20-20 Vision
What do you think of when you hear the word “vision?” I think about my eyesight, and how I need glasses to see. Sometimes the phrase, “hindsight is 20/20” goes through my mind. I also think of this verse in Proverbs.
Proverbs 29:18 18 “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (ESV)
Vision can be translated a few different ways and is evident depending on what version of Scripture you are reading. Common words or phrases are vision, oracles, revelation, prophetic vision, or prophecy. To begin to truly gain the 20/20 vision that God desires we must ask God for His vision and understand His purpose and plans. In order to do that we must go to the end and work out His heart and desires from there.
Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (ESV)
Jesus’ revelation to John is clear: God’s heart and deepest desire is that His dwelling place is with man. That God Himself will be with us. But the bride must prepare and be ready for Christ (Rev 19:7). Paul talks of the same idea in Ephesians 5 when writing on the marriage relationship between husband and wife, but he eventually reveals that he is actually describing the relationship of the Church and Christ. Paul is clear that the Church is to be without spot or blemish, prepared for Christ and the marriage that John witnesses in Revelation.
Do we really think that we can simply stay put in our walk with Christ, without growth, without challenge, without suffering, without maturing? If we aren’t prepared for this marriage at the end of the age, is Jesus going to compromise and lower Himself down to our standards in order to dwell with us? Or does He want a bride that will say and do whatever He says and does, just like the relationship Jesus had with His Father in Heaven (John 5:19)? Is that even possible?
God’s purpose for man is preparation in order to experience true oneness with Him in the end. The purpose of life now is to practice oneness with Him. It’s oneness training. Our old nature will always be in opposition to that and that is the entire point. Christ is leading us into true worship (Rom 12:1-2) in order that the old nature dies, so His nature lives in us, in every aspect of our lives. This is the walk of faith that Paul describes in Romans 1:16-17. The righteous see the end result and live in faith that sacrificing our old nature now will lead to future rewards. This gives us such hope and purpose for living today.
Living in that faith now means living in prayer now. Pastor Davis introduced us to one of Corner Bible Church’s core values of Prayer. Jesus must be the source for everything, including our prayers. God calls us to pray without ceasing, rejoice always, and give thanks in all things (1 Thes 5:16-18). Prayer must be completely detached from our old nature, and this is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Praying from the older nature we make God into a genie, and He does not operate that way. Prayer is to get God’s desires in us, our desires out of us and then make His desires ours.
It is so clear that God’s vision for us is to understand His prophetic story from Genesis to Revelation, to worship Him truly (Rom 12:1-2) in order to prepare us as His bride. There are some fantastic rewards attached to this purifying process. We cannot even begin to imagine what these things really mean (check out Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26, 3:5, 12, 21). These are red-letter words. Christ is speaking. He is the only one who actually overcame the flesh, the world, and the devil. And as such He is the Author and Perfector of our faith. This means when we worship (Rom 12:1-2) by denying our flesh, He steps in with his overcoming power making us overcomers. This is the process of oneness and the promises attached to that are unimaginable.
God’s vision for us is to be one with us. This is the bride-city picture in Revelation 21. This is wholly connected to living life in the Spirit and a walk of faith. The more we practice His nature and dying to our nature the more we will enjoy Him and His presence, understand His heart and desires. Without constant prayer, without a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit, and without asking for more revelation through His word, experiencing and living God’s vision is not possible.
Hindsight is not 20/20, but the oracles of God is 20/20. Don’t stop praying. This is the culture of prayer He can build in us.