Eyes to See the Kingdom of God

Nicodemus was trembling with anticipation and fear as he slipped quietly through the dark streets. He could stand it no longer–he had to talk to this carpenter who had set the city ablaze with his teaching and miracles. In all his years of training and studying the scriptures, Nicodemus had never heard anyone like this man nor seen anything that even remotely compared to the things he did. Surely this young man had to be from God. But everything in his mind told Nicodemus that it was impossible. This young man had no formal training in the scriptures. He had never attended a rabbinical school. Yet when he spoke it was as if heaven touched earth. And the miracles–surely this man was of God. But nothing made sense to Nicodemus. How could he be sure this man was of God?

Glancing around to make sure that no one had spotted him, Nicodemus entered the house where the carpenter was staying. The respected member of the Sanhedrin began the conversation by paying the young man a compliment, “Rabbi, I know you must be of God because no one could do the things you do unless God were with him.” The carpenter, however, did not return the compliment and in fact, left Nicodemus dumbfounded by words that seemed out of place, “Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus was saying to Nicodemus, “You think you see and you think you understand the things of God, but in reality you are blind and understand nothing.” Nicodemus had a heart to pursue God, he loved God, he knew the Scriptures, and he served the Lord with all his heart. His problem, however, was that he was blind. He saw everything through the eyes of his soul. Everything he knew about God was filtered through his own understanding and made to fit into the paradigms that the world and his religious training had given him.

Jesus told Nicodemus that if he wanted to see and understand the things of God’s kingdom and rule that he had to be born again. With the new birth, man receives new sight. The eyes of our spirit are restored when we are born of the Spirit. The word that is translated “see” in John 3:3 can also be translated as “understand or perceive.” The result of the new birth is not just that we go to heaven one day, but rather that we receive spiritual eyes and begin to see and understand and evaluate things from heaven’s perspective right now. That’s how the only begotten Son of God lived. He made no decisions and took no actions on his own. But he saw what his Father was doing and heard what his Father was saying in heaven and then acted on that information here on earth. Jesus never formed his own opinion about the events he observed or the things he heard here on earth. Rather he saw with the eyes of the Spirit and interpreted those things from heaven’s perspective and, therefore, walked in heaven’s reality during his sojourn on earth.

If you have been born again, then you have spiritual eyes. The problem is that we have been trained to operate with the eyes of our soul. Whatever others say and do, whatever God says through his Spirit or the Bible, whatever happens around us–all of these are processed by our reason and our understanding. The result is division, strife, confusion, and fear. That sounds more like the atmosphere of hell than of heaven. Ask God to open the eyes of your spirit and cause you to see and understand things from his perspective and heaven will touch earth where you are.

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