1 Peter 1:8

1 Peter 1:8 ‘and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory'

“you have not seen Him” -They were in the same situation, in which we find ourselves. Neither have we ever ‘seen' Jesus. But seeing Jesus isn't. condition for. strong faith (John 20:29 ‘Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.'). Carefully note that Jesus had never ‘appeared' to these suffering Christians. No vision or miraculous appearance had come their way. And neither had they heard His voice in the stillness of the night. This infers that God feels plenty of evidence to believe in Jesus exists without ever having seen Him (John 20:30).

“you love Him” -But the only way they could ‘love Him', is to be impressed with what the Word of God said about Him. This demands that the description of Jesus in the New Testament is an accurate description of His nature. How understandable, plain and accurate is the New Testament? Answer: Simply by reading it. person can fall in love with God, even when they have never personally heard or seen Him. And let us remember that love for Jesus is never left at. vague emotion, rather, if you love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15).

“do not see Him now” -Even suffering couldn't diminish their love for Him. Note: God has never promised that when things are really hard, He will miraculously appear and give us extra strength to endure.

“but believe in Him” -In this context, ‘believe in Him' includes remaining faithful regardless of the circumstances. Situation Ethics missed the boat. The greatest ethical standard is not. vague and undefined ‘love'. But rather,. very specific love, i.e. love for God (Matthew 22:37).

“greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible” -‘Inexpressible'-‘to which words are inadequate' (Thayer p. 44). ‘denotes unable to be told out' (Vine p. 175); ‘joy too great for words' (NEB). POINTS TO NOTE: 1. Joy for the Christian is not all in the future. This great rejoicing is supposed to be present in our relationship with God now! 2. When was the last time you were so thrilled with your relationship with God that words were inadequate? 3. To have such joy-doesn't this demand that the Christian can know for certainty that they are on the right path? 4. One writer suggested that maybe this is one reason that God wants us to sing. Singing often is an outlet for joy which seems inexpressible (James 5:13; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). 5. Something is clearly wrong if our Christianity makes us mean or unhappy.

“full of glory” -‘make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe in splendor' (Thayer p. 157). POINTS TO NOTE: 1.. joy that should surpass every other joy. Does our relationship with God bring us more joy than our earthly relationships, than material possessions, than earthly rewards or accomplishments? 2. Glory: Very few people find ‘glory' in this life. But every Christian has found glory! The fact that. know eternal truth,. have access to all the right answers to the hard questions.. am. son of the Creator.. know the Creator by name and He knows me.. am. soldier in the greatest, noblest and most glorious battle that will ever be fought in this universe.