"He that openeth, and no man shutteth" (Rev 3:7).
1. Christ, as the Convincer of sins, opens our eyes to see ourselves. "I the Lord have called Thee (Christ) in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes" (Isa 42:6-7).
2. Christ as the Deliverer from sin: He opened the prison-house of sin and gave us liberty. The first time that Christ preached in the Synagogue at Nazareth, He opened the book or scroll of the Scriptures, and turned to the place having reference to Himself as the Deliverer, and said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives" (Luk 4:18). As He delivered Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh, so He has delivered us out of the power of the god of this world. As He delivered Peter out of prison, so He has delivered us out of the prison-house of sin, and brought us into the glorious liberty of the Gospel.
3. He opens the heart to receive Himself as the possessor. We read in Act 16:14, how He opened Lydia's heart. Again our Lord says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me" (Rev 3:20).
4. He opens our understanding by opening the Scriptures to us, as the Teacher. When Christ appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, in the upper room, we read that "He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures." Also the confession of the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus was, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" (Luk 24:32, 45).
5. He has opened the sources of heaven for our supply. "He opened the rock and the waters gushed out" (Psa 105:41); "Thou openest Thy hand, they are filled with good" (Psa 104:28).