An Open Heaven

Visitation

Secondly, let us consider visitation. An open heaven occurs during turning points of history to increase Christ’s kingdom in the earth.

At the commencement of Jesus’ public ministry he was baptised and as “he went up out of the water… heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, `This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased’”(Mtt 3:16, 17).

As the prototype Son this foreshadows a moment in history when the corporate Son, the church, reaches the fullness of Christ’s stature—maturity (see Ephesians 4:11-13). The heavens will increasingly open over the corporate Christ in greater seasons of divine visitation and blessing as it approaches this time. Already, through increased manifestations of his glory, the Father is beginning to declare, “Hey, this is my boy — this is my church, this is the corporate Christ, in whom I’m pleased!”

Read More: 3 Versus to Help you Find Renewal in Jesus

Just as “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who then went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” (Acts 10:38) he will also anoint the corporate Christ with even greater effect; for he has promised, “greater works shall you do because I go to the Father” (Jn 14:12).

The heavens were also opened when Stephen was killed as the first martyr: “Stephen full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. `Look,’ he said, `I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’”(Acts 7:55, 56). At this the members of the Sanhedrin covered their ears screaming and rushed upon him, stoning him to death. Religious spirits will always resist an open heaven. But immediately the church was scattered from Jerusalem through the persecution and the word spread into Judea and Samaria. Through an open heaven the kingdom is always increased.

When it was time for the gospel to go out to the Gentiles the heavens were opened again. Peter, falling into a trance “saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners” (see Acts 10:9-23). Through this open-heaven revelation, the door opened to the Gentiles. Peter was shown that he was not to declare unclean what God had declared clean. A whole new chapter of God’s purpose for the earth began.

This generation has been called to live under an open heaven. Never before has the door to the Gentiles been as open as it is right now. This is the time to press into God for an open-heaven revelation and outpouring—for an increase of the supernatural so that the “fullness of the Gentiles may come” (Rom 11:25).