The open door that no one can shut.
Jesus tells the Church in Philadelphia, “I know your deeds. (Look! I have put in front of you an open door that no one can shut.)…” Revelation 3:8, NET. While still on earth, Jesus assured his followers that he was the door to heaven. Jesus assured them that he did not leave them to face the wicked world alone. “Because you have kept my admonition to endure steadfastly, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” Revelation 3:10, NET. Because of the difficult circumstances, the first-century believers needed assurance that Jesus kept the door to heaven open for all to enter. Perhaps John longed to see if the door to heaven was open to all. Maybe this is why, as we shall see later, he looked to the sky to see if the door to heaven was open. An unstated question comes to the mind of the readers. Why was the way to heaven closed for humankind?
Because of our sin in the Garden of Eden, we lost the freedom and the right to approach the heavenly Father without an intermediary. Our sin erected a barrier between us and God, which we could not overcome. “Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you; his ear is not too deaf to hear you. But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.” Isaiah 59:1 – 2, NET. God, to enable us to approach him freely, removed our sin from us. “For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,” Romans 8:3, NET. By having his Son suffer the Cross of Christ, God removed our sin from us and qualified us to enter the Most Holy without fear, in prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.
What, or Who is the open door? Jesus answered, “I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come and go out, and find pasture.” John 10:9, NET. The curtain separating the Most Holy chamber from the rest of the temple split in two when Jesus died on the cross. The splitting of the curtain symbolized that the pierced body of Jesus Christ opened the door to heaven. “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh.” Hebrews 10:19 – 20, NET. Apostle Paul maintains that Jesus inaugurated or established a reality that did not have prior existence or precedence. The Cross of Christ brought to reality a genuinely new circumstance, a new way. Now, the door to God stands open forever for all who want to come into his presence through Jesus Christ.
Jesus returns to the Father to open the door. Next blog.
How do I make it to heaven?
The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. When you are convinced, as Apostle Paul said, I was crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; then you are in heaven IN Jesus Christ. When you accept that the death of Jesus is your death, his resurrection is your resurrection, and his life is your life. When so, the heaven is guaranteed.
God bless you, and best wishes to you.
Dan