One of the most profound questions we can ask is, “How can we see God?” Even Philip had that question. Although John tells us that no one has ever seen Him in His fullness, he says that we can see God in the community of believers. Let’s look into 1 John 4:12-16
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Seeing God in Community
The biblical message is clear: “No one has seen God at any time.” The Bible never exhorts us to try to “see God, the person” in His fullness, but the whole point is so that we the Church would manifest, because we are the body of Christ. When Christians express the one who is greater that lives in them, His love is expressed in acts of genuine care, kindness, and compassion. Many people come to us looking for love, validation, help, and our attitude when dealing with all of them should be the same as Christ, when we live from the Spirit. Our attitude should be “the buck stops here”, because the one in me is capable of solving all the problems in the natural and the spiritual. That is how Jesus lived.
In such an environment Christ is manifested. I have heard many people say, I wish Christ was still around so that they could be healed. That statement is a huge indictment on the Church. Because Mark 16 says that we the church should be able to provide healing through Christ in us. Every problem that Christ would solve, is ours to solve. When people miss Christ, they are missing the expression of Christ through love and also through power.
Not Babel, But through Christ
Modern day church has downgraded itself to a psychological festival where everyone shares their problems, and console each other. I know leaders who would just have prayer meetings to discuss their problems rather than pray over it. And these leaders would say that people need to hear each others problems and need comfort. See, why it is just human psychology? God is out of the mix, as their sovereignty doctrine dictates He is the one who did it. They just need each other. Needing each other without God in the mix is what caused the Tower of Babel to be a demonic entity. But God expects, believers to take up the mantle, bear each others burden, be indebted to love, and serve.
How do We Express Christ?
The Greek phrase for “of His Spirit” emphasizes to express out of the Spirit. In other words, it is not by our own effort that we come to know Christ, but through the Spirit’s work in us that love blossoms and faith takes root. We are already one with the spirit of the Lord (1 Cor 6:17), and all we need to do is to express who we are. This makes His presence visible among us.
If it is all about an effort or “what would Jesus do?”, you will soon fall short, get exhausted, and back-slide, because you end up following a rule based religion. Some people say that love is a decision, but it is not entirely true. If it was, any person outside of Christ would be able to do so. But love is an expression of Christ within us.
There will be the Black Sheep
John emphasizes this point over and over again in this letter. He says that if you are in Christ, you will love. But if you hate, you are not in Christ. There will always be people who claim to be believers who just hate. I once heard a pastor say that I absolutely love God, but I hate the people I am dealing with. That is impossible if he is a child of God.
There are others who say they are believers, but they won’t really confess that they are but say they are finding themselves (whatever that means). That is impossible too. You are either in Christ or not. You are either a child of God or you are not. As John 15:26-27 says the Helper, the Holy Spirit, guides us into all truth(John 16:13-14), and says YOU WILL BEAR WITNESS, as in confess that Jesus is Lord. It is something that is inevitable. There is no half-measure here.
So John emphasizes as in 1 John 5:6–10 and 1 John 4:2, and says that it is the Spirit who testifies that Jesus is the Christ who came in the flesh. Anyone who is not testifying that, or says they are on the fence, really isn’t a child of God. That’s alright because identifying them is critical to sharing the gospel to them. Sometimes by mistaking them to be believers, we may never reach out to them. But the focal point here is that Spirit’s work in us is not only the source of our love but also the means by which we recognize and proclaim Jesus as the Son of God.
Ministers, Love is Not a Means to an End
There is a danger when love is used merely as a means to an end—such as recruiting people to a church or advancing an agenda—rather than being a free and genuine expression of Christ’s love. I’ve experienced this firsthand.
I remember when I moved to a new place and connected with the local church; the people were amazing—so loving and kind, really showing love like I hadn’t seen before. They even helped me look for jobs and all that. But then I figured out that if I wanted to minister, I had to move on, so I talked to the Pastor and left that church. But honestly, after that, the support just vanished—the calls stopped, everything was silent. I felt like an outcast. I tried to go back to connect with them, but I soon realized I wasn’t welcome anymore. For a lot of people, love seems to come with strings attached, like they want you to join the church or ministry and not just a genuine show of what Christ gave us for free. We really need to watch out for this. I’ve learned since then that everyone makes mistakes, and I’m not judging them for it—I’ve got my own too. But the bottom line is that true love is just like Christ’s love: He gave freely.
Conclusion: Beholding God Through Love
Ultimately, how can we see God? We see Him when we come together as believers—when believers express Christ in them through love, faith and power. When we live by His Spirit, not only through love but also by faith in action, our lives become a testimony of God’s transformative love and power. In the loving, selfless actions we extend to others, the invisible becomes visible: God is there, expressed in every smile, every act of kindness, every manifestation of power and every sincere confession of Jesus’ lordship.
In doing so, we not only experience a profound mutual abiding with God, but we also make His presence known in our world—illuminating the truth that the Father has sent the Son to be our Savior.
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