How Your Faith Takes You to the Glory of the Unseen

There must be something driving every follower of Jesus. What is it that compels and motivates us to continue and persevere in this life? The world opposes the ways of God. How do we keep strong and determined?

Aziz Acharki

Simply, God’s presence and power encourages us and his word continually inspires us. This passage opens up some mysteries of the Kingdom of God and provides inspiration and instruction.

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 (ESV)

Faith

First, let’s examine this spirit of faith that Paul talks about here.

What does he mean by faith and by what we believe? We must be careful that we do not have a one- sided view of faith and of what we believe.

What do we believe – on what do we base our faith?

What, again, is faith?

Is it mental assent that something is true? Is it acknowledgement of biblical truth and the way of salvation? Or is it something more?

Faith is first believing some very specific things. These four things are essential to our faith.

1. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. He is eternal in his being, human in his manifestation making him fully God and fully man.
2. Jesus died for our sins. He is the atoning sacrifice for us. He satisfied the requirement and the consequences of sin for all who do believe.
3. Jesus rose from the grave to fully justify us. He conquered death and gave eternal life for all who believe.
4. We are saved by grace through faith – it is a gift of God.

More faith

Faith is more than just believing. It is also how we live.

Jesus taught us the way to live by example and by his teaching about the kingdom of God. He was very clear about the requirement of obedience.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 – ESV)

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23–24 – ESV)

The entire Bible, including the New Testament, teach us that we are called to a life of obedience. Romans 1:5 says: “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” Faith is only made complete through our obedience.

Perhaps the most complete statement of what faith means to the follower of Jesus is found in Ephesians 2:8-10:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The upshot of faith here (in 2 Corinthians 4:13): Paul believed and so he proclaimed. His faith was matched by his obedient proclamation of the gospel!

What Happens When We Experience True Faith?

We have a change of perspective.

First, the nature of our lives. We live in a tent here. This tent cannot withstand all the ravages of creation. It does not have such structural strength for it to last a long time and it is limited in size and function.

But, we have a building in heaven that is permanent, strong and enduring.

Second, our perspective on suffering. For context, consider Paul who was constantly away from home, in danger wherever he went, imprisoned, beaten, misunderstood and ridiculed.

Yet he described all this as ‘light momentary affliction.’ This is how we need to view whatever causes us anxiety and stress. We bear the weight of these things temporarily in order for us to bear the weight of glory forever. Paul knew well that the Hebrew word for glory, kabod, meant heavy, of great importance.

In this life, we simply cannot bear the weight of the glory of God. God told Moses that no one could look at his face and live. Our earthly ‘tent’ is crushed and destroyed under the weight of the glory of God but our ‘building’ in heaven can stand up under his glory. Our glorified bodies will fully comprehend the glory of God.

Third, our desire for the grace of the gospel to reach more people. There is little that is more important than to make disciples. This brings about seasons of thanksgiving and glory to God.

Fourth, we look to the unseen, eternal things – how? Our lives should be about the unseen things – the eternal! How can we do this?

Meditate on the Word of God. Anything that reflects his glory in the word, the Psalms, creation and his ongoing interaction with us.

Meditate on the work of Jesus especially his teaching, his crucifixion and resurrection.

Do the work of the Kingdom. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Doing kingdom work carries you into the unseen realm of the eternal. His will is clearly declared in the Bible. That is your starting point. Once you are doing what he has clearly told you to do, he will continue to guide you to do the work he specifically has for you.

Pray for a change of perspective. Seek God’s presence and power in your prayer life. Ask for his help in looking past the seen into the unseen.

Your Turn

When you focus on the unseen, you will find new power for following Jesus. You will discover and experience power in your spiritual life that takes you through every difficulty and trial. This power will pick you up if you fall and help  you overcome every single day!

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