HOW GOD CONVERTS THE LOST Part 2:The Blindness of the Lost

I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' Acts 26:17-18

Last week I wrote on this incredible account of Paul's commissioning by Jesus as an instruction to us on how God converts lost sinners. I mentioned that He uses people:ordinary clay pots sent out for a task; and oh what an extraordinary task it is! The second thing Christ aims to accomplish in our witness is the opening of the eyes of unbelievers. “. . . To open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God." (Verse 18b).Now this is a radical call isn’t it? God is calling you and sending you out to do an utterly impossible task! Opening the eyes of the blind? Spiritually blind? At first glance it seems as if He is sending us out into certain failure and defeat. Yet Christ says it with such certainty, “I send you to open their eyes”.

We need to understand that fundamentally the condition of lost people is Spiritual blindness! Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God." People who don’t believe in Christ are spiritually blind. That is why they don’t believe. Lostness is blindness to spiritual light, the light that really shines out from the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. 2 Corinthians 4:3: “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.”

We all know people like this. It is like trying to describe a sunset to a man who has been blind his entire life. No matter what you try to tell about your experience of a sunset, he just can't relate. He has no category or experience of light and color to appreciate what you are trelling him. At best, he could understand the facts of what you are trying to describe, but he has no ability to experience the facts nor savor the facts. After all, he is blind!

It is the same in sharing the gospel with lost and blind sinners. We pour out our heart to them and tell them about their sin and how Christ is the only person in the world who has died for sin and risen from the dead. We tell them about how beautiful and great is His love and wisdom and power and justice and meekness and humility and sovereignty. And they listen, and they hear the facts. They may even believe the facts of history. But they see no glory, no beauty, and no treasure. They can’t see Christ as supremely valuable; they see Him as offensive, foolish, boring, irrelevant, and worthless.

That is why this calling "I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins..." is no empty commission. The fact is that the eyes of the nations are blind and need to be opened; they need to turn from darkness to the light; they need to escape the power of Satan and come to God; and they need the forgiveness of sins. Conversion to Christ is at stake! Eternity is at stake! The souls of men and women are at stake!

To be continued...