11/22/2022
By Danny Saavedra, Minister
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Google videos of toddlers getting glasses—they’re so moving! I can relate to these videos, as I remember the first time I got glasses in middle school. It’s amazing how your sight can go from seeing the world as a fuzzy mess to everything being clear, crisp, and vivid!
Isn’t it crazy how differently you can see and experience the world simply by having the right lenses on? The Christian life is a lot like that. How so? Well, Ephesians 5:8 (NIV) tells us, “For you were once darkness,” and 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 (NIV) explains that the truth and beauty of the gospel is veiled “to those who are perishing.” Why? Because the “god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ.”
What does this mean practically? It means those who haven’t received Jesus walk through this world blind to the truth, hope, peace, and joy of the Lord. They live day to day in a fog, seeing the world, culture, their circumstances, and themselves as a fuzzy mess, but not knowing any better.
However, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). Part of this new life is new vision. This reminds me of the man in Mark 8:25 (NIV): “Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” Once our eyes are open, what happens next? “From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” 2 Corinthians 5:16 (NIV). Basically, we’ll be able to relate to the healed blind man who said, “I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:25 NIV)!
This means that in Christ, our eyes are opened to our true identity as His dearly loved children; that we can see through the haze of cultural lies, of the twisting and distorting of truth, and of sinful strongholds in the world. It means we can see the world, our lives, our mission, and ourselves through the lens of Christ as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14 (NKJV) and set our “hearts on things above, where Christ is” (Colossians 3:1 NIV).
And as we put on Christ daily the same way I put on my glasses in the morning and “let [our] roots grow down into him, and let [our] lives be built on him” (Colossians 2:7 NLT), we’ll “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind . . . able to test and approve what God’s will is” (Romans 12:2 NIV). Not only that, but we’ll be able to lead those whose eyes are still darkened into the clarity and marvelous light of Christ Jesus!
Pause: Why does the Bible say the eyes of unbelievers are blind and darkened? How does being in Christ change that and open our eyes?
Practice: As a believer, you must understand that your vision grows progressively better and clearer the more you grow in relationship with Him and the more you grow in your understanding of the Word. And every once in a while, even as believers, we need to use the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit the way people with glasses use a lens cleaner spray and cloth to wipe away any smudges of worldly thinking and sinful temptations. But again, this can’t be done apart from growing in Him and His Word. So, this month I encourage you to commit to spending time in the Word and prayer in the morning and evening—even if it’s just 15–20 minutes each time.
Pray: Father, thank You for removing the scales of darkness and death from my eyes. Thank You for curing me of my blindness so I may see You, the world, myself, the mission of the believer, Your will, and Your purposes and plans for my life clearly. I pray that through Your Holy Spirit, I may continue to grow in my vision of being conformed to the image of Christ. I pray that in the Holy Spirit, I may be devoted to putting on Christ daily as people put on glasses, and I pray that by Your Holy Spirit, all impurities, smudges, and stains of sin, the world, and of false doctrine may be wiped off the lenses of my faith. Amen.
