The Works of God

Disability references are found everywhere in the Bible – more than 350 verses in 40 of the 66 books contain some reference to disability, disease or skin condition.  It is suggested at times that certain references to disability are metaphors for something else.  For example, Paul writes this to the Corinthians:

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4

“Blinded the minds” is obviously pointing to something other than a lack of physical sight.  Yet we should be stunned at how devastating this type of blindness is!  Paul is not just playing with words to get people’s attention, he is talking about a literal blindness far more devastating than not being able to see in this physical world.

Pastor John writes about how stunning this type of  blindness really is:

We are talking about glory—radiance, effulgence, brightness. Glory is the outshining of whatever is glorious. The glory of God is the beautiful brightness of God. There is no greater brightness. Nothing in the universe, nor in the imagination of any man or angel, is brighter than the brightness of God. This makes the blindness of 2 Corinthians 4:4 shocking in its effect. Calvin says it with the kind of amazement it deserves: “They do not see the midday sun.” That is how plain the glory of God is in the gospel. When God declares the omnipotent word of creation and “[shines] in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” the curtains are pulled back in the window of our Alpine chalet, and the morning sun, reflected off the Alps of Christ, fills the room with glory. From God Is the Gospel, p. 74

To have the type of blindness Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is infinitely worse than having natural eyes that don’t work.  But if you see the glory of Christ, you have been given the best kind of sight of all – regardless of whether your eyes work or not.  And if you have perfect sight, but don’t understand Jesus in this way, then seek him more than you have sought anything ever in your life.  Your eternity is at stake.