“…we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 5:7)
Our Adamic nature is a true wonder. Through it we simultaneously straddle the material and unseen. As those with flesh and bone, we were born into the realm of space, matter and time, with established laws and patterns. God in Christ, having redeemed us by His blood has also “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”[i] Our lives are therefore “hidden with Christ in God" [ii]. And so we find this apparent conflict that renders us concurrent dwellers of both the seen and the unseen realms.
To unite these seemingly irreconcilable realities, we are encouraged to look at things not seen or to live by faith. For the righteous shall live by faith [iii]. This injunction seems necessary in view of a natural propensity to give inordinate heed to the pull of things seen, heard and felt. Faith is defined as a “substance” as well as the “evidence” of things unseen [iv], terms usually reserved for the tangible. Accordingly, it yields concrete, steady and therefore reliable fruit. It is a doorway that leads to that hallowed province of realities existing in both the unseen present and the future, which is always unseen. Faith is thus a mechanism through which the unseen is translated into the material world.
Beginning with realities of the unseen present. The immanent God in whom all live and move and have their being [v] is a God “who hides Himself” [vi]. He is so because He dwells in the realm of the unseen, without limitations, for with Him nothing is impossible [vii]. He is hidden to the extent that our view is obscured by things that are seen. In this regard we learn much from Elisha, a habitual seer of the unseen, who when faced with the threat of a multitudinous army, referring to angelic hosts, boldly and calmly proclaimed, “Those with us are more than those with them” [viii]. To appreciate this unapparent reality Elisha’s servant had to have his eyes “opened” to realise that indeed “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” [ix].
Commenting on faith as it relates to the unseen future. The Lord Jesus contended with the unbelieving Jews reminding them, “your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad”[x]. Because of his famous faith, the patriarch Abraham could see and rejoice in a distant future that was otherwise hidden. Hope always refers to a desired future outcome. Abraham gloried in the substance of things he hoped for, and therefore joined the ranks of those biblical heroes who “having not received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them…” [xi].
The human experience is not unfamiliar with toil, disappointment and a multitude of untold troubles, “for we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now” [xii]. To those full of faith, the evidence of things not seen deposes the tyranny of present distresses. As with Moses who forsook Egypt defying the wrath of the king, seeing Him who is invisible [xiii], those of faith too are undeterred. With the substance of their triumphant end always before them, present obstacles are relegated into minor episodes in the unfolding triumphant story. All afflictions are therefore only “light” [xiv] in view of the awaited prize and “momentary” with the backdrop of life everlasting. For those with eyes trained to pierce the veil of the unseen, all present realities are seen from the privileged vantage point of the victorious, long before that fact is evident to the rest.
[i] Ephesians 2:6
[ii] Colossians 3:3
[iii] Habakkuk 2:4
[iv] Hebrews 11:1
[v] Acts 17:18
[vi] Isaiah 45:15
[vii] Luke 1:37
[viii] 2 Kings 6:16
[ix] 2 Kings 6:17
[x] John 8:56
[xi] Hebrew 11:13
[xii] Romans 8:22
[xiii] Hebrews 11:27
[xiv] 2 Corinthians 4:17
