AS SEEING HIM

WHO IS INVISIBLE

Part One

Heb. 11:27: By faith he (i.e. Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (see Ex. 10:28): for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Col. 1:16: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be throne, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.

2 Cor. 4:18: While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal.

By John Aldworth

Published July 21, 1024

Scientists, looking at the vast realm of space, guestimate that between 90 and 99 percent of material out there is “dark matter”. In other words such matter is real and solid but just can’t be seen. Yet, despite being invisible, this unseen matter evidently accounts for by far the greater part of the reality that is the universe.

Now, importantly, for faithful believers, very much the same can be said of the Lord’s heavenly kingdom and the new creation over which He, and us in Him, will rule over in his heavenly kingdom in the Day of Christ to come (2 Tim. 4:1).  More on that later as this study develops.

But back to Moses. He lived some 3500 years ago and very probably he knew as much about “dark matter” as today’s scientists do, for he was well taught in the arts and sciences by which the ancient Egyptians mapped the stars and predicted the planetary movements.

However, Moses’ eyes were fixed, not on stars or planets, but on a Person and the kingdom, as yet unseen, that that Person was to bring into being on the earth. In rejecting Egypt’s wisdom and riches, he looked to the reward that would be his for believing in and pressing towards that kingdom.  And, of course, that Person was Christ (the Anointed One) as Heb. 11:24-27 explains:

By faith Moses when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

So then, in rejecting Egypt, then leading out an enslaved people God was setting free, Moses put his faith in the unseen. After all he had not seen the Promised Land, nor, as events turned out, would he, in this life, enter it. Neither could he see a physically visible nation of Israel quickly emerging from a frightened generation of slaves - the judgments and Passover that would set them free were yet to come. Nor, obviously, was there yet a manifest kingdom of God ruling through them to subdue other nations. Rather, as Pharaoh’s slaves, the children of Israel were utterly cowed and subdued.

The important lesson for believers on earth in every generation is that we “endure by seeing Him who is invisible”. As one preacher put it, “with Christ in the vessel we can laugh at the storm”. And it was no light storm with no small waves Moses faced. In Ex. 10:28 Pharaoh at that time still refused to let the Israelite slaves go and warned Moses …

… see my face no more, for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.

And so it was: Moses saw Pharaoh’s face no more. Instead, by faith, he saw the face of Christ, He who is invisible, who still today is described as the “image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). As for Pharaoh, he indeed saw Moses no more; instead he saw the Lord coming as the angel of death to slaughter his first-born (Ex. 12:10, 29).

Today, in a striking parallel, God’s people are being challenged to come out of their immature, carnal and earthly beliefs in Christ, to instead see Him as He really is: The heavenly Lord of all as yet unseen by human eyes, yet in reality the Lord of all glory and grace who will soon be manifest to all at his appearing and his kingdom (2 Tim. 4:1, Titus 2:13).

And, not only does God want us in this present dispensation of God and the mystery to see Christ “as Him who is invisible”, He wants us also to glimpse by faith the vastness of “his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18) which has yet to visibly appear in glory so that all on earth can see it.  But appear it will making all men see our Lord and Saviour as the Master of the universe, both visible and invisible, which He has created and now upholds (Col. 1:15-17)

This appearing, of course, will only happen in the now imminent day of Christ (see Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16, 2. Tim. 4:1, Titus 2:13 and other scriptures), when, among other things, those seeking to “… make all men see the fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9) and who are “holding forth the word of life”, will be found not have “… run in vain, nor labored in vain” (Phil. 2:16).

Saints ministering this “latest truth from God”, as found in the Apostle Paul’s prison epistles, Ephesians to Philemon, see very little manifest response to their endeavours. This is because at present their “life is hid with Christ in God” but “when Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory”; that is we will appear, be made manifest for all to see, in the high heavenly places (Col. 3:1-4). Accordingly, the Apostle Paul’s instruction to faithful believers is to “seek the things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above not on things on earth.

For more proof all this and more is so, please read the next part of this study which will be published shortly.

To be continued

©John Aldworth July 2014