| And He said, Thou can not see my face: For there shall no man see me and live Ex.33:20 For the theologian our knowledge of God, and therefore, His love is secondary at best. 'No man shall see God and live.' We either know God the negative way (the apophatic tradition), by knowing what He is not, or what we can affirm of Him through the world (the kataphatic tradition), secondary knowledge. We know of God's love through creation. The beauty of creation gives testimony to God's love. In the beauty of God’s creation, man stands unique. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou has made him a little lower than The angels, and hast crowned him with glory And honor. Thou madest him to have dominion Over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all Things under his feet. Psalm 8:4-6 Man's status and dignity and authority further demonstrate the Father's love in creation. Man's state is exalted. But is the direct experience of God's love beyond the grasp of man? Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the Congregation, because the cloud abode therein, and The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Ex. 40:34-35 The experience of the Father's love is the experience of the glory or goodness of God. While God was in the tabernacle, Moses could not enter. The effect of sin has left a gulf between fallen man and God that only God could rectify. God's love is demonstrated to us by sending His Son: But God commended His love toward us, In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ Died for us. Rom.5:8 And For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever Believeth in Him would not perish but have Everlasting life. John 3:16 It is thus that God loved us. He would not allow us to be separate from Him but sent His son to die "to destroy Him who had the power of death." Heb.2:14, and bring us to everlasting life. Now the way we come to know the Father and His love in a personal way is through Christ. Jesus says to Philip, "He that has seen me has seen the Father." John14:9. Salvation not only brings us to knowledge of the Savior but to knowledge of God. Jesus ministry of healing, deliverance, teaching, and salvation, His ministry of love, is the love of the Father as well. Yet are we still left in the place of Moses? '‘No man can see me and live.' The answer is no. Hebrews 12:14 supplies the means to see the Father: Follow peace with all men and holiness, without Which no man shall see the Lord. Heb 12:14 And Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Math. 5:8 To have access to God we must be holy and pure. To be holy one must be filled with the Spirit and walk with Him. Pentecost, or the reception of the Holy Spirit, gave us the means to experience the Father's love by empowering us to grow in holiness and love as God loved us. The anointing is to the Holy Spirit as the glory is to the Father's love. As we walk in the Spirit under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we open ourselves to the opportunity to experience the glory of the Father. This possibility is the result of faith: Therefore being justified by faith, we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom we have access by faith into this grace Wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 We can 'rejoice in the hope of the glory of God' by the grace we receive through faith. Thus the possibility of the direct experience of the Father's love is real and attainable in this life as well as the next. Ultimately, the Father's love is shown in that He would not leave us orphans. Jesus is proof of that love and so is the Holy Spirit. We have access to the glory of God by His grace through faith and we can 'rejoice in that hope' and experience the Father's love amen |