“Seeing” the Invisible Landscape*
Perceiving spiritual reality in the invisible landscape requires spiritual eyesight.
*Re-posted.
Jesus is offering us a new kind of life in his kingdom now. You don’t have to wait until you die to experience the eternal life he offers. Eternal life starts the moment you change your mind and step into his kingdom.
There is one very important thing you need in order to “see” the kingdom and enter into it. In John chapter 3 Jesus is teaching us what that is.
Jesus’ Word to the Important Religious Leader-You Must Be Born from Above
John 3:1–3 (NLT): There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Of all the people in Judah at the time Jesus was teaching, the last person anyone would think was not qualified for the kingdom would be Nicodemus. He was a very respected religious leader. He came to Jesus at night because, even though he knew God had sent Jesus with validation by the miraculous signs he did, Jesus’ teaching was very controversial. The Pharisees were waiting for an earthly king to come and sweep the Romans aside and make Israel the preeminent kingdom in the world. But Jesus was teaching that he had come to bring a spiritual kingdom and that everyone was welcome, no matter what their status on earth. The Pharisees had a lot of rules and ceremonies that they thought made a person right with God, but Jesus was saying that keeping the rules was not a prerequisite, all he required was for you to change your mind about reality and follow Him in his kingdom. For Jesus, it is not about rules, it’s about relationship - an interactive relationship with God made possible by Jesus’ death for us and his resurrection from the dead. The Pharisees were indignant at his teaching because it threatened their status and power as leaders in Israel.
Born From Above
Jesus immediately told Nicodemus something that took him by surprise:
“Unless you are born from above, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The words in the original text, translated “born again”, actually have the meaning of born from above. It may seem like I’m splitting hairs, and I guess I am, but I think it is important because, when Jesus says “born from above” it clearly indicates a spiritual birth. In a previous post, we saw when you want to gain a little more clarity on a word or a verse in the Bible, you can grab a copy of Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)* and check it out. Those of you who speak two languages understand it is sometimes hard to do a word-for-word translation from, for example, Spanish to English. That is why there are variations in translations of any important document. Words have shades of meaning and it may take more than one word in the receiving language to fully make the meaning of the original clear. When I check out my Young’s, I can hone my understanding of what the original language conveys.
John 3:3 (Young’s Lit Trans): Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God;’
You can also check out the root of the word Jesus used in Strong’s Greek Concordance #507. Click the link to check it out.
Nicodemus was waiting on an earthly kingdom and thought he had earned a place in that kingdom once it arrived, but Jesus turned his world upside down. He said, “You cannot see God’s kingdom unless you have spiritual eyes.” And you must be given spiritual life from above in order to perceive spiritual things!
Jesus continued: 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again (from above)”
Jesus goes on and uses the wind as an example of something we know exists. Even if we cannot see it, we perceive the evidence that proves it is there.
The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” verse 8.
We don’t see the Spirit, but we see the evidence of the changed lives of others and of our own interactive relationship with God.
This chapter in John is where you find the most famous Bible verse of all. Jesus is still talking to Nicodemus when he says:
John 3:16–17 (NLT): 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
But not everyone will want to join Jesus in his kingdom. Many will prefer to walk away. Many laughed him off when he was on the earth and many laugh him off today.
Later in John 3, John the Baptist and his own disciples were talking about why so many people walked away from Jesus and his offer of new life. John said: The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 (HCSB).
God, in His Mercy Makes a Person Spiritually Alive
Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV): But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
If I Wanted to “See” the Kingdom of God, What Should I do?
I know I cannot save myself. What can I do?
The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to encourage the refugees from Judah that had been sent into exile in Babylon because of their idolatry. He was encouraging them, letting them know what they had done in the past would not prevent them from finding God, even in exile in Babylon!
It goes like this:
Jeremiah 29:11–14 (NLT): 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord.
“If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.
The Lord is waiting to be found by wholehearted seekers. And once you find him, you will realize that he was pursuing you the whole time. When you “see” that, you will know you have eyes to see in the invisible landscape.