“But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail, untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:14).
TEXT — 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Message
Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880–June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion, Anne Sullivan, who taught her language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first blind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Asked what could be worse than being born blind, Keller quickly replied, “The only thing worse than being blind is, having sight but no vision”.
Paul referenced the blindness of Jewish religious leaders in today’s text. As merchants of the outdated, Old Testament religious practices, they continued in their blindness, despite all attempts by Christ to open their eyes to the requirements of God. The veil of the old religious order still covered their faces. They allowed their minds to be blinded by that which could not save. They prided themselves as children of Abraham and claimed the Law of Moses as the ultimate requirement for salvation. Some of these heretics were very prominent in the provinces, towns and cities where Paul preached salvation by faith trough Christ. There was nothing else to do for them but to cry unto God for their salvation.
Blindness of the mind, often referred to as “mind-blindness,” is a phrase used to describe the inability to understand and interpret the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of others, essentially meaning someone is “blind” to the mental states of people around them. This concept is often associated with autism spectrum disorder. Our application here is much broader than the physical or mental disability. When someone allows his or her mind to be blinded by something with such an overwhelming influence, it closes one’s mind to reality, no matter how good it is.
A spiritually blind person can’t accept the claims of God because he “just can’t see it.”. This is a great obstacle for the Spirit of God to overcome. This does not in any way suggest that God, or the gospel, is powerless. It’s a fact that God will not force you into something you do not willingly accept. He respects man’s right to choose, which, He won’t take away from him. It’s up to each person to accept or reject God’s entreaties.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
