Love for and Faith in Christ

1 Peter 1:8-9 ~ "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

One of the most remarkable, supernatural and wonderful truths of the Christian life is to love the LORD Jesus by faith. Unseen, yet loved. My friends, our very salvation is found in this love for Jesus. Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 8:3, "But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." To be born-again is to love the LORD Jesus and to have genuine love for the LORD is to be known by God. Never will the believer need fear the dread words of Jesus in Matthew 7:23, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." For those who love God are known by Him.

For many, love requires direct contact, a personal connection to another that is set in the physical domain of existence. How then, could it be that a person can love the LORD without ever laying eyes upon Him? For our text today says that though we have not seen Him, we love Him. How is love for Christ generated in our hearts without ever having some form of direct connection? It begins with God Himself. 1 John 4:19 states, "We love because he first loved us." How did He first love us? Simple: Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We were still sinners, but God loved us to the extent that the LORD Jesus gave up His life to be the sacrifice for our sins.

It is God who poured His love into our hearts through the working of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:5). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says He will give us a new heart. "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). If there is within your heart true love for Christ, true affection for the LORD, that was given to you through God's grace. 

​And though we don't see Him now--though there is no direct personal contact with the LORD--we believe in Him. Faith also is a gift from God, exercised by those who love Jesus. Doubts crowd the corridors of the faithful, not unlike Thomas who demanded to have proof that Jesus was resurrected. In John 20:29 Jesus speaks to Thomas about his need for proof, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." And there are those who demand proofs and more proofs. But, beloved, do not demand such from Christ. Look to His resurrection, trust His word and believe on the LORD. It comes with a tremendous promise attached: an everlasting and inexpressible joy. 

And then, from our text today, there is an outcome that is happening and will be fulfilled. It is the outcome of your faith and love and it results in the salvation of your soul. The book of Ephesians tells us that we are saved by grace through faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9). The faith that we need to believe on Christ and the love that is necessary to belong to Christ, all comes from the LORD.

Before we end, let me ask you some fundamental questions. Do you love the LORD Jesus Christ? Do you believe Him? Is your faith rested upon the Savior and Redeemer of all who believe? Though you have not seen Him, can you say with Thomas "my LORD and my God?" Even as Paul told the church in Corinth, "All this is from God" (2 Corinthians 5:18) so we come to understand that it is possible to love and believe in the LORD without our physical eyes beholding Him. And in so doing, we discover a tremendous joy that is filled with the glory of God. It is my prayer for you, today, to know this joy through faith in the LORD Jesus and love for Him.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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