I tell you the
truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on
the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and earth. (John 1:51
NLT)
Christ risen means an open heaven. The Spirit
of the Anointing comes upon us because the crucified One is risen. He comes to
us out of an open heaven which the Son of God has opened for us.... The Lord
Jesus said: “When He, the Spirit... is come, He shall guide you into all the
truth.” And John confirms this in saying: “The anointing which ye
received... teaches you concerning all things.” That is represented by the
angels ascending and descending. The Holy Spirit is communicating with us, but
Christ is the ladder, reaching from earth to heaven. Where is that ladder? It is
not in the world. The ladder is set up in our hearts. It is Christ in our
hearts. There is an open way from heaven in our hearts, Christ Himself, leading
us into the very presence of God. The Holy Spirit moves in relation to Christ to
bring us into communion with Christ, just as Christ is in communion with His
Father.
The all-sufficiency of Christ is secured for us
on that basis. We are in the heavenlies, because Christ is in us. If joined to
His person the limitations are gone. There is a direct and immediate communion
with God, and the Holy Spirit can reveal to us heavenly things. Thus we
understand what it means to receive everything directly from God in Christ.
Christ in us means an inward knowledge of God, a heart-relationship with Him. It
is an inward life from God, an inward power of God. But that is a mystery which
the world does not and cannot know. It cannot understand that our Lord Jesus was
willing to accept exactly the same basis of life with its limitation in which we
live, although without sin. Yet, in fellowship with His Father, He continually
broke through these limitations, and overcame them in drawing all His provision,
all the fullness from His Father alone. His sufficiency was in His Father. So we are called to live, by the Spirit, a life
triumphant over all our weaknesses, a life where Christ is everything, and where
His victory is our victory. The work of the Cross is finished. The veil is rent.
The way is open. Thus Christ risen in heaven means for us an open heaven where
everything is possible for us in Christ, that we may glorify Him!