingdom. No. There must be a building, and the mystery of building is the willingness and ability to present your bodies as a living sacrifice upon your flesh and blood.

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

There are certain realities in God that are empowered; that have been activated. There are dimensions, truths, realities, laws, and principles of the spirit that are empowered and able to take a man to the hill of Zion to access God’s mountains. Because there is a gate to God’s mountains, and that gate is the gate of Golgotha. So a man must be willing to deny the first Adam, which means denying himself; and taking up his cross to nail flesh and blood to pass through the flaming gate of Eden.

These realities should never have been preached twenty or five hundred years ago; they are for now. We thank God for the men who preached and brought us to where we are today, but we have entered a time where milk is no longer the food on the table.

As I teach, you are transported to the gate of Eden to meet the Lord because the Lord has already descended and the gate has opened, but only those who understand the revelation and grasp the revelation will enter Zion.

The cross is the symbol of a spiritual journey that every man in Christ must undertake. It’s a race that every man in Christ must run…

This text is an excerpt from the book THE JOURNEY TO THE HILL OF DEATH written by JOHN ANOSIKE.

We invite you to read the following article: “Deny Yourself.”