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Every worldview depends of faith in unseen things.

Foundations for a Christian Worldview: Unseen Things (1)

“Hear, O Israel: The LORDour God, the LORD is one!” Deuteronomy 6.4

Worldview vision
Our investigations thus far into the worldview that begins to emerge in the Law of God have focused on four topics. 

First, we said that a Christian worldview will have Jesus Christ as its defining feature and driving force. Even though Jesus does not appear in the Law of God, we understand from Jesus (cf. Jn. 5.39) that the Law points to Him and calls us to see in Him the only hope of true, full, good, and abundant life.

Second, we established a framework for considering the question of worldview, a framework that shapes up around three facets – vision, disciplines, and outcomes. We are looking at these as legs of a triangle, which interact and work together to support and strengthen the worldview as a whole.

Third, we made some general observations which will guide our study not only as we discover the Christian worldview in the Law of God, but throughout the rest of Scripture as well. Among those, we observed that the Christian worldview is both spiritual and religious, and that it holds out the promise of life and grace to all who embrace it.

Finally, we began looking at the primary components of the vision leg of our Christian worldview triangle, by making some observations about God. He is the focal point and objective of all Christian life. That which is ultimately good and true is the Three-in-One God, Who is eternal, holy, sovereign, gracious, and self-revealing. By increasing in the knowledge of God, especially as He is revealed in Jesus Christ, we may have true insight to all things good and true. The clearer and more compelling our vision, the more we will take up the disciplines and demonstrate the outcomes that characterize Christian worldview living.

This all makes good sense to the believer in Jesus Christ. Most of the time, anyway. But in our increasingly secular and materialistic age, we might be inclined to suppose that our worldview lacks a bit of solidity by being so firmly based in faith and unseen things.

But we need to recall what we have previously discussed about the nature of all worldviews.

Two points
Early in our study, we made two important points:  First, every worldview, even the most materialistic and secular, operates by faith, and is therefore religious in all aspects. Those who reject the Christian worldview as merely a faith endeavor must be reminded that in this, their own worldview is no different from ours.

Second, all worldviews are rooted in unseen realities. All people hope for and strive toward that which they do not now possess, and which is therefore unseen, except in their imaginations. Such unseen things include whatever they may consider their greatest good, what they most hope to realize in life.

For example, let’s say that the driving force of their life – their vision – is to retire comfortably and be able to live as they wish, without worry. That may indeed be a very attractive vision, engendering exciting goals and best-laid plans; however, it remains unseen and merely possible until they actually achieve it. And even when it has been achieved, it is not necessarily secure, since material goods and conditions can be frail and fleeting, not to mention unsatisfying and unfulfilling.

Those whose worldview orients toward material things must live by faith in what they do not yet see, and which, having achieved it, may not prove to satisfy all the hopes they nurtured as they envisioned it.

The big difference
The difference between the worldview of Scripture and all other worldviews is that the unseen realities in which the Biblical worldview is rooted, and to which it aspires, are real, reliable, and available now and forever. God is real; He is faithful and unchanging; we can know Him now, and we will abide with Him forever. Similarly, the soul, angels, heaven, and the power of God’s Word and faith are real. Also real and to be reckoned with now are such things as sin and fallen angels. And while even these realities will continue forever, they will not forever exercise sway over those who believe. 

These unseen things are not mere possibilities. They truly exist, can be certainly known and experienced, and are of such a nature that we may benefit from them now. When realized according to God’s intentions, these unseen things do not disappoint. They direct and shape the thinking, desires, and lifestyle of those whose vision, goals, and aspirations derive from Scripture, beginning in the Law of God.

In the Christian worldview, the unseen things that direct and motivate us are real and reliable, and they are available now and forever. They exist in a real albeit unseen place, entirely independent of our imaginations, but not beyond our attainment. And they have real power to shape the lives of those who envision and engage them, and to bring goodness, peace, joy, and pleasure to those who seek them.

The Biblical worldview grows out of the worldview kernel deposited in God’s Law. It does not surprise us that, in God’s Law, the unseen Lord holds out His unseen promises, first of all to be received in the unseen part of the human being – the soul. We do not, in the first instance, love God with the strength of our physical members, doing and obeying in a merely rote and robotic manner. This is not the way to know God and to experience the life He promises. Our first calling is to engage the Lord and His Word in our souls – heart, mind, and conscience – and then, as our God-enthralled souls direct, to bring our lives into conformity with and obedience to His Law. 

Faith, the writer of Hebrews tells us, is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. As we shall see, such faith engenders real, but unseen, power for living the Christian worldview. The assurance we possess of the reality and availability of unseen things now begins in the soul, where the unseen aspects of our own being connect and interact with the unseen realities of God and the unseen realm.

And it is to those unseen realities, beginning with the soul, that we turn in this installment of our study on the worldview of God’s Law.

For reflection
1. Why do we insist that all worldviews are based on unseen realities, and therefore must be lived by faith?

2. What do we mean by saying that the unseen realities of the Christian worldview are both real and now?

3. What would be some examples of the kind of unseen realities that make up the Christian worldview vision?

Next steps – Conversation: Meditate on Hebrews 11.1 Then talk with a Christian friend about the role of unseen things in the Christian life.

The Christian worldview focuses on Jesus. Do you know Him? Our book, 
To Know Him, can help you answer that question confidently, and equip you to tell others about Jesus as well. Order your copy by clicking here.

At The Ailbe Seminary, all our courses are designed to help you grow in your Christian worldview. Watch this brief video 
(click here) to get an overview of our curriculum, and to see again the place of Jesus in the Christian worldview.


If you value ReVision as a free resource for your walk with the Lord, please consider supporting our work with your gifts and offerings. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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