Submission by Joyner Briceño
God gave every human being five senses to function in this world: sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. Without one of these senses, a person is considered to have a disability. In the same way, as new creations in Christ, God designed us with a spiritual ability to function in this world as Jesus did. Without it, we live spiritually disabled, like anyone without Christ.
Before Adam’s fall, he could perceive spiritual reality beyond the five senses. This ability—what I call the sense of the heart—was how Adam experienced the spiritual realm. As a perfect being united with God, Adam’s spiritual eyes of the heart were open, enabling him to interact with God and His kingdom through this perception.
Genesis 3:7 (NLT):
“At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.”
When Adam fell, humanity was reduced to relying only on the five senses to perceive the world. Adam died spiritually, losing the ability to perceive through the sense of the heart. Scripture says his eyes were opened—marking the moment he began to function solely with physical senses.
The good news is that through Jesus’ resurrection, this ability was restored. As John 3:3 says, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When we are born again, this spiritual perception becomes available, but it is not automatic.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT):
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
All believers in Christ can walk by the spiritual sense of the born-again heart, but many do not. Too often, we are dominated by our five senses. Many Christians are unaware of what truly happened at the resurrection, and as a result, they live as though victory is not available. Some even preach that suffering and defeat are God’s will, ignoring the supernatural life Christ made possible.
Every believer is called to live by faith so that God’s supernatural reality becomes part of daily life. The kingdom of God is available to us through the Holy Spirit and the power of Christ’s resurrection. This is why it is vital to understand the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—because who we are in Him and what we have in Him are rooted in these events.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT):
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
The resurrection of Christ opened an unseen reality. Faith allows us to perceive it with our hearts and access it. When we trust this unseen reality more than our physical circumstances, what is spiritual can become visible in our lives. But too often, believers remain entangled in worldly cares, letting their five senses dominate. We must develop spiritual perception to receive all that Christ has provided.
How do we develop the sense of the heart?
We begin by imagining, through Scripture, our identity and inheritance in Christ. We let the Word of God shape our perception, embracing the images the Holy Spirit places in our hearts.
The Gospels give us a picture of this in Luke 24.
Luke 24:31 (NLT):
“Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!”
The disciples on the Emmaus Road experienced the opening of their spiritual perception. Adam and Eve had their physical senses opened after the fall, but through Christ’s resurrection, the disciples’ spiritual perception was restored.
It was when they encountered the resurrected Christ, revealed through Scripture, that they recognized Him. Before that, Jesus walked with them for seven miles, yet they did not perceive Him through their physical senses.
The only way to perceive the kingdom of God is through the revelation of grace and righteousness by faith—where the power of the resurrection is revealed. As we grow in this revelation, our spiritual perception deepens, and we learn to live more fully by faith, through the sense of the heart.
