Spiritual Blindness Explained: A 2 Corinthians 4 Sermon

“For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” —

2 Corinthians 4:6

Understanding the Context: 2 Corinthians 4

Paul wrote this passage to a group of Christians in the city of Corinth, addressing a subject that would resonate deeply with them. If you’re new to the gospel, or you’re not overly familiar with the New Testament, reading this small portion on its own might be a little confusing — you might find yourself wondering, what’s the context here?

It wouldn’t have been confusing to the Corinthians, though, because they were Christians. They had put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so what Paul writes here would resonate with them — they had experienced it themselves. That might not be the case for you this evening, but by the end, I hope this will make a little more sense and be a little clearer.

Blindness, Leprosy, and Death: Pictures of Our Condition Before God

I want to look at how Paul describes those who are unbelieving — he says they are blinded by the god of this age. You’ll remember that Eric, in his message, referred to someone with the skin condition of leprosy. Throughout the Bible, God uses physical illnesses — leprosy, blindness, deafness, even death — to describe a spiritual reality. He takes something you and I are familiar with, something we can picture, and uses it to describe a spiritual reality we might not otherwise appreciate.

This passage does something similar with the idea of blindness. Blindness, leprosy, death, sheep having gone astray — all of these are pictures of our condition before God: we are in trouble, and we are unable to help ourselves. That’s the consistent theme running through every one of these metaphors. Blindness — unable to help ourselves. Leprosy — unable to cure ourselves. Death — unable to live again, unable to be alive. Sheep gone astray — helpless animals, wandering and completely lost. Every picture carries the same message: we are helpless, unable to help ourselves.

The Colorblind Test: A Picture of Spiritual Blindness

Recently I went through a series of medical exams having to do with my eyesight — there was a problem with my vision, so I went to the ophthalmologist, and they ran a whole battery of tests to see if my vision was functioning the way it should.

I’ve used this illustration before, so forgive me if it’s familiar, but it’s an easy one to relay. One of the tests is a colorblindness test, and it uses images like this to determine whether you have the condition. If you look at the image, most of you can probably see a number in it — it should be a seven. So if you can see the seven, that’s good news: it means you don’t have red-green color deficiency.

When I took the test and looked at that same picture, I didn’t see a seven. I just saw a series of colored dots. And if you’re looking at it now and you don’t see a seven either, I’ve got some bad news for you too — you also suffer from red-green color deficiency.

It’s interesting taking that test, because the technician administering it has a booklet full of these images and has you flip through them one by one. Very quickly, I ran out of answers, because I couldn’t see any numbers. It was almost humorous — the technician actually asked me to look again and try harder to see if I could find something.

In hindsight, it’s a little surprising that the technician administering that test didn’t seem to understand something important: whether or not I could see the seven was never a matter of effort. It wasn’t that I hadn’t tried hard enough. I could try as hard as I want. I could stare at that image for hours — I will not see the seven. It wasn’t a matter of preparation, either. It’s not that I hadn’t spent enough time at home practicing on circles full of dots. That’s not the issue. The issue runs much deeper than that: I cannot see the number, no matter how hard I try.

It’s not a matter of intelligence, either. It’s not that I need to go back to school and restudy what a seven looks like, as if I just don’t understand that part of it. That’s not the problem. It’s not intelligence, it’s not effort, it’s not education. The problem is that I have a condition — a defect. I cannot see the number. I’m colorblind.

That’s a very good illustration of you and me in our natural, spiritual state.

I’m going to leave that illustration there — I don’t want it to be the main focus of the message. I want these verses to be what you walk away with.

Two Descriptions of the Human Heart: Blinded and Unbelieving

This passage describes the human condition in two ways: blinded by the god of this world, and unbelieving.

An Active Outside Agent

First, there is an active outside agent at work — the god of this world. This is a real spiritual agent, one you and I cannot see and, for the most part, don’t perceive, but one that is actively working to keep people from seeing and understanding the message of the gospel.

Our Own Unbelief

Second, we are described as unbelievers, and this has to do with our own natural condition — this is what we are responsible for. We are people who simply do not believe.

So there are two things happening at once: an active outside agent working to keep you distracted and blind to the gospel, and your own personal condition of unbelief.

The Result: A Hidden Gospel

What’s the result of these two conditions? The passage tells us: the gospel — the good news of Jesus Christ — is hidden. It’s veiled. You don’t see it, you don’t understand it. When we explain what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you, you don’t understand it. That’s not really surprising given what Scripture says. It’s not a matter of trying harder to understand it. It’s not a matter of studying more theology or grasping every chronological detail. It’s not an education issue or an intelligence issue — it’s not that you’re too dim-witted to understand the gospel. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we are blind.

It’s the same with salvation, the same with our relationship with God. We’re sinners, separated from God, and that condition cannot be corrected by any effort we make — much like blindness, you can’t effort your way out of it. You cannot effort your way from being a sinner to not being a sinner. It’s simply not doable.

So the result is that the gospel is hidden to you. If, as you read through this passage, it doesn’t resonate with you and you don’t understand what’s being said, that’s a good indication that you’re in the category of the unbelieving — someone who doesn’t understand, who can’t see, and to whom the gospel is hidden. The gospel is hidden to those who are perishing, heading toward destruction, heading toward an existence without God.

Why This Is So Serious

This is where the gospel becomes so serious — this is such an important message, and we really want you to understand: sinners, men and women in their natural condition, blind to the gospel, are perishing. There is real urgency in this.

2 Corinthians 4:6 — What Happens When Someone Is Saved

Now I want to look at the second part of the passage — let’s read verse six together: “For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

If you were to ask a Christian, someone who is saved, what happened when you were saved — what transpired? How did you go from being blind to being someone who sees and understands? What was that transition? I think this is a great passage to turn to for an answer. It describes what happens in someone’s soul when they are saved, and the Corinthians would have resonated with it deeply. They understood what Paul was describing, because they had lived it — they had been unbelievers, they had been blind, and they had been saved. Verse six would have made sense to them in a way it might not to you if you’re not a Christian.

Notice what Paul does here: he brings these believers back to the very start of the Bible, to the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness. That’s a reference to Genesis, the first book — the God of heaven and earth who commanded light to shine out of darkness at creation. Paul is reminding them that the same God, the Almighty of eternity, the one who spoke light into existence, has worked that same kind of miracle in their lives.

A Miracle, Not a Process

This wasn’t a process they went through. This wasn’t a course they took. This wasn’t a slow transition from lost to found, from blind to sight. This wasn’t simply vision correction. No — this was a miracle worked in their lives. Paul brings their minds back to the creation of light and says: in that same way, God has caused the light of the gospel to shine in our hearts.

There are three aspects to what’s revealed in our hearts — the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ — that I want to walk through to help us remember and understand what Paul is saying.

Three Truths God Reveals at Salvation

1. Jesus Christ Is the Son of God

First, God reveals to the unbelieving soul, to the blinded mind, that Jesus Christ is actually the Son of God. Who is this person we’re talking about? He isn’t just another man, not simply a good person, not merely one of the influential figures of human history. He is something completely unique — the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Son of God. That’s the first truth revealed.

2. His Death, Burial, and Resurrection Atone for Sin

Second, the Lord Jesus Christ entered this earth, went to the cross, was crucified, died, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day — making atonement for your sin and mine. This is a crucial part of understanding the gospel. When we tell people who aren’t Christians about the Lord Jesus Christ, their response is often something like: this is a person who was taken and put to death, and that was it — someone condemned and executed at a young age. Why on earth is this an interesting story? What’s so great about this person?

The Bible actually testifies to that reaction — to those who are perishing, the gospel is foolishness. When you explain that Jesus Christ came, was taken by men, condemned, and crucified, it sounds like foolishness to the human heart. But it’s actually the wisdom of God. This Son of God entered the world willingly, knowing he would go to the cross, knowing he would be crucified, buried, and raised on the third day — and all of it was part of the sovereign will of God. Through it, he made atonement for your sin and mine.

3. God Can Justly Forgive

Third, God the Father can justly forgive your sin and mine because of what Christ has done — because someone else has taken our place. God has not simply offered forgiveness by sweeping it under the rug. He doesn’t forgive the way you and I forgive; God forgives very differently. He looks at the work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ — his death on the cross — and on that basis, he forgives your sin and mine.

The Gospel Is the Glory of God

Paul also tells us here that the gospel is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Why does this message — the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the world, going to the cross, enduring that shameful death, dying, being buried, and rising again on the third day — glorify God? There are many reasons, but here are four I’d like you to consider.

Four Reasons the Gospel Glorifies God

1. Christ Perfectly Fulfilled the Will of God

First, the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the will of God in going through all of this. You and I tend to do our own thing — we avoid pain and suffering, we avoid discomfort, and more than that, in our natural state, we avoid God altogether. If we’re not saved, we do what we want, not what God wants. In unique opposition to the experience of every human who has ever lived, here is the Lord Jesus Christ, who absolutely fulfilled the will of God, who did everything correctly — even going to the cross and enduring a death of shame.

2. A Righteous Basis for Forgiveness

Second, God is glorified because a righteous basis for the forgiveness of sins has been provided. God can forgive your sin and mine and remain righteous in doing so — and that abounds to the glory of God.

3. It Demonstrates the Love of God

Third, God is glorified in the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son because it demonstrates his love for you and me in a way that couldn’t be shown any other way. The death of his Son allows God to demonstrate his love to us. As the verse says: “God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” — “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” These verses help illustrate exactly how God demonstrates his love to us through the death of his Son. God is glorified in that.

4. Believers Are No Longer Perishing

Fourth, sinners who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are no longer perishing. Remember the first part of the passage we read — the gospel is veiled to those who don’t see it, and they are perishing. But sinners who believe are no longer perishing; they’re living. That’s the opposite of perishing — everlasting life. John 3:16 demonstrates this so well: those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are not perishing, but have eternal life. They are living — eternally living. God the Father is glorified in the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son.

Conclusion: God’s Command to Repent and Believe

I want to bring this back to you. What does this message command of you? What does the Lord of heaven and earth, God of all creation, expect from you?

In Acts chapter 17, verse 30, Paul is speaking to another audience, proclaiming the gospel, and he sums it up this way: “God commands all men everywhere to repent.” That’s the message we’re proclaiming this evening. God expects you to respond to the gospel — to repent, and to believe the gospel.

If this passage is unclear to you, or doesn’t resonate with you, would you be willing to put yourself in the category we spoke of earlier — someone who is blinded, someone who is unbelieving? That’s the first step: recognizing your own position. But I’m so thankful for how Paul brings us out of that — this passage is filled with such hope and such joy. Despite our natural condition of being blind and being unbelievers, God has moved in a miraculous way to provide salvation for you and for me. And all that’s required of you is not to work harder, not to become more educated or more intelligent, but simply to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ — to place your faith in what he has done on the cross for you.

That has been my own experience, and it has been a joy to my heart to read through the Scriptures, to see passages like this one, and to find described in words what Christ has done in my heart — and in the hearts of so many here. “For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”