When Jesus was baptised by John, John testified to what happened in verse 10 of Mark 1:
Mark 1:10 NKJV And immediately, coming up from the water, He [John] saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Hosting His Presence and said that a significant departure from the Old Testament model on ministry occurred, the Spirit remained on Jesus, but something else happened. As Jesus came out of the water John saw the ‘heavens parting’ and the Spirit descend through an open heaven. The word translated parting is a Greek word that Mark only uses in one other place:
Mark 15:38 NKJV Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The parting of the Heavens that John witnessed was a violent act initiated by God and when the heavens were opened it was never ‘sealed up’ again, they remain open to this day. It is what Isaiah prophesied when he said:
Isaiah 64:1 NKJV Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
Isaiah saw what we now experience, the heavens rent open, the Spirit descending and remaining on His church and the joy of dwelling in His presence in for us. Confirmation of this is found way back in Genesis and the first mention of the ‘House of God’.
Genesis 28:12 NKJV Then he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Genesis 28:17 NKJV And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Jacob saw an open heaven a ladder and angels ascending and descending, seeing this, his only response is an exclamation, “This is an awesome place, the very House of God!” When we position ourselves under an open heaven the best description is ‘this is an awesome place’. Again what Jacob dreamed was a prophetic picture of the New Testament ‘House of God’.
Notice Jesus’ words to Nathaniel. Nathaniel had questioned whether anything good could come from Nazareth and Jesus said he was a man integrity. He asked Jesus, “How come you know me?” Jesus said he saw him sitting under a fig tree and that changed Nathaniel’s perspective, calling Jesus Rabbi and the Son of God. Jesus then said to him:
John 1:50-51 NKJV “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” (51) And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Notice Jesus said Nathaniel would see an open heaven and angels descending, he would see in reality what Jacob dreamed. We live under a much better covenant seeing the reality of what Old testament saints could only dream of!
Let us position ourselves under the open heaven by being a people of worship and praise.
Just a thought
See you in Church
