by Pastor Steve Ellison
The fact that the Messiah will open the eyes of the blind is a recurring theme of the book of Isaiah and the Gospels. The Bible clearly describes the person who is lost in their sin as being spiritually blind. The Bible speaks figuratively of the lost person having scales on his eyes that must be removed before he can come to faith in Christ. Three years ago, I had the good fortune to have a most interesting conversation with a delightful young lady who was born blind. She was thirty years of age. She was at that time working in a small family owned business but had been previously employed for three years in the human resources department in the corporate headquarters of a Fortune 100 company here in the United States. In both positions, she entered data into spreadsheets among other tasks. I have trouble doing that and I can see fine. She is amazing.
I asked about her training and she described some of her schooling. One of her final assignments before graduating from a school for the blind was to learn to cross streets alone at busy intersections. Once she mastered that, she was tasked with crossing an interstate highway by herself. I cannot imagine how to begin that process. I would have been terrified. The courage required to take that step of faith out into the pavement must have been all that she could have possibly mustered. I feel quite certain that I would still be standing in the ditch having never gotten up the nerve to take even one single step.
I suppose that the lost person, separated from God and spiritually blind, is in a somewhat similar situation. The lost person must take a step in blind faith. Know for certain that faith in Christ is not totally blind. There is much evidence for trusting Christ but in the end faith is required. In fact, the Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. That is exactly why a person will not receive another chance to come in faith to Christ after death. At that point, he or she will see Christ as He is, looking into the face of Almighty God. That is sight not faith. I would also remind you that a belief that there is no God requires faith as well.
At some point the spiritually blind person must find the strength and courage to step out in faith into the unseen and unknown. My illustration breaks down here because my young blind friend remained blind after crossing the interstate. However, much like the Apostle Paul, the spiritually blind person upon stepping out in faith has the scales drop from his eyes so that he is no longer blind. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 among other passages describes the situation, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (NASU) May the Light of Christ shine in your heart and may God grant you the strength and faith to step out in courage trusting Christ as your Lord and Savior.
