Do the Heavens Open?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:13–17
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Matthew 3:16–17.
Do the Heavens Open?
There are many instances in the Bible where the supernatural happened and the heavens opened. They opened for Jesus after His baptism in Matthew 3. They opened for the children of Israel and manna came down and fed them in Exodus 16:4. God Almighty assures Christians that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing than they have room enough to receive, if they bring their tithes into his house, Malachi 3:10. Jacob experienced a vision in which he saw a ladder go up to heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it, Genesis 28:12. The disciples at Pentecost received the baptism of the Holy Spirit when the heavens opened and a sound of a rushing mighty wind came and there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat on each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, Acts 2:2–4. From the aforementioned, a Christian can say with certainty that the heavens do open and pour out blessings into the lives of those God chooses to favour.
Let us look at the dimension of open heavens as it relates to the example of Jesus. The key to this open heaven is in the fulfilment of all righteousness. Our Lord Jesus, understanding that baptism was required, came to Galilee, to Jordan to John to be baptized. Matthew 3:14–15 says that John forbade Him saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” John recognized that Jesus was Lord and said that he I could not baptize his Lord; rather, “I have need to be baptized of thee.” But Jesus recognized order and respected position in the Kingdom of God and said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” Matthew 3:15. The important phrase is that it becomes us. When something becomes us, it decorates us. Many of us are not as decorated in the Lord as we ought to be because we are not fulfilling all righteousness. Some of us obey sixty to seventy percent and we are not as lovely as we ought to be. But our Lord Jesus, in the wisdom that God has given to Him that He wants us to enjoy says that it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. He is then baptized and immediately, “went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him,” verse 16.
When we do the right thing and fulfill all righteousness heaven opens. Are you fulfilling all righteousness? Can the heavens open and the Spirit of God come and dwell in you because He will not be hearing gossip, slander, contentions, conniving, and evil planning? Father Almighty, help us to upgrade so that the heavens will open to us in a new dimension: in the dimension of spiritual empowerment. I pray that the Spirit of God will descend upon us and cause us to be the best we ought to be.
The Bible says, “lo,” again, meaning to come quickly to see a new wonder. It continues, “…a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Matthew 3:17. This third dimension of opened heavens brought spiritual empowerment to our Lord Jesus by the voice of God, the voice of affirmation. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if when you are doing the right thing in God’s Kingdom, the voice of God is heard by many saying, lo, hear this, this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased?
A beloved child is one who is actively in love with and doing the right thing for the Lord God Almighty. God will speak for you when you are His beloved. And His beloved are usually anointed, which means the Holy Spirit is dwelling in them. If you are His beloved, the Holy Spirit is comfortable in you and you will be anointed. The voice of God will say, touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm. That is the voice of God echoing for those who will fulfill all righteousness and experience open heavens in this dimension of spiritual empowerment. This is the divine affirmation of the voice of God speaking on your behalf.
Prayer Points:
I pray today that God will baptize you in Him; that God will open the heavens for you and pour “manna” into your life in the name of Jesus. O Lord, how we long to swim in that river, to flow in that dimension with you. How we long for your voice to confirm our work with you, for your Spirit to be comfortable in us. Father, we pray that you will give us the grace to tithe, that you will give us the blessing of tithers as stated in Malachi 3:10. May we see open heavens and visions in our dreams. Father, give us a personal Pentecost experience, that the heavens will open and fill our hearts with the Holy Ghost. Amen.
