Having Not Seen
“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, The Holy War, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and other works, had a blind daughter who was his constant companion, of whom he was very fond. She never saw his face; she was incapable of reading his pages; she could only dimly recognize his genius. She did not know him visibly, intellectually, technically, logically or critically, but if anyone in the world ever knew John Bunyan, it was his little blind daughter. She knew him deeply, intimately and truly as no biographer, historian or critic knew him.
You and I have never seen the Lord Jesus with the physical eye. Yet we can, by faith, know Him in a personal and intimate way, through His Word and walking in close fellowship with Him every day. The Apostle Paul’s desire in life is summed up in the statement made in writing to the Christians at Philippi — “That I may know Him” (Philippians 3:10).