Previously, we discussed how God opens our ears to hear him knocking on the door of our hearts and how he enables us to get up and answer the door (Rev 3:19-20). This indicates that salvation is a sovereign, gracious, and loving act of God. 
When I was a young teen life was good. Sports was a large part of my life, as were friendships. My life appeared full, fun, and endless. God’s was calling me to himself, but I was too busy to hear that call. He was knocking on the door of my heart, however, the busy activities of a young man were knocking more loudly and distracting me from any sense of my spiritual emptiness.
God initiates redemption by coming to the door uninvited. And, because he loves us he rebukes and disciplines those he loves. His chastisement is a good thing in that it reveals his fatherly love to protect his children from evil’s effects. God loves the Laodiceans before they expressed love to him or returned to him. Jesus initiates the encounter with them as he does with us. He comes to us before we come to him. He doesn’t leave us spiritual orphans but comes to the door of our hearts and knocks (vs 20).
Jesus is standing at the door and knocking
William Holman Hunt painted a classic picture (1853) of Jesus holding a lantern in one hand and knocking at an entrance door to a house with his other hand. The door is unkempt and covered with overgrown weeds. It doesn’t appear to have been opened to anyone for quite a while. Jesus is wearing a royal robe indicating he comes as a king. His crown is made of thorns indicating the price he paid to be the Lord. The lantern illuminates the door and the face of Jesus who is not looking at the door but at us as we look at the painting. It’s a masterfully done painting of the personal call of Jesus to receive him as Lord. Jesus has a deep concern for our eternal destiny.
Jesus comes to the door uninvited. Solomon used the image of someone knocking on a door unannounced to describe a lover’s heart awakening from sleep to discover her lover knocking at the door (Song 5:2). His knock awakens her heart to want him above all earthly distractions. Jesus isn’t a door-to-door salesman or a police officer issuing a summons to court. This is an intimate, personal invitation to live in fellowship with him.
What should be our response to his knock on our heart? It shouldn’t be fear or hesitating to open the door. It should be to hear the knocking, run to the door, and open it. The door is a figurative image bringing attention to an individual’s response to Christ’s call to confess him as Lord (Lk 12:36). Jesus is the master who comes to us. The proper response is to immediately open the door and let him into our hearts. Why? Because the one on the other side of the door is a person who deeply loves us.
The Holy Spirit is calling people to follow Jesus. And when the knock is heard we are to let Jesus’ Spirit into our hearts. So many people hear the knock but only look through the peephole to see who’s knocking. Few actually let Jesus in and confess him as Lord.
We are responsible to answer the knock
Opening the door is the responsibility of the homeowner. It’s his door. He must hear the knock and get up to open the door. Surprisingly, the hearing of the gospel message and the ability to answer the door are actually acts initiated by God’s Spirit. Scripture teaches that we are dead in our sins (Eph 2:1-5). We don’t have the ability to respond to the knocking. Dead people can’t hear any more than they can get up and open a door. It is God’s Spirit who awakens us. Like Solomon’s lover being awakened from slumber by her lover’s knock, so we are made alive and empowered by God to hear and respond to his call.
Jesus calls everyone to repent and believe. These are active verbs. We are to do more than simply acknowledge that Jesus is the Savior. We are to repent for leaving him outside of our lives after we have heard the knock. And, we are to live in fellowship with him every day; convinced that life with him as Lord is better than life without him.
Where are you in this image of the door to heaven? Have you heard Jesus knocking but have chosen not to get up and let him into your life? Have you heard the knock and gone to the door to see who wants your attention but haven’t opened the door? It’s good you heard the knock and went to the door. These are signs of the Spirit’s initial involvement in your life. But they’re not indications you’ve gained entrance into heaven. We must respond to the divine call if we expect to walk through heaven’s gates. The key to entering heaven is simple to understand, but beyond our abilities (remember, we are dead in our sins).
Our house is not in order
According to the Bible, we are not living comfortably in our own house, relaxing in our favorite recliner, watching our beloved situation comedy, and having a beer. Our house has a dreadful stench. We died in that chair days, weeks, months ago. We’ve been living in spiritual death for a long time. When Jesus’ Spirit comes into our hearts he spiritually awakens us to Jesus and makes us alive to God.
In order to hear Jesus’ knock and have the strength to welcome him into our lives, the Spirit of God must first awaken us from a spiritual death that is intoxicating and imprisoning. When our hearts are awakened to the stench of our sins, the right response is to repent of those sins and believe in the Lord Jesus to forgive us. Redemption means to live by the power of his righteousness and to allow his Spirit to transform our character into the holy qualities Jesus possesses. Proof Jesus is in the house is that we desire to honor him in all we think, do, see, desire, and strive for.
