Jesus the Ladder
December 31, 2023      |     By: Jonathan Brickley      |      Category: Sermons      |      Location: El Dorado
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Jonathan finishes up 2023 with a word from Genesis 28. Jacob dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven, and called the place Bethel - “house of God”. From Genesis to Revelation, God communicates His desire to have a “house” on the earth and dwell with man forever (Revelation 21:3). Jesus - the “Ladder” in Jacob’s dream (John 1:51) - is the connection point on the earth.  Our spirit man is now our “Bethel”. When we turn (repent) inwardly to our spirit, we encounter an open heaven, transformation, anointing, and the building up of the house of God (the church) on earth!

Genesis 28:10-22 (NIV)
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear
21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God
22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

God’s Revelation:  “I Want Heaven on Earth. I Want My House Here!”

From Garden of Eden to Revelation 21:3

Revelation 21:3 (NIV)
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

“God is determined to come out from all that vast unknowable, inaccessible, eternal realm and presence Himself, make Himself known, make Himself accessible in a house or dwelling place.”
- T. Austin Sparks

God WANTS to dwell here on the Earth
- Tabernacle in Wilderness
- David’s Desire for a Temple
- Solomon’s Temple
- Babylon destroys
- 70 Years Later Rebuilt
- Then God In Flesh / Emmanuel Comes

The House is not “IT” but “HIM”

John 2:19 (NIV)
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

Individually - Christ sown / died. Then resurrected.
Corporately - Christ becomes (in us/ His Church) the House

Ephesians 2:21-22 (NIV)
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jacob's Dream
- Stone = Place of Rest that became the house of God / Bethel
- Stone = Pillar the support for God’s building
- Oil poured on the stone = signifying Holy Spirit poured out making us one with God & anointing us

Center-point of Jacob's dream is the Ladder

Man had attempted his own Stairway to Heaven (Tower of Babel)

Christ says “I AM THE WAY!”

Jesus Joins Heaven to Earth

John 1:49-51 (NIV)
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”
51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Free & complete access to the throne of God via His Son

The “base” on earth where the heavenly ladder rests is the Temple of our Spirit Man

Whenever we TURN to our spirit, we experience Christ’s life now - bringing God to us and us to God.

Where the Ladder is, there is:
- An open heaven
- Transformed man
- Anointing upon this man
- The building up of the house of God with that man

Result = Bethel / the Church
Final Consummation = The New Jerusalem

Turning implies Repentance

We turn to the Lord / the Ladder within

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NIV)
16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.