Seeing God

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of August, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

In our reading of the Apostle John’s letters to the early church, we’ve seen how he emphasizes love with the occasional warning thrown in.  God loves us, and if we love Him, we will show our love by loving others and helping them in their times of need.

We can also see that John is very concerned about the spiritual welfare of those reading his letters, which includes us.  He encourages us to avoid the darkness and walk always in the light, to cleanse ourselves of unrighteousness and strengthen our faith so that we can be one with God and He with us.

John clearly practiced Jesus’ command to love others, as he showed his love to all, even folks he would never meet, like us today.

This morning, we continue with John’s 1st letter by finishing up chapter 4.  Remember that he opened the chapter by giving us a simple test to determine if someone who claims to speak for God truly has God’s Holy Spirit within them, or the spirit of the world.  There are those working against Jesus, who have the spirit of the Antichrist within them, who believe in and spread only the views of the world.  John warned us not to be drawn in by the world’s viewpoint and be blinded to the biblical view.  The Apostle Paul echoed many of John’s comments and also encouraged us to look deep within ourselves as well, to test the strength of our own faith.

So for today, let’s return to where we left off and finish chapter 4 of John’s 1st letter by looking at verses 12 through 21, reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.

13 We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way God’s love is perfected in us, so that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears is not perfect in love.

19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 We have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

--1 John 4:12-21 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Almighty God, Thank You giving the Apostle John insight into both Your love for us and what You expect of us.  At the request of Your Son Jesus, You gave us Your Holy Spirit and He dwells in us.  You are in us, and Your love is perfected in us.  Thank You, Father, for loving us so much and for showing us how to love.  Sadly, Father, sometimes we just can’t find it within ourselves to love others as we love ourselves.  Too often we fail to love as Jesus loves: unconditionally, sacrificially.  Forgive us these times, please Father.  Help us be more loving, and help us show our love in tangible ways.  Keep reminding us of how much You and Jesus love us.  And please protect us, Father.  Shield us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us how best to live in love.  Help us show Your love to others in all our words and deeds, every day in every way.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Bruce Shelly, in his book Christian Theology in Plain Language, wrote: 

“It is possible for a person to contend that a poem is nothing but black marks on white paper.  And such an argument might be convincing before an audience that could not read.  You can examine the print under a microscope or analyze the paper and ink but you will never find something behind this sort of analysis that you could call 'a poem'.  Those who can read, however, will continue to insist that poems exist.”

What is a poem but simply a bunch of words placed together in some semblance of order.  And what is a word but a grouping of marks, again in a certain order.  To someone who can’t read, would some grouping of marks have any meaning to them?  If you can’t read and understand Japanese, is their writing at all meaningful, other than maybe looking pretty?

Do “words” behind those markings really exist, and if they indeed are words, do they come together to make a “poem”?  Well, if you can read words printed in any language, and see how those words come together to form a poem, then that poem can convey not only meaning but something of significance in the reader’s life.

And so it is with God.  Those who do not know Him cannot truly see Him.  They will doubt there even is a God.  Those who believe, on the other hand, those whose faith is strong, will continue to insist that God exists.  And not only does He exist, but His hand is still at work in our lives.

There really is a poem here, and it is God’s word.

So John starts our passage this morning by claiming that no one has seen God at any time.  Now this makes sense, when we consider that God is spiritual, not physical.  Our eyes cannot see into the spiritual spectrum.  We may be able to see His “hand” at work, but we cannot see Him.

Since we’ve already seen that John repeats himself often, to make sure we get the point, we shouldn’t be too surprised that he said the same thing about God in the 18th verse of the 1st chapter of his Gospel account, when he wrote...

18 No one has seen God at any time. The only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

--John 1:18 (MEV)

Of course, John simply got this little tidbit from God Himself, and it all goes back to when Moses asked to witness God in all His glory.  Moses recorded God’s reply in chapter 33 verse 20 of his Book of the Exodus, when God said…

20b “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live.”

--Exodus 33:20b (MEV)

God is God, after all.  And if God wanted us to be able to see Him, then we could see Him.  Since He is the one almighty God, the Creator of all there is, I can only imagine that His face would shine brighter than a thousand suns.

Then again, if we could see Him, what would be the point of faith?  It’s easy to believe in something we can see with our own eyes, even though we can be fooled sometimes.  But God gave us faith so that we can believe without the need of physically seeing.  We can “see” God through our hearts, where He dwells within us in the person of His Holy Spirit.

God dwells within us, and His love is perfected in us.  God is revealed to us through His Holy Spirit within us.  And while we cannot “see” the Spirit either, we should be able to see His fruits at work in our lives.

If we look deep within anyone who truly believes, we can see God in His Holy Spirit by the fruits of His Spirit.  The Apostle Paul put it like this, in the 15th chapter of his letter to the Galatians, verse 16 and verses 19 through 26…

16 I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

19 Now the works of the flesh are revealed, which are these: adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, rage, selfishness, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I previously warned you, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. 24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.

--Galatians 5:16,19-26 (MEV)

This is our guidance.  Those who believe that Jesus is Christ and who follow Him, God’s Holy Spirit lives in us.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, bearing His fruit to the world.

Let us love all others, being always joyful and peaceful.  Let us be patient and gentle with all, showing our faith by spreading goodness where we walk.  And let us exhibit meekness and humility as Jesus asks of us by exercising self-control.

Let us bury our passions and lusts and conceit, no longer provoking or envying one another.  For how can others see God in us if we can’t see Him within ourselves?

God is love.  John promises that whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  And this is how God’s love is perfected in us, because when we love as Jesus loved, we are as Jesus was in this world.  So we need have no fear when we stand before God on the Day of Judgment, for love casts out fear.

Last week in the first part of this chapter, John reminded us that, “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us.”  Today he adds to that by saying, “We love God because He first loved us.”  If we truly love God, we will love others, so that they too might see God through our love and our deeds, in our words and our actions, by our patience and gentleness.  This is what we are commanded to do.

Let us show our love so that all can see what - and Who - is in our hearts.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who loves us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for showing us so great a love.  Thank You for being so merciful upon us that You would adopt us as Your own and give us eternal life just for following Your Son Jesus.   And thank You for showing us through Your word what love truly means.  Forgive us those times, please Father, when we fail to show Your love to all, refusing to love those we deem unlovable.  Forgive us when we act out of our passions rather than always out of love.  Forgive us when we hesitate to step out of our comfort zone and try to help someone come to know Jesus, the greatest love of all.  Please help us be more like Jesus.  Help us remember how He loved, giving of Himself and His all just for us.  And please, Father, shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, when You walked this earth, You loved without condition and without the expectation of any earthly reward or recognition.  You followed Your Father’s command to love others, knowing that Your reward would be saved up in heaven.  Thank You, Jesus, for setting the example for us to follow.  Please forgive us when we hesitate to love as You loved.  Forgive us when we aren’t willing to give of ourselves equally to those we like and those we don’t like.  We pray, Lord, that You please help us be better disciples, following You and Your commands more closely.  And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.

Lord Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.