Waking Up

Read: Ephesians 1:17-21

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17, NIV

IN WORD

In the beginning, as God breathed life into dust, and the form of dust opened his eyes and saw his Creator, humanity had an unbroken connection with the Kingdom realm. We can reasonably speculate that Adam saw God, heard Him clearly, even walked with Him tangibly in the cool of the day. There was presumably no veil of separation between the Creator and those made in His image. Adam didn’t need to pray for the Kingdom to come on earth because earth was fully part of the Kingdom. The spiritual realm was just as real to him as the natural realm.

But ever since sin entered in, we have been born blind and deaf. We don’t see God unless He chooses to show Himself in unusual and unexpected ways. We don’t normally see angels, though some have at times. We don’t hear God’s voice nearly as clearly as we want to—usually only with deliberate focus and prayer. Our blindness and deafness keeps the realm of heaven “behind the veil” to natural eyes and ears.

The gospel changes that. Not radically or suddenly, necessarily, though for Paul it certainly did. The Kingdom promise is that we will see and hear again in this age, whether immediately or as we grow. Jesus assured His followers we would hear His voice. We can learn to see with new eyes. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation is available to us so we may know Him better. We are awakening to another realm.

IN DEED

Learn to see beyond your natural vision and listen with ears to hear. Pray with Paul—daily, even hourly—that the Father would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened. Let yourself be stirred by the echoes of heaven. You’ll have to let go of some assumptions to do so, but the rewards are worth it. Don’t try to figure out how; just ask. Persistently. And let “real” be redefined for you however He chooses.

ADDITIONAL READING: Colossians 1:9-10

This truly is the vision of God . . . one must always, by looking at what he can see, rekindle his desire to see more.

GREGORY OF NYSSA