Seeing Through New Eyes

Ephesians 1:18-23

Introduction

At one time or another, you’ve probably been to the optometrist for a routine appointment to have your vision checked or even corrected. The doctor examined your eyes and administered a series of tests to assess the overall health of your eyes and your ability to see varying sizes and at various distances. If the doctor detected a deficiency in your vision, you’d receive a prescription for corrective lenses that would give “new sight” to the same eyes. Much like physical lenses are used to rectify human vision, believers have to use our spiritual corrective lenses to view and understand our world and our circumstances from a Godly perspective.

In Ephesians 1, Paul opened in prayer and appealed to God on behalf of all believers. Paul prayed that the followers of Jesus would truly see and know the “hope of His calling” (Eph 1:18-19). Paul wanted Christians to have a spiritual understanding of God’s calling on their lives and to grasp His purpose for salvation. Believers have a rich inheritance and can enjoy great spiritual possessions, but those gifts can only be seen with eyes that operate with spiritual understanding. The spiritual possession as well as the physical must be viewed from the framework of Jesus Christ and our divine person.

Personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to spiritual understanding and gives clarity where mere physical eyes cannot. Paul understood human nature and wrote the letter to the Ephesian believers to encourage them to operate beyond innate human qualities, rise above natural thinking patterns and recognize the need for God’s perspective, possession and position to be imparted. When believers commit themselves to seeing with spiritual eyes, these “new eyes” make it possible for them to live fully and operate with more spiritual power.

Just like someone with failing vision can opt not to use prescribed corrective lenses, sometimes believers make a choice to navigate life’s surroundings without absolute clarity and may “bump” into walls and strain to see spiritually “distant” items. God has provided a written prescription that makes it possible for the one who trusts in Christ for salvation to have a clear line of sight from God’s perspective and to experience His understanding and power. What it takes to receive the prescription and put it to effective use is an intentional pursuit of God’s wisdom and knowledge.

Paul’s prayer emphasizes that every believer ought to see, develop, and position themselves with spiritual understanding. Choose God’s perspective and allow the His vision to reveal position and authority.

Getting Started

1. Take a moment to consider your own “spiritual corrective lenses.” What enhancements do you need to see spiritual matters more clearly?
2. It’s important to see! Have you ever struggled to see because of declining spiritual vision? How did you know that you needed a prescription? What words would you use to describe how the world looked to you?
3. What are some ways that people are “spiritually blind” in the Church today? How have you seen people struggle with having a clear understanding and vision of the purpose and spiritual possessions given by Jesus?

Let’s Get Personal

1. Do you wrestle with viewing your life with spiritual eyesight? Think about physically and spiritually weak eyesight. What does it look like to you to struggle to see with spiritual vision?
2. Have you experienced a change in vision because of a decision to adopt God’s perspective on a situation? What did it look like for you to accept God’s prescription?
3. What problems in your life right now require you to develop a spiritual understanding of the position of Jesus Christ? How can you align your outlook and daily decisions with Jesus better?

Take the Next Step

1. Think about an area in which you are struggling with “seeing with new eyes.” What action can you take today to adjust your spiritual vision so that you’re able to see clearly and operate from a vantage point that is pleasing to Christ?
2. Pause to pray. Go to God and tell God that you, individually and corporately, want to receive and see “with new eyes.” Let God know that you choose to reject the world’s perspective in your own life. Tell God that you want to experience His divine power and understanding.
3. Want to dig deeper? Take a look at the following passages: Psalm 119:18; Ephesians 1:15-17; 2:4-6; Hebrews 1:2-3.

Renew Your Mind

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.

Ephesians 1:18-19a