We Would SEE Jesus

In my previous post I looked at our spiritual blindness, a fatal condition that afflicts all mankind as a result of our willful suppression of the truth of the knowledge of the glory of God, of the beauty, the majesty, the infinite perfections of His being, which mankind was created to behold, experience, enjoy, and image in our being, such that God alone would be the desire of our heart and the delight of our soul, the object of our deepest love and source of our greatest joy (Romans 1:18-22).

The Bible reveals that mankind, beginning with Adam and Eve, has exchanged this truth for the lie of the devil, which is essentially that God is irrelevant, inconsequential and unnecessary to our happiness and well-being; that we can determine for ourselves, right and wrong, good and evil – that which will result in human flourishing and our individual happiness, and through human wisdom, skill and ingenuity bring it to pass (Romans 1:24-25) (Genesis 3:4-5).

Despite the undeniable evidence of the glory of God found in nature (Psalm 19:1-6) and in our very existence, man strives to conceal from our own mind, and the minds of those around us, the truth of God as creator and sustainer of life.  We suppress this knowledge of God as the one in whom we live and move and have our very being, the one who holds every  breath we take in His hands, the one who is the source of all goodness, who owns order and numbers our days and who at the end of those days requires we give to Him an account for how we have lived those days for the purpose for which we were created – His glory (Psalm 139:16) (Daniel 5:23) (James 1:16-17) (Hebrews 9:27) (Isaiah 43:7).

Thus, mankind strives diligently to put God out of our mind, even to the denial of His very existence (Psalm 10:4) (Psalm 14:1-3).  And God, in judgement, allows us to do so (Romans 1:28-32) (1 Corinthians 2:14) to where our understanding of the glorious truth about God is no longer possible without a supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit in our hearts (Isaiah 6:9-10) (John 3:3-8).

As a result, we live in this world entrenched in spiritual darkness (Isaiah 8:22) (Proverbs 4:19), what the Bible refers to in Colossians 1:13 as “the kingdom of darkness”, a kingdom ruled by the one referred to in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as the “god of this world/age”, namely the devil, who blinds us to the truth of the glory of God as he incites our lusts, the God-opposing desires that fill our hearts, such that even many who say they believe in God, live their lives in this world as if He doesn’t exist (Ephesians 4:22).

Thus, we live in a world, in the words of John Piper, in which the glory of God is not proclaimed, the greatness of God is not praised and admired, the beauty of God is not savored and enjoyed, and the goodness of God is not acknowledged with gratitude and thanksgiving.  It is a world in which the love of God is not treasured, the word and wisdom of God is not prized, the commandments of God are not obeyed, and the promises of God are not believed.  It is a world where the grace and mercy of God are not cherished, because the justice of God is not respected.  And the justice of God is not respected because the wrath and judgment of God are not feared.  It is a world where the presence of God is not desired, and the person of God is not loved and adored as He deserves and commands (Matthew 22:33-40). Instead, the most glorious, most desirable, most excellent of all Beings, the Creator and Sovereign ruler of the universe, is despised and disdained, dishonored and disrespected, disobeyed and disbelieved by everyone in the world to varying degrees.

As a result, we live in a world that is perishing under the wrath and judgment of God – a world that will one day be obliterated along with everything mankind lusted after in our prideful and foolish pursuit of our joy, our pleasure and satisfaction, our significance and security in this sin corrupted world independent from God and in opposition to God (Romans 1:18) (1 John 2:16-17) (2 Peter 3:10-11).  

But God, who is rich in mercy, who delights in displaying mercy, because of the great love He has for His rebellious image bearers, planned from the foundation of the world to send into this sin darkened world His eternally beloved Son in the form of the man, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-7) (Micah 7:18-19) (John 3:16).

It would be through the Son’s sinless life, substitutionary death on the cross and miraculous resurrection that God would bring into this world the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). In Jesus, God would, among His many spiritual blessings, restore spiritual sight to spiritually blind sinners, in order to turn us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and an eternal inheritance in the “kingdom of light” with all who put their faith in Him (Luke 4:16-18) (Acts 26:18) (Colossians 1:13).

Thus, all who by faith see Jesus (John 12:21), will repent of their sin, will trust Him as their all-sufficient savior from the judgement due their sin, will submit to Him as their sovereign Lord, will pursue conformity to His righteous nature and character, will come to love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, and will receive the gift of eternal life, the glorious life with God for which man was created.  (Romans 10:8-11) (Luke 10:25-28) (Romans 6:23).

More in my next post.

Grace and Peace ×