Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
Once again, Jesus speaks of the world as a place. Not the whole world, not all that we humans will ever know, but a place. He speaks much like we might speak of Hawaii as a place. It is a long way off. It is a unique place on this planet. But it is just one place among many. Jesus speaks in that same way about the world.
Two thousand and a few years ago, Jesus walked the surface of this planet as any person might. The difference was that Jesus had been here before he came to be a man. In fact, he made this place. Being Jesus must have felt a bit like a painter would feel if he could become part of his own painting.
While here on earth, the “world” could see him. Anybody with eyes could literally look at God. When Jesus was crucified, that changed. After that Jesus only showed himself to those he chose to let see him. When he ascended into heaven things changed again. After that, the only way we can see Him is through the eyes of faith.
And this is what is weird: Jesus is like one of those “Magic Eye” books where the page looks like a bunch of wavy lines until you cross your eyes just right. Then, suddenly, a picture appears. Once you have seen Him, he is hard to ignore. But until you realize He is actually there, all you see is wavy lines.
Let’s Discuss: If someone told you they wanted to see Jesus, what would you tell them to look for?
That is a good and difficult question. I would point them to creation and the special revelation of who Jesus is as revealed in God’s word. I would have them pay special attention to the gospel books and look at the character and nature of Jesus… and then I would be praying for the Holy Spirit to convict them of truth. With God’s help, the wavy lines of your magic eye illustration will be clearer and clearer painting the picture of the truth of Jesus.
Brother Rich,
Thank you! I personally know no one who is better able to help lead people to see Jesus than you. But even with all of your skills in this area, your prayers for the Holy Spirit to act in the person’s life are the most important. Without the Spirit’s call, words are just … words.
“Being Jesus must have felt a bit like a painter would feel if he could become part of his own painting.” What a neat way of illustrating this. I would approach things much like Rich has laid out. Often I am learning to just try have conversations with people on these things rather than be so focused on their conversion. When I do the later I start to lose sight of the person and where they are at and all the obstacles in their path that only Christ can remove. This is a very hard thing to balance. I want to speak the truth and show the evidences, but sometimes they have to be ready to receive them and it’s hard to know.
NMOP3PISdn,
You are so very right! Balancing “loving others” and “loving God” is a constant challenge. We want to honor God by sharing the Truth that God has shown us individually. We need to honor others by realizing God speaks to each of us individually. We are all at different places in our common journey. This concept of Godly love is difficult for us who are earthbound.