Often people looking for employment will say … “A door will open for me.” It’s great to have confidence, believing things will turn out better for you. On the other hand, many hope without anything happening! No doors open. Today and tomorrow I would to show you a few doors that have opened for all those who will come to the Lord Jesus through faith, because of God’s grace.
1) The Lord Jesus opens the scriptures.
I recall a sincere man saying to me in the early 1980’s that he understands the Scriptures … yet he was decidedly not a believer. The man was a morally good man, a good husband and a great dad. He was a voracious reader (bookworm). He had leant over many years of reading to analyze sentences, paragraphs, whole chapters and entire books. For him it was easy to pick up a thread or get the intent of the author. That is certainly a great quality, but when it comes to the Bible it’s very different. The construction, intent and message of the Bible cannot be grasped until one understands that it is one message with one purpose by one supreme author … and to get this, you need to know the author personally.
Take an example from just one post resurrection account of the Lord Jesus. Remember nothing Jesus did was by accident or coincident. Everything He did was on purpose and for a reason. Luke 24:13-35 occurred for a reason. Two of Jesus’ disciples were on their way to Emmaus after Jesus’ death and burial. They were confused and everyone else was because they expected Jesus to be the Messiah … and who wants a dead Messiah? They discussed their disappointment as we clearly see at the end of verse 17 … “They stood still, their faces downcast.” This stranger (The Risen Christ) approached them and started talking with them. Not knowing this was Jesus they poured out their hearts as to what had happened over the past few days. After listening to their accurate report, this stranger says to them:
Lk 24:25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Still not knowing who this was He lands up going into Emmaus with them and over a meal, He broke bread as He has done at the Last Supper … and disappeared from sight.
Luke 24:31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
These men were in the same boat as the voracious reader I spoke about. They had a good grasp of the academic history and expectation of Messiah and what He would be like … but they never understood the Scriptures because they were spiritually blind. Jesus needed to “open the Scriptures” for them by opening “their eyes”. This was a spiritual experience granting them the ability to understand the message of the Bible and the fulfilment of the prophecy about Messiah’s Penal Substitutional Sacrifice. This is why it is so dangerous to attempt to grasp the meaning of Scripture until the Author of Scripture is known personally. It’s by His Spirit that He and He alone opens spiritual eyes to see and understand the message of the Bible! Have your spiritual eyes been opened yet? When you read the Bible or when you hear it expounded, does it make sense because Jesus has opened your spiritual vision?
2) The Lord Jesus opens heaven.
For many years (about 400 years) heaven’s door was shut to the Jews. This was roughly the period between Malachi and Matthew (The Incarnation). If Jesus opened heaven’s door, when did He do so? Never forget that the Redemptive Purpose of God is owned by the Father, Son and Spirit. So at Jesus’ baptism we note the Triune God in action.
Lk 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Having said that it seems as though through prayer Jesus opened heaven and what followed could be seen as His ordination or the Father’s approval upon The Son and the ministry that would follow. In John’s vision he sees heaven standing open:
Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
The imagery in the picture in this passage is of a victorious warrior King. Consider His all-seeing eyes and His supreme authority in verse 12 with His Blood stained robe in verse 13 followed by His name … “The Word of God”. We know from John 1:1-18 that The Word of God is the Lord Jesus, God the Son. Right here we see how heaven was opened … by His Blood! Not only did and does Jesus open the Scriptures to the serious soul, He has opened heaven’s door, by His Blood Sacrifice for all who will enter heaven through faith in His redeeming work at Calvary. Is it not awesome that our Lord opens our eyes to the Truth about Him in Scripture and that He has opened Heaven for our eternal rest? To know the Scriptures you need to know Jesus and to enter heaven you need to know Jesus. He is the Alpha and Omega … the first and last letter of the Greek Alphabet … meaning in Him everything for salvation is to be found. Are you confident that Jesus opened heaven for you personally?
Lord Jesus Christ, how humbled we are as we consider that everything to with salvation is about You. Without You salvation is meaningless and useless. Thank You that You are the all in all for our salvation. Amen