No one has seen God, but they see us. When God loves us and we love others, we are showing God to the world. If this works, people can look at us and say: “I bet you look just like your dad.”
How’s the family resemblance in your life?
Maybe we are asking the wrong questions. Is my goal to make God happy or to be like God? Is my goal to obey the rule or to be like the rule-Giver? Is my goal to escape wrath or to gain life? Am I trying to get God to leave me alone or to lead me home? Obedience should not be a burden. It is a gift and a guide.
This passage teaches us many things, but the biggest reminder is that salvation is found when we believe. It is more than knowing or hearing the word. But it is not just believing in the idea of Jesus, but it is believing in a particular series of things about Jesus. Christians have a distinctive faith.
The Christian message is not the story of a distant God. He is here to reveal truth to us personally. The final verse reminds us that this truth will only come through faith in the true God. A substitute will not do at all…There is nothing stopping us from overcoming the world together.