A Daily Walk

John Randall: The invisible God reveals himself through the visible love of believers. The love that originated in God and was manifested through His Son is now demonstrated by His people through His Spirit. That is what John is telling us concerning the presence of God's love, that which is invisible, now made visible through His people. Think about it. The evidence of God's character as it relates to His love—God is love—is manifested with skin on it through God's people.

Guest (Male): From Calvary South OC comes another edition of A Daily Walk. Pastor John Randall is leading us through the New Testament, and today we stop in 1 John chapter 4, verses 12 to 21. You know, we have daily interactions with people, whether it's at work, in the supermarket, or hanging out with friends and family. Those people may never crack open a Bible, but they are watching us. Today, we'll learn how the invisible God reveals himself through the visible love of believers. Here is Pastor John with part one of "Love Made Visible."

John Randall: First John chapter 4, picking up this morning in verse 12 with a message entitled "Love Made Visible." First John chapter 4, beginning in verse 12, if you'd follow along with me as we read from the Word of God:

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. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we've known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

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. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

This last week, I was ministering at a youth conference with my son in Georgia. We returned yesterday, and one thing that Georgia is known for, in addition to the Bulldogs and the peaches, is its humidity. You walk out of the house, and it practically smacks you in the face. But at certain times of the year, with that humidity will come these ominous thunderstorms. You begin to hear the rumbling, and not long after that, it will rain. It's amazing because it comes down and it cools things down for about five minutes before the bugs come out. That is why we live here.

But I did hear a story about a little girl who was scared during a thunderstorm, and she called out for her parents. Her father came in to comfort her. He reminded her, "Sweetheart, God is always with you." And through her tears, she said, "I know, but right now I need someone with skin on."

What the Apostle John points out here in the fourth chapter is that the church has the privilege and opportunity to be the love of God with skin on by the way that we love one another. We begin this morning, first of all, with the presence of God's love mentioned here in verse 12. "No one has seen God at any time, but if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit."

The phrase "no one has seen God at any time" is used five times separately in John's writing. In fact, in the Gospel of John, in chapter 1 verse 18, it's almost identical to chapter 4 verse 12, where we read in John 1:18, "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him."

When you think about the fact that God is invisible, what does that mean? God is invisible. Now, the Bible does tell us in Romans chapter 8 in verse 11 that since the creation of the world, God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that man is without excuse. Although God is invisible, the creation is visible, and therefore we see the design and the creative power of God on display.

Although we don't see Him, we see what He has made. It would be similar to that in a lesser form of seeing a painting. Although you never got to meet the artist, you see the work and the signature is there, and you know who painted it. Therefore, although he is invisible, you believe it because the artwork is visible. He actually painted it.

In John chapter 4 and verse 24, John tells us that God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 17, Paul commented on the invisibility of God when he said, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

So God is invisible. But some of you are Bible students; you read through the Old Testament, and you're saying, "Now wait a second. If no one has seen God at any time, explain to me this. In Exodus chapter 33 verse 11, it says that the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend."

But then you go a little bit further in that same chapter in verse 20, and it says God replied to Moses, "You cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live." So which was it? Did he see Him face to face, or did he not see Him? Is there some kind of a contradiction right here that we're not aware of? No, it's not a contradiction. You could say Moses got a glimpse, but he did not see God's complete essence.

Face to face is really a figure of speech indicating close communion that they shared with one another, an intimacy where Moses heard from the Lord. He did not see God's complete, infinite, unfiltered glory because he would not have survived. People in the Old Testament have seen manifestations, theophanies, or visions, or even a Christophany—Christ in the Old Testament—but they were partial, they were veiled, or they were symbolic. Only in Christ is God fully revealed in a way that we can understand and accept.

So if God is invisible, how did He reveal himself? Well, not just through His creation, but through the incarnation of His Son when He sent Jesus to this world. Although man has not seen God the Father, who is invisible, Jesus said to his disciples, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

So He was made visible. Jesus made Him visible to the world when He came. In Colossians chapter 1 in verse 15, Paul said concerning Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation," or the preeminent one over all creation. But Jesus ascended back to the Father. He is currently at the right hand of the Father, the Bible says, making intercession for us. So the Father is invisible. The Son is invisible. How then will the world recognize the love of God if the Father and the Son are invisible?

That brings us to the presence of God's love. The unseen God, who was historically revealed in the incarnation of His Son, is now revealed by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit in His people when they love one another. This is a profound thought this morning, folks. People may not see or read about God in the scriptures, but they observe and interpret the life of believers.

They see your Christian home, your Christian family. They see your church. They see you at work or they see you at school. When people see this remarkable, otherworldly kind of love—a love that does not respond with retaliation, a love that forgives rather than getting even, an agape love—they recognize that God's presence is among us. That's how they know. Jesus said it. We've said it repeatedly in these studies: the world will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another.

The love of God, the Bible says, has been poured into us by the Holy Spirit, and therefore if we are loving one another and loving those who are lost, it reveals at least two important facts, perhaps three. The first is it reveals that God abides in us. That is what John says here. God abides in us. The word abide means His presence through the Spirit of God resides in us.

In Romans chapter 8 verse 11, Paul said, "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." So the Spirit of God takes up residency in the life of the believer. Jesus said, "I'm not going to leave you orphans; I'm going to leave you a helper. He's going to be with you, He's going to be in you, and He's going to come upon you."

The person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 16, Paul said it this way: he asked the question, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" So the Spirit of God dwelling in the people of God, and by this we know that we're abiding in God because His Spirit resides within us.

But the second thing we come to realize, another fact, is that His love is being perfected in us. And the word perfected means completion or maturity. Not that we are perfect in how we love one another, but God's love through the work of the Spirit can reach its intended goal and its expression through us if we yield to the work of the Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, the Bible says.

The invisible God reveals himself through the visible love of believers, the love that originated in God and was manifested through His Son is now demonstrated by His people through His Spirit. That is what John is telling us concerning the presence of God's love—that which is invisible, now made visible through His people. Think about it. The evidence of God's character as it relates to His love—God is love—is manifested with skin on it through God's people.

Someone wrote this; I thought it was profound concerning the body of Christ. We are the body of Christ. Jesus is the head of the body, but we are the body functioning together. It says, "Christ has no body now on the earth but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes. You are His body. Christ has no body now on the earth except the body of Christ."

This is how people discover and realize that the love of God that is invisible is made visible. God abides in us. His love is growing and being perfected and maturing in us. John adds also in verse 13, "His Spirit has been given to us. By this we know that we abide in Him, He in us, because He's given us His Spirit." When the love of God is being worked out and worked through our lives, it provides us with assurance, and that assurance is this: we belong to the Lord.

How do you know if you're a Christian? How do you have confidence that you are a child of God? How do you know for a fact that you belong to Him? When we experience the work of the Holy Spirit within us, we realize that the Holy Spirit is in us. The Bible says it this way in Romans 8:16: "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." That is how you know. The Spirit of God is in us, He's working through us, and it is a testimony to us. It brings confidence: I'm a child of God. My life is changed.

You get the idea from the text, and throughout it really, that John wants his readers to be confident in knowing that the Lord is with them. That is why he will repeatedly say these words: "we know," "we know this," and "also we know that," and "you know what else we know? We know this." The reason he says that is because the Gnostics, who claim to know everything, were coming in and saying, "You don't really know." John says, "Wait a second. Actually, we do know, and here's how we know."

These opponents were coming in pretending to be super spiritual, and they were adversaries considering themselves to be Christian elitists having this experience with God separated from the community. These opponents believed they had the most direct connection with God, a higher knowledge. "Sorry, you don't have it. Maybe one day you'll get it, but you probably won't. But we have it, just so you know." That is kind of the way they walked around.

That is why John will repeatedly use the words: "you," "we," "us," "among us," "in us," "we know." The reason why he says that is because the community of faith was under attack, and he wanted them to have confidence. You know the Lord, and here's how it's demonstrated: it's demonstrated by your love and it's demonstrated through the work of the Holy Spirit in you and through you.

This is the assurance of the presence of God and His love. But that presence of God's love working in us and through us leads us then to the proclamation of God's love, secondly. If you look at verse 14, "And we have seen and the word is testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God."

Two words that you see concerning the proclamation: to testify and to confess. Both of these things are used in the proclamation of God's love for the world. You may recall at the very beginning of this epistle, when John opened it up, he spoke of his testimony—a testimony that he shared with the other apostles.

He said in 1 John 1:1, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld and our hands have handled concerning the word of life—and the life that was manifested, we've seen, we bear witness, we proclaim to you or testify to you the eternal life which was with the Father, it was manifested to us. We've seen and heard, we proclaim to you also that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ."

In other words, John and the other apostles had personally witnessed the ministry of Jesus. Their testimony wasn't based on secondhand information. They were there physically alongside of Him. They saw the miracles. They heard His teaching. This experience was rooted by being directly connected to Jesus, which strengthened the message that they proclaimed.

These men who walked with Jesus and talked with Jesus and spent time with Jesus—almost all of them died a martyr's death for what they were willing to testify and not deny: that He is God. John says, "We saw it, and this is what we are proclaiming to you." The opponents of the gospel claim to know Jesus, but John insisted, "We walked with him." So our testimony is greater. And what they testified was this message: the Father has sent the Son as Savior to the world.

Did you know that that sentence right there—the Father has sent the Son as Savior to the world—is really the gospel in one phrase? That is the gospel. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. This is part of, and such a powerful part of, the gospel just in one phrase. The world needed a savior, and the only savior that was available and who could actually save us was Jesus. The Father sent Him.

That illustrates for us both the origin and the purpose of salvation. The plan of redemption starts with the Father's love and initiative. John 3:16: God so loved. He started it, that He sent. Jesus didn't come of His own accord apart from the Father, but was sent in complete unity with the Father's will. And now because of this testimony of the apostles that has been passed on to us, we now have the opportunity to also proclaim God's love.

How? By confessing. By confessing, which means more than just saying it out loud; it involves a public declaration and sincere agreement with who Jesus is. Fully God and sent by the Father to be the Savior. This open confession that we make directly opposes false teachers who were denying His divine nature.

To the person who openly confesses that Jesus is Lord, it is clear—something is clear about them—and that is this: that God abides in them and they in God because they're confessing it. They're declaring it. It speaks of a mutual indwelling, a profound spiritual union between the believer and the Father.

When someone confesses Christ, they enter into an abiding relationship. Confessing Jesus is not a doctrinal box that you check. It's a living connection to the God who made you. When you genuinely believe and declare that Jesus is the Son of God, you step into relationship where the Spirit of God takes up residence in your heart and you begin to live your life in Him.

Romans chapter 10 verse 9, this is what Paul said concerning this. He said that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. In Matthew chapter 10 verse 32, Jesus spoke of confession as well, and this is what He said: "Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven."

John's point here is that if we truly believe in our heart that Jesus has been sent by the Father, we will confess that. Your confession of Jesus demonstrates that God resides in you and you dwell in God. If anyone admits this, it provides evidence: God is alive and at work in them. I confess Jesus. I'm not ashamed of the gospel; it's the power of God unto salvation. The Spirit of God is working in me, pleading through us, the Bible says, for men to be reconciled to God.

You remember in Matthew chapter 16 when Jesus asked his disciples the most critical question—and a crucial question that can be asked of us today—and that was this: "Who do men say that I am?" The disciples responded and said, "Well, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're one of the prophets." But Jesus made it more specific and He said, "But who do you say that I am? Who am I to you?"

And you remember that Peter responded and he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He confessed it. And Jesus's reply to Peter's confession was, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."

John emphasizes that if we truly believe in our heart that Jesus has been sent by the Father, we will confess that. Your confession of Jesus is evidence to the world and to us that God abides in us and that we abide in God. If anyone admits this, it provides evidence: God is alive and at work in them. I confess Jesus. I'm not ashamed of the gospel; it's the power of God unto salvation. The Spirit of God is working in me, pleading through us, the Bible says, for men to be reconciled to God.

There is a confession that acknowledges that Jesus, I need you as my savior. Confess your sins, confess my need for Him. There is a confession, and then there is also an ongoing confession of who Jesus is to this world. There is a confession of my need for God, but there is also my confession to the world that I have received salvation and that they can as well.

Guest (Male): We'll pause our study right here and come back next time with more. This is A Daily Walk; our teacher is Pastor John Randall. We're going through the entire Bible right now, start to finish. You can listen to this message online at adailywalk.org or wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a free app; search for Calvary South OC in the App Store.

And whether it's a resource or prayer request, a question related to the study, or a praise report, we would love to hear from you. Maybe you're really discouraged or even depressed and would like prayer. Drop us an email at adailywalk@gmail.com or call us toll-free at 877-242-0828. You know, pastoral ministry isn't easy, to put it mildly. Yes, there are good times, but also pressures and personal costs as well. Much of that goes unseen by the congregation.

In his new book, "The Other Side of Sunday," Pastor John shares candidly what he has learned so far in pastoral ministry with the hopes of encouraging other pastors and leaders. Whether you're a pastor, a church leader, or a member of a congregation, this book will deepen your understanding of the heart of a shepherd and point you to the one who sustains us all. The cost is just $15, and you can order it right now at adailywalk.org. Get an extra copy for your pastor as well. Again, adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828 for all the ordering details.

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