NEWS Depicting an Open Heaven
This morning a picture emerged in my mind that illustrates the power of an open heaven. I am going to try describe the picture for you in my blog.
There are two pieces to the picture. For simplicity, let's label them as such:
1. An Open Heaven
2. A Closed Heaven
I would like to begin with number 1, an open heaven and focus on that today. I will describe a closed heaven in another blog in the near future. Here's the picture:
At the top of the picture, we have the Trinity:
The Trinity is in the heavenlies. They are One. The Ekklesia - the Church Jesus is building - is in the heavenly realm. The Ekklesia extends from heaven to our hearts here on earth. We are living stones in the Ekkleisa.
"and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
Now, let's draw a line down from the Trinity to a heart to depict an open heaven. Here's what we have:
As you can see from the diagram above, there is nothing standing in the way of our hearts and the Holy Spirit. It is a pure connection. Following Jesus requires a pure connection to the Holy Spirit, for as the Lord says:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)
An open heaven is a pure connection between our hearts and Christ via the Holy Spirit. There is nothing standing in the way of our relationship with Jesus. There are no barriers - no religion and no religious things. It is a clean connection - pure as pure can be.
Powerful, isn't it? This explains why the Lord told His disciples:
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
Without the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, there is no power and there is no witnessing. There cannot be any Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) without the Spirit. The Spirit is what connects us to the vine, which is Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no spiritual connection to Christ. There are only dead works in the name of Christ. And, sadly, there are plenty of those in modern day Christianity.
Think of Saul of Tarsus for a moment. He was a devout religious man. A proud Pharisee. A keeper of the law. Saul new the Old Testament inside and out. He was a man of God. But there was something missing - something vital. Something that prevented Saul from truly connecting with God despite his religious training and credentials.
What was missing?
There was no open heaven for Saul. There was no spiritual connection to Christ, only a closed heaven. Until that blessed day when Saul saw Christ through revelation on the road to Damascus, there was a religious man devoid of the fruit of the Spirit.
The difference was like night and day.
After his revelation of Christ, Saul's entire system of religion collapsed. His religious credentials went out the door, although the Lord used Saul's knowledge of the Old Testament to illuminate Christ, Saul saw the Scriptures in an entirely new light. He saw Christ in full glory. He had what the Greeks called 'epignosis' - full knowledge.
Saul's heart was utterly transformed following his revelation of Christ. Once an enemy of Jesus - a religious man that presided over the stoning of followers of Jesus - he became a tremendous light for Christ. The light of Christ shined brightly in Saul's heart. So much so that Saul of Tarsus was transformed into Saint Paul.
That's the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. That's what an open heaven does. It transforms religious-based hate, darkness and death into Spiritual-based love, light and life.
Saul could have never written 1 Corinthians 13 without the Holy Spirit. Never in a billion years. It took a new heart - the heart of Christ - to utter those beautiful words. And just as it took a new heart to utter those words, it requires a new heart - an open heaven - to fully understand what those words mean.
The truth is you cannot comprehend fully the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 until you are blessed with the Holy Spirit and have an open heaven. When you are blessed with the Spirit, you will understand instantaneously and without a shred of doubt in your mind that Paul is describing Christ.
We see Christ in 1 Corinthians 13. He is love - true love. A love that has no rival in the universe. A love that never fails.
An open heaven reveals Christ as never-failing love.
Oh, the power in that revelation! It's a life-changing thing. It changes everything!
Once you see Christ as love, religion and all religious things in the world fall away, just as they did for Saul of Tarsus. A closed heaven becomes an open heaven. The Spirit becomes the guiding light in our lives. We become less dependent on "correct" teachings, pastors, priests, ministers, small groups, addresses, etc. Not that these things are unimportant, ineffective, or unproductive, mind you. But they become of lesser importance because you have direct access to Christ through the Spirit.
With an open heaven, the Spirit is our Instructor. He becomes the Ultimate Guiding Light.
Blessed with the Spirit, we desire more of Christ and less of ourselves each passing day. We endure the pain of the Cross daily and rid ourselves of the past in order to fill our hearts with more of his never-failing love and Spiritual fruit.
He is love. He is joy. He is peace. He is patience. He is gentle. He is kind. He is good. He is faithful. He is truth. He is righteous. He is all these things and more.
The truth is we cannot fathom the depths of Christ. We can only know Him in part.
Paul ended his description of God's love with this passage:
"Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
An open heaven will lead you directly to the heart of God. With an open heaven, you will see Christ. You will see Him as love - the greatest...
May nothing stand in the way of your heart and Christ.
Agape,
Steve
There are two pieces to the picture. For simplicity, let's label them as such:
1. An Open Heaven
2. A Closed Heaven
I would like to begin with number 1, an open heaven and focus on that today. I will describe a closed heaven in another blog in the near future. Here's the picture:
At the top of the picture, we have the Trinity:
GOD = CHRIST
HOLY SPIRIT
HOLY SPIRIT
The Trinity is in the heavenlies. They are One. The Ekklesia - the Church Jesus is building - is in the heavenly realm. The Ekklesia extends from heaven to our hearts here on earth. We are living stones in the Ekkleisa.
"and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
Now, let's draw a line down from the Trinity to a heart to depict an open heaven. Here's what we have:
HOLY SPIRIT
(An Open Heaven)
Our heart
(spirit -> soul -> body)
(An Open Heaven)
Our heart
(spirit -> soul -> body)
As you can see from the diagram above, there is nothing standing in the way of our hearts and the Holy Spirit. It is a pure connection. Following Jesus requires a pure connection to the Holy Spirit, for as the Lord says:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)
An open heaven is a pure connection between our hearts and Christ via the Holy Spirit. There is nothing standing in the way of our relationship with Jesus. There are no barriers - no religion and no religious things. It is a clean connection - pure as pure can be.
Powerful, isn't it? This explains why the Lord told His disciples:
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
Without the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, there is no power and there is no witnessing. There cannot be any Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) without the Spirit. The Spirit is what connects us to the vine, which is Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no spiritual connection to Christ. There are only dead works in the name of Christ. And, sadly, there are plenty of those in modern day Christianity.
Think of Saul of Tarsus for a moment. He was a devout religious man. A proud Pharisee. A keeper of the law. Saul new the Old Testament inside and out. He was a man of God. But there was something missing - something vital. Something that prevented Saul from truly connecting with God despite his religious training and credentials.
What was missing?
There was no open heaven for Saul. There was no spiritual connection to Christ, only a closed heaven. Until that blessed day when Saul saw Christ through revelation on the road to Damascus, there was a religious man devoid of the fruit of the Spirit.
The difference was like night and day.
After his revelation of Christ, Saul's entire system of religion collapsed. His religious credentials went out the door, although the Lord used Saul's knowledge of the Old Testament to illuminate Christ, Saul saw the Scriptures in an entirely new light. He saw Christ in full glory. He had what the Greeks called 'epignosis' - full knowledge.
Saul's heart was utterly transformed following his revelation of Christ. Once an enemy of Jesus - a religious man that presided over the stoning of followers of Jesus - he became a tremendous light for Christ. The light of Christ shined brightly in Saul's heart. So much so that Saul of Tarsus was transformed into Saint Paul.
That's the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. That's what an open heaven does. It transforms religious-based hate, darkness and death into Spiritual-based love, light and life.
Saul could have never written 1 Corinthians 13 without the Holy Spirit. Never in a billion years. It took a new heart - the heart of Christ - to utter those beautiful words. And just as it took a new heart to utter those words, it requires a new heart - an open heaven - to fully understand what those words mean.
The truth is you cannot comprehend fully the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 until you are blessed with the Holy Spirit and have an open heaven. When you are blessed with the Spirit, you will understand instantaneously and without a shred of doubt in your mind that Paul is describing Christ.
We see Christ in 1 Corinthians 13. He is love - true love. A love that has no rival in the universe. A love that never fails.
An open heaven reveals Christ as never-failing love.
Oh, the power in that revelation! It's a life-changing thing. It changes everything!
Once you see Christ as love, religion and all religious things in the world fall away, just as they did for Saul of Tarsus. A closed heaven becomes an open heaven. The Spirit becomes the guiding light in our lives. We become less dependent on "correct" teachings, pastors, priests, ministers, small groups, addresses, etc. Not that these things are unimportant, ineffective, or unproductive, mind you. But they become of lesser importance because you have direct access to Christ through the Spirit.
With an open heaven, the Spirit is our Instructor. He becomes the Ultimate Guiding Light.
Blessed with the Spirit, we desire more of Christ and less of ourselves each passing day. We endure the pain of the Cross daily and rid ourselves of the past in order to fill our hearts with more of his never-failing love and Spiritual fruit.
He is love. He is joy. He is peace. He is patience. He is gentle. He is kind. He is good. He is faithful. He is truth. He is righteous. He is all these things and more.
The truth is we cannot fathom the depths of Christ. We can only know Him in part.
Paul ended his description of God's love with this passage:
"Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
An open heaven will lead you directly to the heart of God. With an open heaven, you will see Christ. You will see Him as love - the greatest...
May nothing stand in the way of your heart and Christ.
Agape,
Steve
posted by Steve at
9:33 AM
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