A REAL EYE-OPENER

 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened … Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)

                I was recently “enlightened” about a word that I thought I knew what it meant. The word is “apocalypse”. I have always thought of apocalypse as referring to the end times. Whenever I heard someone talking about apocalyptic literature, it was always about the end of the world. I assumed the apocalypse was synonymous with words like disaster, doom, destruction. It was a word that I was not very comfortable with.

                During a class on the book of Ephesians, the professor raised the issue of our understanding of the word apocalypse, to which the students gave similar answers to what I have written above. Then he calmly told us that we had gotten it wrong. The word literally means to uncover, as in pulling back a blanket to reveal what is beneath it. Figuratively it means to reveal a truth that has been hidden from sight.

                Paul uses the word apocalypse in his prayer for the Ephesians. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17 (NIV) The word translated revelation in English is the Greek word apocalypsus, apocalypse. Paul was asking God to open the eyes of the Ephesians to be able to see what they could not see before.

                There are several incidences in the New Testament that illustrate what Paul is asking for. In Luke 24, we read about the discouraged and defeated disciples taking a long walk on their way to Emmaus. Jesus joins them incognito. Then after they sat down to share a meal with him it says, “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” Luke 24:31 (NIV) They had an apocalypse.

                Later in that same chapter, Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room. They are confused and struggle to take in what is happening. They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. Luke 24:37 (NIV) The in verse 45 it says, “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45 (NIV) They had an apocalypse.

                In Acts, Paul recounts his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. A bright light shown around him and he saw Jesus. Paul had been waiting for the Messiah to be revealed, but he was blind to the truth about who Jesus was. Then his eyes were opened and he understood. He had an apocalypse.

                When Paul prayed for the Ephesians, he prayed that God would open their eyes so that they could see the full extent of what it means to be in Christ. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV) Although those words were written to a specific group of people a long time ago, they still apply to us today. We need to have our eyes opened so that we can see the realities of what it means to be “in Christ”.

                In a world where hope is rapidly disappearing, we have an eternal hope that can not be taken from us. Our hope is not in our circumstances, but in the one who died for us and rose to new life so that we can have new life.

                In a world where the gap between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, we have a secure inheritance, kept for us in heaven, that can never spoil, perish or fade away. No amount of inflation can diminish our inheritance in Christ.

                In a world were so many people feel powerless, we have to very power that raised Jesus from the dead at work in us. As Paul has said, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

                Satan has blinded the eyes of the world so they cannot see the glory of God. Even as followers of Jesus, we can have our spiritual sight clouded by the schemes of the evil one. We need an ongoing apocalypse of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. We need daily to have our eyes opened to the new life we have In Christ.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:4-9 (NIV)