John 9
We see in this account of the man born blind the revelation of the greatest battle ever fought and won—the Battle for Belief and for Eternity! This war may span years or moments, depending on our willingness to lay down pride—the greatest sin and our greatest hindrance to coming to new life in Jesus Christ. We first see this man sitting as a beggar. What a battle to lay down the pride we have in our ability to run our lives in our own wisdom. He sat—quit
running … waiting. Here he met Jesus as a "man" who opened his eyes to his own heart condition and to the fact that there's a whole realm of life he's never seen before. The "man" Jesus—an evangelist? A true Pastor? A witness bearing testimony of God's saving grace? Yes, and a great victory for the opening of blind eyes is won, but the battle for faith is just begun! Had he stopped with vision of the truth, but without surrender to the Lord, he would have faced Judgment Day more guilty than ever! BUT...he goes on to face the questions of family and friends. He's different, and they're not as comfortable with him anymore. He doesn't have all the answers, but now identifies Jesus as a "prophet," the one who revealed truth to him as he never saw it before. Another victory, but the battle continues. Religion now questions him, assuming a place of hypocritical authority and accusing him of continuing sin. As he is excommunicated from all he has known, he sees Jesus as being "of God," and bears witness according to his level of revelation. One of the hardest places of the battle of faith now ensues. Alone, rejected, in darkness, he waits, not even knowing where to find Jesus. But Jesus finds him and grants this faithful seeker the greatest Vision yet! It's Jesus' question this time—"Do
you
believe
on
the
Son
of
God?" And, at his answer, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?" Jesus reveals Himself in His glory to the one who then believes and worships. What a glorious end to a glorious battle!
This is the awesome battle of faith for ALL of us. We were ALL born blind—"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) We must ALL lay down our pride and beg for sight of the Kingdom we've never seen before. We must ALL leave family and friends, and their easy natural affections to follow the One who changes everything. We must ALL leave vain religion—the dead "church" organizations claiming Christianity, systems of belief that produce no change, legalism, and all our own fleshly theologies we hold so dear, and come
into
the
TRUTH! We must ALL be cast out of our comfort zones to truly meet Jesus Christ, and to submit to His Lordship and come to true worship. I was blind, but now I see! I was cast out, but Jesus took me in! I was a worshiper of vanity, but now I worship the King of kings and Lord of lords! For the most blessed Christmas ever, may we all battle on in faith to the grandest Victory ever—a most glorious Eternity with Jesus Christ that begins even now!
~ Cindy Warren
