This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, by continuing with our mini-series entitled, “Focusing on Dying To Self”. We have been walking our way through the following passage for over a month. Let’s get back to it today.
The Apostle Paul said, “The love of Christ controls us, because we know that one person died for everyone. So all have died. He died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from death so that they would live for him. From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!” (2 Cor 5:14-17 ERV).
Yesterday we started to look at Paul’s final statement in this passage. Paul is certainly driving home the point that once we are IN-Christ “everything is new”. As I prayed over what to share with you this morning I was led to back up to verse 7. In verse 7 the Apostle Paul famously said, “We walk by faith and not by sight”. Just like I admitted to you yesterday that I did not understand 2 Cor 5:17 for years, I can say the same about 2 Cor 5:7. I would hear someone repeat, “We walk by faith and not by sight”, and I would say, “Amen”, but I really did not know what it meant. To get an understanding we must get a grasp of the context of the passage so we can receive the overall message Paul was teaching.
The Apostle Paul taught us of what is almost like an alternate universe. It is a realm where God’s dreams for us live. It is a place where God’s perfect desires are on display. Once we are Born-Again, the Holy Spirit allows us to peer into that realm. We get to see what God planned for us. We get to discover our true purpose and potential. We get to discern God’s will, God’s best, God’s heart. But we can’t peer into this realm with our natural eyes. We must peer into this realm with our Spirit. And God expects us to live in the earth based on what He allows us to SEE in His realm.
Faith is peering into God’s realm and then coming back to the earth realm and living off of what you saw. Faith is peering into God’s will and then coming back and aligning your will with His. This is why the opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is not fear. The opposite of faith is natural sight. Before you were Born-Again you lived your life based on what you were able to see in the natural and on the input your body (your earthsuit) received from this world — by what you were able to see, hear, touch, taste and smell. But now that you are Born-Again you are supposed to live your life off based on what you SEE in the Spirit and on the input your Spirit receives from God’s realm. If you can understand that, then it makes sense why the Easy To Read Version of 2 Cor 5:7 reads, “We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see.” Paul’s point is that as believers we are not supposed to live by what we can see with our natural eyes, but rather by what we perceive in the Spirit.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- You were born natural to this world. As you matured you learned to relate to this world by what you saw and by the input your senses received from this world. The day you were Born-Again everything changed. You are now natural to God’s realm. The supernatural is now natural to you. Now you are supposed to live by what you can SEE in the Spirit and by the input your Spirit receives from God’s realm.
- Once you are Born-Again, the Bible teaches you to live by what you can perceive from God and not by natural sight anymore. God wants you to get to the point where what you SEE in the Spirit is more real to you than what you can see with your natural eyes.
- The day you get to the point where what you perceive from God is more real to you than what you see in this world is the day you will be truly living by faith.
- Faith makes decisions in this world based on what is revealed from God’s realm.
- Faith perceives the will of God and stands on what is revealed, even when it ‘flies in the face’ of what you can see in this world.
I have much more to say, but I will stop here for today.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016 by getting to the point where I truly live by faith. I live by faith and not by natural sight. I live by what I can see in the Spirit and I am not moved by what I see in the natural. What You reveal to me about me and my future, is more real to me than what I see in this world every day. I live my life based on what You reveal to me, even when what You are telling me is in stark contrast to what I see in this world. I am not moved by what I can see in the natural. I am only moved by what I see in the Spirit. I live by what You reveal to me. I live by every Word You speak to me. I live my life based on Your reality, even when it ‘flies in the face’ of the reality I see in this world. Living in-sync with You may mean that I seem out-of-sync with this world, but that’s okay. I live by faith and not by natural sight! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
