1 Peter 1:8-9

I Peter 1:8-9

     Whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.

     We believe in the unseen God.  Our eyes cannot see Him, that is true, and that turns away many, for they want to see and touch before they will revere.  But though we cannot see Him, yet we certainly can relate to Him, and not just relate from a distance, but we love Him and sense His love for us.  This relationship fills us with “joy inexpressible and full of glory.”  The extent of our joy in experiencing God’s love for us is “inexpressible,” it is hard to find proper wording.  We feel His presence in our souls – we see that He knows us like no one else knows us – He knows our thoughts, our motives, and our intentions.  He never misunderstands us.  He sees our failures and mistakes – and yet we see Him hang on the cross in proof of His love for us.  Oh how can we express our love for Him when we are so overwhelmed by His love for us?  We cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him, and believe all the more because we have experienced His forgiveness, we felt the weight of sin taken off our soul when He forgave us.  We have basked in His presence and felt the glow of His love on our chest.  We have taken Him our sorrows in prayer and felt Him lift our spirits and watched Him resolve our seemingly hopeless troubles.  We have not just believed in God, we have known God and would willingly give up everything else for this joy of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8).  Surely if we got nothing out of the relationship other than the joy of knowing God, we would find Him enough.  But our belief is not without reward.  The end of our faith is the salvation of our soul.  For reason upon reason we love our Lord, and this reason certainly not the least: He has saved our soul.