...Not by Sight

We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (2 Cor 5:7-9)

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Cor 15:49)

When Paul wrote “We live by faith, not by sight,” the unseen God and His kingdom were more real to him than the visible world, which is only a temporary home in which we live for as long as we are in the body.  Paul preferred to be “at home with the Lord.” He looked forward to spending eternity with Jesus “the man from heaven.” Yet he was not looking to escape from this world. On the contrary, he was living confidently filled with the Spirit, doing His will, and encouraging all believers to do the same.

What a contrast with today’s “earthly man,” who tries to live entirely by sight. He says he has no need for the unseen God.  Science and its offspring technology are his gods.  Science has given him knowledge of the visible world, and technology gives him some degree of control over it. To him, the only source of knowledge is observation and experiment.  “What you see is what you get,” so he tries to get more and more of the “stuff” technology offers. He strives to make life in this world, in this body, more exciting, more beautiful, more comfortable, more free from stress. But “more” is never enough and bad things happen, so he heads for the local bar or pops a pill to calm down, and goes on striving until the next bad thing happens. He is leaning on his own understanding as it has been molded by science and technology.  He is living by sight.

Faith in the unseen God makes all the difference between the Christian way of living and the earthly way, and this faith is not pie-in-the sky wishful thinking.  We can be confident as we live by faith because there is another source of knowledge.  The Creator of heaven and earth has made himself known in two ways. First he gave all mankind the kind of eyes and ears and mind that can live in the world He created and enjoy – for a time – all the beauty, excitement, and comfort this world has to offer. But God did not stop there. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...”(Heb. 1:1-2). Theologians call this “special revelation.” It is the second source of knowledge that God has given to all who will open their hearts to receive his Son. When we do, we gain confidence for living, not only here on this earth in the 21^st century, but for all eternity, because we know the God of the universe who causes all things, even bad things, to work together for our good while in the body and for our glory and His for evermore.