Hearing is Seeing, and Seeing is Becoming

Most of what I'm about to write is heavily influenced by John Piper's book "When I Don't Desire God." If you're interested in going deeper into this discussion I would encourage you to read it.

There are two kinds of seeing. That's why God laments in several places in scripture that "seeing they do not see." (Deut. 29:4, Ezekiel 12:2, Jer. 5:21, Matt. 13:13). But what exactly does it mean to say "seeing they do not see"? It means that we have both physical eyes and spiritual eyes. Almost everyone can see with physical eyes, but no one can see with spiritual eyes, because we are all blind when it comes to seeing spiritually. The reason we are all blind is because we all have the same cause of blindness....unrighteousness. That's why Paul says in Romans 1 that "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." (ESV) However, Paul tells us that we suppress what is seen in unrighteousness, hence we have become blind. That's why millions of people can look at God's creation and give glory to chance and evolution rather than giving glory to God. Seeing they do not see. This isn't primarily an intellectual problem. It's a moral problem.
Why is it important that we see? I think there are two reasons. First, it is in seeing the majesty of Christ that we have ultimate joy and God is ultimately Glorified. This is why Paul says in 2 Cor. 4 that Satan works to blind the eyes of those who do not believe. And he is seeking to blind their eyes from something specific..."the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Satan's primary desire is that God not be glorified, and Satan knows that God is glorified the most when people truly see the majesty of Jesus Christ. When our eyes become truly opened to see Jesus the result is that our hearts delight in Him and He is glorified in our joy.
The second reason that we need to see is that in order to be with Christ we have to become like Christ, and we become like Christ by seeing Christ. It is a perpetual plunging in the grace of the Gospel of Christ that conforms us to His image. We do not move beyond the Cross in order to grow in His likeness. On the contrary, it is in diving deeper into the grace and mercy that is revealed in the Cross that we grow in His likeness. So the way that we see spiritually in this lifetime is by hearing the Word of God. When our ears are opened to hear the Gospel, our eyes are opened to see the majesty of Jesus. And this process continues throughout life. We hear more fully and deeply, and the result is that we see more clearly. And the result of seeing more clearly is that we have greater joy and give God greater glory. Yet we will never fully be like him this side of eternity because we will never fully see this side of eternity(1 Cor. 13:12). However, John tells us that a day is coming when we will see Him as he is, and the result is that we will be like Him. (1 John 3:2) So the process of hearing the Gospel in order to see the majesty of Christ, in order to delight in Him, in order to bring Him glory will be culminated on the day that He returns and we see Him perfectly both spiritually and physically. On that day, we will have ultimate joy, He will have ultimate Glory, and we shall be like Him. May God grant that we will be people who truly see the majesty of Christ. May He not say of us, "Seeing they do not see."