Keys To Open Heaven

The Bible says, when Jesus was baptised in the spirit, in the river of Jordan, heaven opened for him. This means that Jesus lived in an era of open heavens. There are certain keys that Jesus used to open and access the heavens.

Isaiah 64:1-2 says, ‘Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!’
 
A powerful prayer that we always make in times of crisis is ‘Oh Lord, how I wish you would tear down the heavens and come down to us’. Before the Lord, the mountains will tremble and the nations will quake. We especially wish this when we see and hear the atrocities in the world and the false accusations made against our Lord and Saviour. 
In such instances we wish he would come and reveal himself to the world. 

Matthew 3:13-17 says, ‘13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

We don’t know a lot about Jesus’s life on Earth till the age of 12. From the age of 12 to 30, Jesus was known as the carpenter's son who helped his father and a boy that followed and obeyed his parents. At the age of 30 there is a big shift in Jesus’s life as he steps into his calling, his purpose in life on Earth. Jesus travels from Galilee to Jordan just when John the Baptist was spreading the gospel of the good news and lighting the fire of a big revival. John the Baptist tells Jesus that he wants to be baptised by the Lord, instead the Saviour of the world is coming to him. This is because John the Baptist recognised the glory of Jesus and the Spirit that dwelled in him.

John the Baptist then baptised Jesus when the doors of heavens opened. This shows utter humility. Jesus was a sinless lamb, devoid of any sin or mistake of the world. He bowed down before a man of the world, John the Baptist to be baptised and cleansed. If you think about it, the creator of the world bowed down before a mere mortal, his creation to be baptised and infilled by the Holy Spirit.
 
So many people around us are against getting baptised as an adult after they get baptised as children. Why are we so stubborn? If the creator of the world could humble himself before his creation to get baptised and infilled with the Holy Spirit, why are we stuck up and stubborn in our ways? 

Naman was a big leader in the army, a man of great influence. While on the outside people rendered him with respect because of his power and position, on the inside he was crippled with leprosy. God doesn’t look at our outward appearance, he looks at our inside and if we reek of jealousy, anger and sin then our outward appearance simply does not matter. 

When Jesus was baptised the heavens opened and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him like a dove. As verse 17 says, ‘And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”’ In this instance all three personalities from the Holy Trinity are being revealed; one is Jesus Christ who has taken the mortal body on Earth, second is the Holy Spirit who descends upon Jesus as a dove and thirdly Lord the Father whose voice is heard from the heavens. The Holy Trinity is then revealed. 

Mark 1:10 says, ‘Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.’

This same instance is written slightly differently in the book of Mark. It’s written that the heavens tore open and the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. Two supernatural things happened in this baptism; firstly the dove of Spirit came down and secondly the voice of God was heard. Word and Spirit are intertwined. They are wedded, welded and move together. This team should also abide in us.

‘Torn open’ means violently ripped open. Tearing open clothes when feeling overwhelming happiness or sadness was a very common practice at the time. Similarly when Jesus was baptised in the Jordan, the heavens tore open, violently. The heavens tore open in an irreparable way. We see a similar usage of the phrase ‘tore’ when Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary where the veil of the temple tore in an irreplaceable way. The veil being torn symbolised how the holy of holies was no longer restricted for high priests and also showcased how Jesus was the path to life and there was no need for intermediaries.
The lamb of God, Jesus, humbled and was baptised by a mortal man. His humility and submissiveness tore open the heavens in an irreplaceable way. Jesus opened heavens for him and for us. It is through this that we are sanctified and become custodians of the blessings from heaven.