2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 1:6; Revelation 21:5

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Anything we can see in the world is perishing. Nothing gets younger or newer with age. New cars, clothes, and houses are all in a progressive state of degradation. Unfortunately, this is also true of our bodies. The body of every person we know has the same destination-- six feet in the ground. These thoughts are depressing, I only state them as a setup for what comes next.

There is one thing that does get newer, brighter, shinier and closer to perfection with each hour and that is the Christian soul. This is the thing which is "not seen", and if only we could see with our eyes what is happening in the Christian soul day after day and year after year, we would be very encouraged. The good news is that according to this passage, we can actually look at the things which are not seen which means we are able to, at least in a symbolic sense, see this amazing renewal occurring in ourselves and in others.

I think the ability to see this comes only with a trained "eye". The degrading outward man acts like a semi-transparent cover which allows us to see inside only at certain angles and when we are really focusing. The better we can train ourselves to see inside, the more encouraged we will be. I think that if we get good at this, a reversal may occur, where the ugliness of the degrading outer man becomes the invisible part and the renewing inner man is all we can see. Wow! And even better than that, some day, the cover of the outward man will be gone completely and we will all be left only with the perpetually new inner man.