By Chaplain (Col) Stephen W. Leonard, USA, Ret.
“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” 1 Peter 1:8
None of us living in the Twenty-First Century have seen Jesus Christ. So how can we love what we have never seen? This is the mystery of faith.
Faith has the capacity to do remarkable things. Faith can actually bring the unseen Jesus, the Son of God, into the closest relationship with us. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, is in such intimate relationship to us that nothing can supplant Him in our life and in our heart.
So, how do we bring him unseen into such an intimate connection? Is Jesus like a fantasy person which we create in our childhood? Is he a fairytale we envision from clever fairytale books read to us as children? Just how does Jesus differ from these fantasy characters in our minds?
First of all, Jesus is real, and He is alive, having been raised from fatal crucifixion by God, the Creator of all that is. He may be removed from our sight, having ascended into heaven in the First Century, but He exists in our life and at the right hand of God because He truly is!
Second, He is presented to us by a “written Word,” of which He is “the living Word.” Jesus is the “logos” of God, the Word (logos) of God Himself. We read all about Him in our Bible, the inerrant, Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God. The Bible expresses the real person, the living Christ, to all our senses. Our faith grasps this real Jesus as we read and meditate on the Word, which fully presents Him to us.
Third, our faith, and the Spirit of God causes Jesus to live in us in full relationship; a relationship which we feel, and are able to know Jesus is truly there.
We are not alone, for Christ is present within us. By faith, we fully acknowledge that He alone is our interceder with His Father. We can approach God the Father as His loved children, without shame, and with bold confidence, because He sees us through the righteousness of His Son, as though we are righteous ourselves. Jesus’ righteousness is imputed into us.
This relationship with Jesus is the wonder of faith for us, and the doing of the Holy Spirit who regenerates us so that we are “born again.” (Read John 3 and the story of Nicodemus). Jesus has promised believers that He will never leave us nor forsake us. You can be sure He never breaks His promise!
Encouragement
“O Savior, precious Savior, whom yet unseen we love, O Name of might and favor, all other names above; we worship You, we bless You, to You alone we sing; we praise You, and confess You our holy LORD and King.”
(1st verse of Frances Havergal’s hymn, “O Savior, Precious Savior,” 1870)
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