“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. 4. In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them.”
After his conversion on the Damascus Road, Paul’s whole life was consumed with telling the world about Jesus. He shared the “glorious gospel” with Jews and Gentiles alike. His primary ministry was to Gentiles, but he did not withhold his witness from anyone. But there were people who did not respond positively to the gospel. In our text verses, Paul explains why, and it is the same today. At this point we might say that “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” The gospel is hid, or veiled, to “them who are lost.” “Lost” is a word that people who are not Christians do not like. I have heard people say, “I’m not lost, I know where I am.” We do not use this word because we think people do not know where they are, but because they are lost from the salvation that is offered by Jesus. This means that they are lost to the blessings of God in this life and the blessings of God in heaven. It is a biblical word and we do not need to apologize for it. (Actually, the Greek word translated “lost” in the KJV, also means “perishing,” which is less complimentary than “lost.”) Why are people without Christ lost? Paul’s explanation is that they have been blinded by the “god of this world.” The “god of this world” is the devil. Lost people are also offended by making reference to the devil in dealing with their being lost, but Paul makes it plain that those who refuse to believe in Christ have been blinded by the devil. This is the devil’s job: to lie to people and blind them with the ways of this world in order to keep them from believing in Jesus. The devil has been the enemy from the beginning. (Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.) He has convinced the world that he either does not exist, or that he is an ugly little red thing who is really a joke. The devil doesn’t care how people think of him as long as he can keep people from obeying God. What the devil does is blind people to the reality of Jesus so that they will not believe. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books in print that deny the reality of Jesus Christ. Some teach that He did not even exist. Some teach that He existed but that He was not really the Son of God. Still others teach that Jesus was not really resurrected; therefore He is dead and God only knows where His body was hidden. But there are many other scholarly books that teach the reality of Jesus Christ, but they are not as popular to the world as the negative books. We should not be surprised, for denial of Jesus’ resurrection, and, consequently, His being the Son of God, is the devil’s main ploy. If people are blinded and will not believe, it is because they willingly choose to deny the reality of Christ. Why would people choose to deny the reality of Christ when there is so much evidence of His reality? Paul gave the answer in verse 4b: “Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” They are kept from seeing the light of Christ because they do not want to see His light. In his book, The Case for the Real Jesus, Lee Strobel interviewed Michael Licona, who is a real scholar who is also a real believer. When Lee Strobel asked Licona why people would reject Christ’s reality, Licona’s answer was that many of them did not want to believe, because they did not want their lives to change. His meaning was that they were happy with the world and did not want to give any of it up. Understand that this is not the case for every unbeliever, but it is the case for many. This brings us back to the word “blinded.” The devil has blinded them to the way of Christ, because he has made the way of the world so appealing. Why did Paul continue to witness for Jesus, and why should we? Because He is real, and we are told to tell others, not to necessarily convince them. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. So “keep on keeping on,” and do not let the world, controlled by the devil, keep you from obeying Christ’s command to witness. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Dorothy
7/15/2015 12:33:13 pm
I believe that,s how the devil blind,s so many people by allowing them to think they are having such a good life the way they are living they Don,t want to change.
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