“BELIEVING IS SEEING”

14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”

1 John 4:14

It’s officially winter here in Cecil Lake, B.C. Everything is already covered in snow, and one can’t help marveling at the beauty that this season brings. At the same time, this also means that things are about to slow down for most of us, especially farmers. That said, our Bible study isn’t. We’re not about to go on a spiritual diet!

In our last blog, we learned that the Holy Spirit enables us to live in the light of Scripture. Let’s proceed.

In verse 14, John presents himself (and his fellow Apostles) as eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. They have “seen” (theaomai) and “testify” (martyreō) that God the Father has sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world. The first word means “to behold, look upon, view attentively.” The second term translates as “to learn by looking, to see with the eyes, to perceive.”

Using these two words together makes a strong case that John is a reliable eyewitness to the truthfulness of Jesus’ claims, i.e., that He came from God (John 5:23) and that He came to save the sinners (Luke 19:10). John is one of those

who had personal experience and knowledge of Jesus’ earthly life.

Though God is invisible, we do “see” the fact that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. Thus, believing in Him means He is our Lord and Savior. This loving, personal relationship grows each day as the Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth and produces sacrificial love in our hearts.

People say, “To see is to believe.” They use this expression to justify their rejection of Christ. Since they can’t see Him, they won’t believe Him. The idea itself is a weak excuse to brush aside God’s offer of salvation through faith in Jesus. Obviously, Jesus is no longer here. But we do have eyewitness records of His earthly life, ministry, death, and resurrection. We have John and the rest of the NT writers who ultimately gave up their lives to make sure that the message of Christ is proclaimed to people of every generation.

More importantly, we have the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to the truth of Christ and convicts us of sin. Apart from His work, we are spiritually bling, groping in the dark. I therefore conclude, “Believing is seeing.”

Pursue the Savior today!