Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
5 December 2026
Reading From I John 4
“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”
—I John 4:12-17
We know from the Scriptures that Moses saw the back of God,[1] Isaiah saw the Lord upon His throne,[2] and of course thousands of people saw the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly life and ministry. So what about this phrase in I John that says that “no one has ever seen God”? In Exodus 33:20, Yahweh tells Moses, “But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live.” This leads me to believe that no one is allowed to see the face of the Father; no one can behold God the Father in the fulness of His glory and survive. This makes sense of the historical narratives of humans seeing glimpses of the Father, but from the Word of God we know that no one has ever beheld Him in all His glorious splendor. God is incomprehensible to our finite minds, but He is knowable and reveals Himself to those who seek Him.
This makes it all the more marvelous and mysterious that from the moment we are born again, God dwells within us by His Spirit. His Presence gives us life and being connected to Him give us access to continual renewal and refreshment. God is love, He first loved us, and how we know we are children of God is that we genuinely love one another. When we consider how much He loves us regardless of our faults, it should move us to extend the same love to others. I get so impatient and frustrated with other people. They can be so annoying, disgusting, and hateful. But then the Holy Spirit within me reminds my heart and mind that while He loves me unconditionally just as I am, I might be annoying, disgusting and hateful to others. I do my best to yield to the Spirit’s work in me and through me to shine Jesus’ light and love in my world, but I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. There are times when personalities conflict like oil and water. Having a bit more God-given perspective on this inspires me to have more grace and patience with others. If God loves me where I’m at in life, He also blesses me with the Holy Spirit power to do the same for others.
As I become more like Jesus, His love is made perfect in me. At the same time I am on this journey of sanctification, there are millions of other disciples of the Lord who are on the same journey, just at different stages of their development. There is coming a Day when the dead in Christ shall rise and we who are living shall be caught up to be with God and with one another. The process of sanctification will be made complete and because all of us will be like Jesus, we will enjoy perfect unity with the Father and with one another as His eternal family. What a Day that will be!
“Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me just as I am without one plea. Thank You for loving me too much to leave me just as I am. Your love and grace are transformative in my life, reshaping me back into the perfect image of Your Son Jesus. Help me to share Your love and grace and mercy to those who do not deserve it, because I do not deserve it. I do not deserve You, and yet You graciously bless me with Your Spirit. In You I live and move and have my being. I am grateful for Your holy work in me and through me. Make me more like You, Lord Jesus. Amen.”
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
–I John 4:7-11
[1] Exodus 33
[2] Isaiah 6
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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