No One Has Ever Seen God - J..

Good evening. It is truly a joy and a pleasure that the Lord has allowed for us once again to come on this Lord's Day and partake together in fellowship and in worship and song and now to pray for His blessing for the preaching of His word. So if you have your Bibles with you, we're going to continue our study of the book of John, the gospel according to John. We're still in chapter one. This evening we'll be finishing of this gospel.

We've been here for several months and it's been a glorious experience for myself in the study because you can never get enough of reading about our glorious Savior and His attributes. So this evening we will be examining or unpacking chapter 1, verse 18 in particular. But as we've always done when we gathered and we've studied this book, we've read through the first 18 verses just so that we can get a proper context. And then we will just hone our efforts on that one verse by God's grace. So if you have your Bibles open, John chapter one, and I'll be reading from verses one through 18.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was nothing or not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has no timings.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through Him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. We were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about Him and cried out, This was He whom I said, He who comes after me reigns before me because he was before me.

From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.

Amen. This is the Word of the Lord. Verse 8 again. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.

If this verse is the crescendo or the climax of the whole passage and the heart of the Gospel itself, In these few words we find the very reason that the eternal Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And in them the Apostle John answers the question, is it possible to truly know God? Can simple people like us actually know the invisible Almighty God? If the answer is yes, and it is, then it is hands down the greatest news for mankind. There can be nothing more fulfilling to the human soul than to have the knowledge of God.

There can be nothing more fulfilling to the human soul than to have the intimate love relationship with the only true Creator of the universe. Nothing else is worthy of our most beloved. Listen to what the Lord says in Jeremiah 9, verse 23. Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might.

Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows Me. That I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. Beloved, this is the greatest blessing. To know God.

To know God is the reason for our existence. We were made for this purpose. Don't buy into the lie that we are a product of luck or happenstance. Beloved, we've been purpose-built. Our existence is not a coincidence or random choice, and we certainly have not, as many suggest, evolved from the process of genetic mutations from one species to another, with the end result what you see before you, human life.

No. That's ridiculous. The world espouses these theories and deceptions, but we cannot allow our hearts to be swept up by these godless philosophies. Because we know, by the authority in God's Word, that there is but one God, who created all things, including the crowning glory of His whole creation. Man and woman, He created them in His own image.

Purpose built, beloveds, to be in a warm, loving fellowship with Him and to enjoy Him forever. Anything less will fall short of the goal of our very existence. But we know how the story goes. Adam sinned. And he sinned in that garden and he plunged all of humanity into sin.

intimate fellowship he once enjoyed, now broken. So now the Bible tells us that all mankind is born spiritually blind, now unable because of sin to enjoy fellowship with God. And now, beloved, herein lies the greatest problem facing mankind. How can spiritually blind people be reconciled to a God they cannot see? How can human beings like us, living in darkness, to be reconciled to a God who lives in unapproachable light.

By ourselves it's impossible. But the Prophet Jonah tells us rightly that salvation is of the Lord. And our great God in His full mercy and grace, He has made a way in His grace to be known and to be reconciled to His people. And so the Apostle John is now making this point in the last verse of this prologue. It's the good news.

In fact, it's the greatest news we could ever hear. Reconciliation, redemption, salvation, and eternal life is on offer through the mediating work of the Eternal Word, the Son of God, God Himself, Jesus Christ. Beloved, no one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He has made it known. So this morning I want to unpack the elements of this verse.

and walk our way through it in order to understand how it is that mankind can truly know God. It's no secret that Christianity has many critics. It's been constantly under attack. There are some who spend their time and effort searching the Scriptures, but not by noble means. They don't search the Scriptures to be enlightened and to be edified by God's Word, but rather to refute it and discredit it.

trying with all their effort to claim that the Bible is full of contradictions. But this should not surprise us, because our battle is not against flesh and blood. Having said that, and although their efforts are ultimately unsuccessful, their theory is predicated upon a good premise. That is to say, if the Bible contains contradictions, then the Christian claim of internal consistency and biblical inerrancy, meaning the Bible does not have errors, and that would be refuted. So this is one passage they claim to have proof of error.

Because the Apostle writes, no one has ever seen God. Now at first glance we might too ask the question, what about the Old Testament? How many occasions in the Old Testament do we know of that are written in Scripture when we know people did in fact see God? Genesis 7, Genesis 17, 1 and 2. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord, it is, appeared to Abraham.

and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. God appeared to Abraham. Another example, it's found in Exodus 24 verses 9 through 11. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the 70 elders of Israel went up, that's up to the mountain of the Lord, and they, it is, saw the God of Israel.

They beheld God and ate and drank. Genesis 32, 30. Jacob, after wrestling all night with God, says, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. Finally, in Exodus 6, verse 3, for those who claim a mistaken identity on behalf of those who saw in previous verses, God himself he says the following. I am the Lord I appear to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob as God Almighty So how is it that we are to harmonize these passages that I've just read that clearly state that people in fact have seen God and He did reveal Himself to them in some sense at least with the words of John 1.

18 no one has ever seen God Well you've heard it before Context, context, context. Never take words out of context. Taking these verses out of context will land us in much error. You see, in the examples I gave, men did indeed see God, but not in the fullness of His glorious essence. Many times in the Bible we read of God revealing Himself in a theophany or a Christophany, where God accommodates Himself in a way so as to not Do these people really see God?

Yes, but not in His glorious fullness. The complete fullness of the essence of God cannot be seen by man, and I dare say will never fully be seen and apprehended by finite human beings. Even the Seraphim in the temple, the heavenly temple in Isaiah chapter 6, if you remember that glorious passage, Their eyes are covered by their wings because they cannot look upon the glory of God. But beyond that, God cannot be seen because He has no physical body. He's invisible, Colossians 1.

15, and He is Spirit, John chapter 4. As far as His glorious radiance, His transcendence, His magnificence and His holiness, it's too glorious to be seen by mere human beings Sinful man would be disintegrated in an instant, and God knows it, so He accommodates He accommodates in His manifestations of Himself to His people. We find these two elements in the same chapter in Exodus chapter 33. So let's open our Bibles and go there so we can get a clearer understanding of how we can harmonize the two. Exodus chapter 33, we'll read verse 11 and then we'll skip over a few verses and we'll read from verses 17 through to 23.

So Exodus 33 and we'll start with 11. Verse 11, Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Face to face. Why? Does that mean that Moses saw God in all his glorious essence?

Has John been refuted? Hold that thought and let Moses himself answer the same question that we asked. Let's go now to verse 17. We'll read from 17 through 23. For context, Moses has just made intercession on behalf of the people of Israel before God, so that the Lord will come and journey with them into the promised land, despite their simpleness and despite their rebellion.

And God agrees because of Moses. So verse 17, And the Lord said to Moses, This very thing that you have spoken, I will do it. For you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name. Moses said, Please show me your glory. Now remember, Moses, a few verses earlier, saw God face to face.

Now he says, Please show me your glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But, he said, Elias, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock.

And while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by then. Then I will make or take my hand away, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. That word face is the same in verse 11 as it is in verse 18. Beloved, do you see what's happening here? Did He or did He not see the God of Israel?

Did Moses see God's face in His fullness? See, Moses did indeed converse with God face to face, but only as far as God accommodated for him to do so. This is the same fabric of Isaac, Jacob. It was a manifestation of God that could be seen by man without being completely consumed by the One who lives in unapproachable light. We have many examples of this type of face-to-face interaction with God, or the angel of the Lord.

But right here, although we're told Moses spoke to God face-to-face, and only a few verses later he writes he was unable to look into the face. Moses hadn't forgotten what he wrote only a few moments earlier. And this can be easily understood if we acknowledge two things. First, to look upon the unmitigated fullness of God in all His glory will no doubt end in complete destruction. No man can look upon the fullness of the glory of God.

And the second, metaphorical language is used. God has no face, God has no arms, He's got no legs and He doesn't have a back God is spirit But it's what we call anthropomorphic language, human language It's accommodating language for us to understand So that we can understand what's happening here Moses did see God's glory, only a glimpse of it He didn't see the fullness of God's glory So there is obviously no contradiction in Moses' mind. And there should be none in ours either. But we need to keep these things in mind when we examine other such occurrences in scripture. You'll find a tremendous consistency.

And when you do, you should agree with the statement of John verse 80 that no one has indeed seen God in His unmitigated glory. And then John paints a beautiful picture for us in the very next phrase. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. But before we examine what's meant here, I need to quickly address a textual variant. Because many of us have different translations of the Bible.

A variant is simply a difference between one manuscript and another. It shouldn't cause us to be alarmed. Because as we all know, the Bible was, or the manuscripts were written far before the printing press. So they were written by human hands. And so human error may have occurred as the words were scribed.

But by God's grace and in His wisdom, He was pleased to providentially provide for us thousands upon thousands of manuscript copies over time. This meant that scholars are able to compare these manuscripts and correct most variants relatively easily and with a great degree of confidence to reflect the original autographs. So, one of these variants is found in these books. Some translations read, only God, or only Son who is at the Father's side. And others read, only begotten Son, or only begotten God.

The latter affirming the eternal generation of the Word from the Father. I just wanted to make you aware of the variant. We won't spend much time examining it here this evening, because examining manuscripts can be rather dry exercise, so they tell me I'll know it. But to give you an indication, it's only one letter that makes the difference between God and Son. And from what I have read, most scholars and commentators agree that the oldest and most reliable manuscripts favor the translation, only God, who is at the Father's side.

Beloved, either way, for the purpose of our study this evening, the truths in both translations are supported completely by the Apostle John in the 4th Gospel, and throughout the Bible. Whether it's the eternal Word of Jesus Christ being spoken of as God, his dignity confirmed. or the only to go God, or even as the unique son of God, we know all these truths are easily defended throughout the Bible. So although certainty would be great, we shouldn't get hung up on these barriers because there is no essential doctrines that aren't taught elsewhere that hang on the line if we get this one wrong. But we can be sure that it is what John is saying and proclaiming.

What he is saying is this. Jesus Christ, whether he's emphasising his deity or his sonship, who is at the Father's side, has made God known. Another way the original reads, being in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. The language is one of closeness, intimacy and love. It's one of intimate fellowship that spans back into eternity past.

And in fact the relationship is described for us in the present tense. So as to say that even when Jesus was in his earthly ministry, he never stopped being in the bosom of the Father. God is on the present. There was not a time when the word was not in the intimate or love relationship in close proximity with the Father But now we need to slow down and take some time to comprehend the beautiful imagery John is portraying for us in this verse that can easily be overlooked Many of you are aware probably that in the ancient Near East when people gathered for a meal they didn't sit on a regular table like we do on upright chairs Rather, they would have had cushions or a piece of fabric on the ground, or even on an elevated brick bench, and then they would sit down and they would have the food slightly elevated on the table. The night would be long after a hard day's work, so they would eat and recline back in a comfortable position for hours.

If you've seen some of the better Lord's Supper depictions, you may have seen the way an artist draws the disciples around the table, relaxed and reclined as though sleeping on one side, one next to the other. This would mean that one person was almost in the lap of the next person beside him. There was an incredible advantage to be seated near the person of honour. Because being in such close proximity meant that you would also be apprised to his conversations and many heart-to-hearts that you could have. This is what it means to be the Muslim or the father.

This is the fellowship that us Christians enjoy in union with Christ. The closeness he enjoyed from all eternity and the closeness believers also enjoy with our Triune God. This fellowship is a strong point in the epistle of 1 John. So it's needless to say that this apostle understood exactly the closeness that is intended in the language that he's using. In fact, he gives an example at the Lord's Supper.

So open your Bibles with me to John chapter 13. We'll read from verse 21 through 26 to just understand this imagery. John 13, 21-26. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.

One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, that's John, was reclining at the table at Jesus' side, literally in the bosom of Jesus. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So the disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, It is he who I will give his spoils for bread when I have dipped it. You see, Peter leaned over and asked John to ask Jesus who will betray him.

John was in the privileged position, in the side of Christ. Closeness and love is implied here, certainly. But it's also meant to be a privileged position. a position where you're able to hear, or John at least, was able to hear Christ's prayers, watch His expressions, and almost feel His heartbeat. Beloved, do you get the illustration?

John was in the best position to know the most intimate knowledge of Christ. In the context of John chapter 1, verse 18, who is better qualified to reveal God the Father than the one who has eternally been at peace. He alone knows and understands the Father's heart. He alone knows and understands the Father's mind. He is the one who understands and knows His righteousness, His goodness, He knows His holiness, His compassion, His mercy, His justice, His wisdom.

He knows what the Father knows. Jesus looks upon the fullness of the essence of God. He can see God in all His glory. Beloved, I ask you once again, who is more qualified to reveal God than Jesus Christ? It has made Him known.

I feel this expression is deeper in meaning than what is depicted in that English language. What's been translated, made him known, is the Greek word, exegesato. Our word, exegesis, finds its root here. I'm sure most of you have heard that word being maybe thrown around, exegesis. It simply means to explain, or to exposit, or to expound, or expo, expo.

It's to bring out what is already there in a way that can be understood. This is what your elders do when they prepare to preach a sermon or to teach a Bible study. We go into our studies, we open up God's Word, and we exegete. We don't impose onto the text our own opinions and try to make them fit. That's called eisegesis, and that's unfaithful.

But when we do exegesis, we look at the grammatical settings, the cultural settings, the historical settings, the geographical settings, and we look at the theology of the text. We then look at the context in the chapter, in the book, and how it fits in the rest of God's Word. Exegesis is to take what is already there and uncover and explain it. It's to shed light and reveal what is there. This is what Jesus does in explaining God.

Beloved, as in all analogies, they serve a purpose, but they do break down at one point. And this is especially true in this text. Because when an elder or a pastor or a Bible teacher exegetes the Scripture, he knows he's a fallible person who has been privileged to handle the infallible work of God. But he also understands that the Scripture is apart from him. It's not our own words that we make known, but the words of another.

Despite all our study, we can still get it wrong. That's why we spend time praying for the illumination of the Spirit of God to assist us in this weighty task. But Christ's exegesis of God is not alien exegesis. It's not apart from Him. It is of the same essence.

and the same being as the Father. He knows the heart of God because it's His own heart. He knows the will of God because it's the same will. He knows His mercy, He knows His love, His compassion, His holiness, His justice of God, because He has all the same exact essential attributes as the Father. Unlike us, Jesus can never get along.

The full essence of God is seen by the Son of God. Beloved, I ask you again, is there anyone more qualified to make God known than Jesus Christ, God Himself? His words in John 6 reiterate this point exactly. There, he says, not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.

And in John 7, Jesus says, I know him, speaking of God the Father, for I come from him, and he has sent me. Jesus knows the Father because he comes from the Father. Listen to Matthew 11, 27 through 29. Jesus says, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father.

And no one knows the Father except the Son. And anyone whom the Son, it is, and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. See, the Christian faith is an exclusive faith. All roads do not lead to Rome. The only way to heaven is to be reconciled to God the Father.

And the only way to be reconciled to God the Father is through God the Son. He makes him known. Jesus makes his crystal clear in John 17 in his wide priestly prayer. And this is eternal life, he says, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Say that you know God, but do not acknowledge the Son, for vice versa is to deceive yourself.

The Bible is clear. It's a package deal. You either have an intimate heart knowledge of both, or you don't have anything at all. Listen to Christ speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees. You know neither me nor my Father, he says.

It is, if you knew me, you would know my Father also. That union cannot be broken between Christ and the Father. And if you know Christ, you know the Father. You know the Father, then you know Christ. But the question you need to ask yourself, This evening is this.

Do you know Christ? Do you have this intimate saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that comes by believing in Him? Have you placed your faith in His finished work? Have you received of His forgiveness? Has He opened your eyes and introduced you to the Father?

You see, to know Jesus is to know God. To see Jesus as described in Scripture with eyes of faith is to see God. So let's now open our Bibles once again to John chapter 14 and we'll be reading through verses 5 through 11. John chapter 14 verses 5 through 11. This passage is probably familiar to all of us.

John chapter 14. Again, this is Jesus Christ with His disciples on the night that He was betrayed. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and He is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip?

Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The ways that I say to you, I do not speak of My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

We began this evening saying the greatest privilege for humankind is to know God and to be known by God. I think Philip understood this. Lord, show us the Father and it is enough. He may not have understood at this point that God the Son, who is of the same essence with God the Father, stands before him, but His words are so profound, show us the Father and it is enough. This is the genuine longing of a heart that is being changed.

This is the genuine longing of true saving grace. The soul that yearns for God. It acknowledges that an intimate knowledge of God is the only thing that can truly satisfy the soul. His words should echo our souls. Our greatest longing also would be to know God in Jesus Christ.

What more can you and I want, beloved? Is this the desire of your heart? Do you, like Philip, seek after God confessed Him to be enough? Will it satisfy your soul to know the only true God through Jesus Christ, or do you seek for more? All the temporary promises this world offers, all the money, all the carnal pleasures, the reputation, the prestige of corporate life, can be summarised in this, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

And beloved, they will all leave you empty and produce only great disappointment. Everything is a pale comparison to the infinite soul, satisfying blessings found in the true saving knowledge of our Triune God. And this only made possible through the finished work of the Word who became flesh, lived among us, He died the death that we deserve, and now He will be risen for us. Don't go down the path that leads to destruction. Too many have only to wake up in the eternal fires of hell.

Don't buy into that lie that this world paints with all its glossy advertising and empty appeals. Don't give your soul over to what cannot satisfy. The abundant life is not found in the things we possess, beloved, but in the God that we know. I love Jesus' answer to Philip. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

The ultimate search for God and His goodness starts and ends in Jesus Christ. But then he goes on to bring out a more profound truth that if we were not careful we may actually miss. The last part of the passage reads, The words that I say to you, Jesus says, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. So how does Christ exegete God the Father?

How is it that Christ makes Him known? Two ways, really. First, in His words, by what He taught. And second, in His works, by what He has done. Jesus' words are not His own words only.

But the words of God and in them He reveals the truth of God to His people. They are an exegesis, an explanation of the heart of God. This is the theme that runs through the Gospel according to John. In chapter 7, Jesus says, My teaching is not mine, but he's who sent me. And again in chapter 12, For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak.

And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me. All that Christ has taught in His earthly ministry and beloved through the apostles also is revelation of God. It's making God known. It's expressing purpose in making God known to His people whose eyes have been opened through faith.

In them we learn of the character of God, His eternality, His power. His knowledge, infinite knowledge, His holiness, His love, His wisdom, His patience, His mercy, His grace, and His plan of redemption for sinners just like us. Scripture is where His words have been preserved as a perpetual exegesis of God for the people of God in all generations until He comes back. You want to know God? Look to the words of Christ, the end of the world.

And the second thing, the second way He makes God known is in verse 11. Jesus has made God known not only in His words, not only in His teaching, but also His works, His actions. Now we must be careful not to attribute the humanity of Christ to God. Because God does not hunger and He does not thirst. God does not grow weary, all things that are described with Jesus.

These are the human properties of Christ. But the heart of God and the divine properties were exegeted by Jesus and put on display in His life. Even if we remain in the fourth gospel, We see this demonstrated so clearly over and over and over again. In John 3, the wisdom of God is put on display in Christ's dealing with Nicodemus. The teacher of the whole of Israel is bewildered at such wisdom.

with the Samaritan woman at the well. It offers soul-quenching spiritual water so that she would never thirst again. Grace. Later in the same chapter, the mercy of God is made known through the healing of the official son who was at the point of death. And it's seen also in the healing of the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda.

The compassion of God is on display when He feeds 5,000. Why? Because He said, they were like a sheep without a shepherd. The forgiveness of God was put on display in Christ's dealing with the adulterous woman in John chapter 8. And the creative power of God was put on display as in Genesis when God said, let there be light.

So too Jesus created sight for a man born blind in chapter 9. And of course the love of God, He demonstrated speaking to His disciples in John chapter 15 verse 9. Where Jesus says, As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. The love of the Father I present to you. Conclusion is this, Jesus reveals God perfectly.

One theologian once remarked that there is not even an iota of Christlessness in God. And Paul tells us in Colossians, in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells. But the love of the greatest exegesis of God, the most wonderful representation of the heart and the mind of God was at the cross. And we'll end on this point. Because the cross is where all the attributes of God were on display in Jesus Christ.

A couple of weeks ago we unpacked verse 17 of our passage. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Back then, I said that the law is good. We can't deny that fact. Even though it's described by Paul as a ministry of death.

But we can't say it's bad because it reveals the holy character of God. It's a revelation of His holiness and justice and righteousness. But the problem with the law is this. It's not a full revelation. It's lopsided.

Because it does reveal His holiness and His righteousness, but it's devoid of grace and truth. We uncovered what that means a couple of weeks ago, so we won't go there today. But beloved, this is the glory of the cross. That Christ exegetes in His actions the holiness and righteousness and justice of God because His law has been transgressed. Sin is an abomination in His sight.

He cannot look upon sin. And being a just judge, He must, He must punish your sins and mine. But the cross is also Christ's exegesis or explanation of God in His grace, in His truth, in His mercy and in His love. That although the sins of His people could not go unpunished because of His justice, Fulfilled by love, in a display of grace and mercy, He offered a substitute to bear the punishment on behalf of His people. The cross, beloved, is the greatest explanation of who God is that the world will ever see.

For most, the cross is an offence. How could such cruelty be allowed? How could this horrendous atrocity take place? for those who have trusted in Christ and in Christ alone. Those who have been given eyes to see beyond the blood and the gall.

The cross is beautiful because it's the only way that we can be reconciled to God through His Son. Now to have a true intimate love relationship for all eternity with Him. The closeness experienced, as I said before, by Christ being in the bosom of the Father is the closeness we now, as children of the living God, as Christians, as true believers, experience because we have been united in Jesus Christ. And we enjoy that fellowship for all eternity. And so the true believer is able to acknowledge the greatest gift God has given His people is the privilege of knowing Him.

It's the greatest gift to know God. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him.