Letters from the Beloved: Has anyone seen God?
No one has seen the Father, except Jesus, as He tells us in John 6:46 [NKJV] "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”
Or have they?
John 14:9 [NKJV] “Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?”
No, no human has seen the Father, but those who walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry have seen the Father in and through Him.
But Jesus has gone back to heaven to be with our Father. So, are we left with no way of seeing the Father? Of course not, as we will see in the passage of 1 John we will reflect on in this blog.
Once again, John, the Beloved, reinforces a message he first heard from Jesus and report in his gospel.
1 John 4:12 [NKJV] “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”
John repeats that no human has seen God. But, through showing love, love that is perfected in us by God dwelling in us, we are showing God to the world around us.
In 1 John 4, verses 7-9, the beloved tells us more than once that God is love. Then, in verse 17, John says, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
“Because as He is, so are we in the world.” Love is perfected when we live like Jesus lived on this earth.
When others see us, they should see Jesus and, thereby, see the Father as well.
But, sweet sisters, I must report with great sadness that too many people see ugliness like polarizing political rhetoric that has replaced the message of His soon coming Kingdom. They hear the gospel of name calling, condemnation and sin ranking instead of the gospel of peace. They see churches greedy for riches and ornate buildings with leaders who accumulate great wealth instead of humble servants who share the riches of the Kingdom and help the poor. They see warmongering justified by the tenuous thread of a single scripture conveniently interpreted to their side in the conflict.
Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world”. John 18:36
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”. John 8:11
Jesus ate with sinners and was their friend. Matthew 11:19.
Jesus taught us that tragedy cannot been linked to someone being a greater sinner than us. Luke 13:2-4.
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30
Jesus said, “the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”. Luke 9:58
Jesus warned against leaders accumulating wealth at the expense of the needy. Matthew 23:14.
Jesus taught us that we will be judged by how much we help the needy. Matthew 25:31-46.
Jesus said, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven”. Matthew 6:20.
Sisters, we can work toward righting the focus and reputation of the modern New Testament Church, through prayer and fasting, by setting a fight example both in the church and in our work/home/community, and by holding church leadership accountable, as Jesus did [See Matthew 23:15 and others].
1 John 4:12 [NKJV] “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”
Sweet sisters, we were not called to judge others or get into political arguments or to build fancy church buildings.
But the most impactful thing we can do is to truly walk as Jesus walked on this earth. Setting that example – being the salt and the light in this world – is what we were called to do. Matthew 5:13-16.
Clothe the naked. Feed the hungry. Visit the sick and imprisoned. Let’s each be an army of one to spread love and peace by fulfilling the needs of others. We may not be able to turn around the reputation of the church, but we each have to opportunity to be an impactful example of Christ and the Father by being in the world as Jesus was when He was in the world.
I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section or at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org