I Will Rejoice

Stephen died for his faith. Because Stephen performed signs in Jesus’ name and shared the gospel, some of the Jews seized him and testified against him.

Instead of defending himself, Stephen took the opportunity to share God’s story. And then he called the Sanhedrin (probably some of the same Jewish religious leaders who sentenced Jesus to death) stiff-necked and stubborn, and he accused them of murdering the promised Messiah.

At Stephen’s words, the enraged members of the Sanhedrin rushed to stone him. Stephen became the first Christian martyr, killed for following Jesus.

But Stephen did not falter in his last moments. Stephen’s story contains a beautiful statement in Acts 7:56, when Stephen said, “Look…I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.â€

Stephen saw heaven open. Few people in Scripture got to see heaven open up. Heaven opened for the prophet Elijah when God took him up on a chariot of fire and for other prophets as they experienced visions of God. It opened for Jesus after He was baptized and God declared that Jesus is His beloved Son. And heaven opened for Stephen, a man about to be martyred—and yet, a man with hope and forgiveness on his tongue until his last breath (Acts 7:60).

We might not see heaven open the same way Stephen did, but we can still live knowing heaven is open to everyone who puts their trust in Jesus, because He has removed every barrier between us and God (Matthew 27:51; Romans 8:34-39). God is with us and He loves us. He has adopted us into His family. He invites us into great faith, much like the faith of Stephen.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, empowering us to surrender to complete trust and faith in Jesus. We can believe in things we don’t see. We can experience the goodness and radiance of the God who opens the heavens, because He is with us here, now. And one day, when God restores the earth, we will experience that glory in a whole new way. • Becca Wierwille

• Do Stephen’s actions and reactions surprise you? Why or why not?

• What might it mean to live like heaven is open?

“Look,†he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.†Acts 7:56 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Habakkuk 3:17-19; Romans 5:1-5; James 1:1-3