May 22, 2013
II Corinthians 4:3, 4
(All quotations are from the New King James Version)
Why is it that most of the world does not embrace Biblical truth (John 17:17) and Jesus Christ as the Living Truth (John 10:10)? According to Global Christianity (http://www.
pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx), “…there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion.” This number represents those who identify themselves as Christians. But there are far fewer genuine Christians in the world than those who simply profess Christianity. So lets say, for the sake of argument, there are one billion true Christians out of a world population of 6.9 billion. Why so few? Why do so many reject the truth?
You might give the argument that many have not heard the truth and so they have not had the opportunity to accept it or reject it. Of course Paul argues in Romans 1:20, “…they are without excuse…” before God. But the explanation for this is another blog for another day.
The answer to “Why do so many reject the truth?” is found in II Corinthians 4:3 and 4:
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose
minds the god of this age has blinded who do not believe, lest the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Satan has the power to blind the minds of unbelievers. He does not have the power to stop the light of gospel from shining in the world (see Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:18-20; 10:9-17), just the power to keep people from seeing it! So, apparently, he has access to the minds of human beings where he can plant ideas and temptations as well as blindness (see II Corinthians 10:3-5). Jesus describes this satanically induced blindness another way in Matthew 13:3 and 4 in the parable of the sower, and in verses 18 and 19 in its interpretation:
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went
out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came
and devoured them …. Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone
hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one
comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received
seed by the wayside.”
In the first case, the devil blinds the minds of unbelievers. In the second, he steals the Word away before it can do its work in producing fruit – a new nature (or heart) from God.
But our Lord Jesus can reverse blindness and restore that which is stolen. He healed blind men at least eight times in the gospels (Matthew 9:27, 28; 11:5; 12:22; 20:30-34; 21:14; Mark 8:22-25; John 9:1-7). If He can heal physical blindness, He can certainly heal spiritual blindness! There are none so blind as those who live in the presence of the radiance of the One who is “…the light of the world…” (John 8:12; 9:5) and yet prefer the darkness! And why do they prefer the darkness? Jesus dealt with that subject in John 3:18 through 21:
He who believes in Him [Jesus Christ] is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to
the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes
to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.
If a person insists on keeping to his godless ways, then the Almighty will allow him or her to proceed in that lifestyle, and – although it breaks God’s heart – to continue to follow the Satan all the way into “…the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death [hell].”
Be sure you have put your faith in the One who can heal your satanically induced blindness and give you eternal and abundant life. And if you have come to the light, continue to give forth “…the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…” to the lost. You never know when God will heal their blindness and bring them into the kingdom!