Seeing As God Sees

Over the last couple of days, I've focused on the issue of intimacy with God -- simply because that's what God has been focusing on in my life. We've seen in "The Spiritual Intimacy of a True Disciple" that intimacy with God is a mark of the true disciple, and that this intimacy is an integral part of what I call "the meno experience" of being organically connected with the Lord Jesus Christ in one's daily life. Then, in "Developing Spiritual Intimacy", we saw that intimacy with God emerges from two components of a disciple's walk with the Lord -- hearing ("quality time" with the Lord) and obeying (doing what pleases the Lord) -- which then results in the "fruit" of intimacy with God (righteousness and "every good work").

Now I want us to explore one more dimension of intimacy. In my previous post "The Ways of God", I wrote about how the Bible expects the disciple of Jesus to not only learn the ways of God but also to walk in them. A product of genuine intimacy with God will be an "eye to eye" experience of seeing the world through the same lens that God does.

Take a look at John 4:35:

"Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."

The Amplified Bible phrases it this way:

"Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting."

Jesus is here encouraging His disciples to open their eyes and see what He can see. This involves looking beyond the natural perspective and seeing the world as God sees it.

In my previous post, "Faith Without Wavering", I explained that faith is "seeing on another level", but I didn't specifically identify exactly on who's level faith is seeing. The answer, of course, is God's level. God has his own way of seeing the world, and part of being a disciple of Jesus is learning to see the world the way God sees it -- taking on a God's-eye view, so to speak.

Jesus constantly saw the world around Him through His Father's eyes. As so, as disciples of Jesus, we need to learn from the Master. Let's take a look at some scriptures on how Jesus saw people and events around Him. We find this account in Matthew 9:35-36:

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.'"

With Jesus, how He viewed things outworked in His actions. He saw the real need of the crowd, as opposed to the obvious need, and this stirred His compassion, spurring Him forward in the purposes of His Father.

In Matthew 14:14, we see a similar observation-reaction process at work:

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick."

According to Mark 10:21, "Jesus looked at [the young ruler] and loved him." In a similar way, Luke 7:13 tells us: "When the Lord saw [the woman], his heart went out to her..."

Do you see the pattern emerging here? In each instance recorded in these verses, Jesus saw people through the eyes of His Father and the result was compassion and love (followed by Him acting on that compassion and love). In other words, Jesus saw the world through the eyes of love.

But before I apply this on a personal level in terms of how the Lord is speaking to me, let's take a look at some other verses, for at this point we're still only seeing half the picture. In Luke 19:41, we find this account:

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it."

Why did Jesus weep? It is because He saw something in the city which caused Him to weep. Unlike the disciples, who only saw the glory of the city (see Luke 21:5-6), Jesus saw its impending destruction due to the judgment of God (Luke 19:42-44). In other words, Jesus didn't just see through the eyes of love; He also saw through the eyes of truth.

In God's character, love and truth go hand in hand (2 John 1:3; Ephesians 4:15). God is not just a God of love; He is also a God of holiness, justice and truth. That means if we are to see our world as God sees it, we also must see the world both through the lens of love and the lens of truth. In fact, Jesus demands nothing less from His disciple.

In John 5:19, Jesus said of Himself:

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

There are two important things to learn from Jesus' self-description:

1. Jesus observed what His Father was doing
2. Jesus acted on what He observed

I've been thinking on this a fair bit for the last couple of days. As a disciple of Jesus, joined to Him vitally and organically in the meno connection, I must learn also that "apart from [Jesus], [I] can do nothing" (John 15:8). And -- think about it for a moment -- if the Church as a whole becomes a people who are genuine disciples of Jesus -- seeing their world as Jesus sees it, and responding in the same way that Jesus would -- what kind of impact would this have on the world?

So in closing, take one more look at the two verses (both as translated by The Amplified Bible) that summarise, for me, what being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about:

• John 15:5 - "...Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing."
• John 15:8 - "When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine."

Bearing the fruit of intimacy with God is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus. My prayer is: "Lord, let me experience more depths of intimacy with you -- both hearing Your voice and obeying Your voice -- so that I can bear the fruit of that intimacy, bringing honour and glory to You. Amen."