When we preach God’s word, we often meet people who say they will believe in God if we show them God. They say, “How can I believe in the unseen. I only believe what I can see.”

There is a saying that goes: “Seeing is believing.” Once a man said, “Show me God. Since it is said that seeing is believing, I will believe in God if I can see Him.” What do you think God said to him?

“Believe in Me, and you will see Me.”

God did not say, “Seeing is believing,” but said, “If you believe, you will see everything.” Just as the Bible says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb 11:1), we can see God if we believe in Him. The reason people cannot see God but doubt Him is because they do not believe in Him.

There are so many people who say they will believe in God if they can see Him. With such an unbelieving heart, they can never see God even if God is right beside them, talking to them and teaching them directly. It is the same with the words of prophecy and all other teachings of the Bible; only when we believe them can we see and confirm them. The kingdom of heaven is a place we can hope for only when we have the right faith.

God came to this earth in the flesh and showed Himself to people, but they did not believe in Him. Through what happened 2,000 years ago, let us take some time to re-examine ourselves to see what kind of faith we have today.

Those who do not see, though seeing

Most people think that they can believe in God if He appears to them in visible form and shows them many things. However, it is actually the opposite; when they have faith, then they can see everything.

When God came to this earth as a man 2,000 years ago, He appeared to many people who said they would believe in God if they could see Him, and explained to them all the words of the Bible so that they could understand them. However, even though they saw God who came to this earth, they did not believe in Him.

Jn 6:36 “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”

Jn 8:44–45 “. . . Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!”

They did not believe in Jesus though He showed Himself to them, and that was why Jesus said, “You have seen me and still you do not believe.” To those who said they could not believe in God because they did not see Him, God Himself appeared in the flesh, and He was Jesus. God, who made all things, came to this earth according to the prophecies of the Bible; He showed Himself to people and preached the truth to them. Nevertheless, they did not believe in Him.

God is never visible to the eyes of those who do not believe in Him. So the Bible says, “Though seeing, they do not see” (Isa 6:9–10; Mt 13:14–15). Doesn’t this mean that though seeing God, they do not recognize Him or believe in Him?

Jn 10:29–33 “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

In those days, the Jews did not believe in God though He appeared right in front of their eyes, preaching and speaking directly to them. The reason they did not believe in God, even though He showed them many good things and told them the truth, was because they did not want to believe in Him. Since they had no faith, they could not realize the true identity of Jesus. So, though they saw God face to face, they tried to stone Him, saying, “You, a mere man, claim to be God.”

This also shows us that seeing is not believing, but when we believe in God we can see Him. If we have an unbelieving heart, we cannot receive God although we see Him a hundred times and hear His teachings a thousand times. Seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing. Our God is not the one whom we can believe in when we see Him, but the one whom we can see when we believe in Him.

Faith and realizations of the disciples

Among the disciples who followed Jesus 2,000 years ago, some of them looked at Him with faith, but others didn’t. Peter and John had great faith. To their eyes Jesus appeared as God who came to this earth.

Jn 1:1–14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Apostle John, who wrote the Gospel of John, firmly believed in Jesus as God who created all things in the beginning. The Apostle Peter also had the same faith.

Jn 6:63–69 “. . . The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him . . . From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

The first part of this chapter describes the so-called “miracle of the five loaves and two fish”—Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Those who saw the amazing miracle even tried to make Jesus king. They kept following Jesus, expecting miracles from Him, but Jesus just taught them the word of God. Before long, the crowd of 5,000 people turned back and no longer listened to the teachings of Jesus.

They did not believe in Jesus, but only saw the miracle Jesus performed. So, although they were amazed to see the miracle of Jesus, they did not realize that Jesus, who had performed the miracle, was God.

However, the twelve disciples including Peter continuously followed Jesus. We need to focus on Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question: “We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Since Peter believed in Jesus, he was able to recognize who He was. “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” By saying this he meant, “We already know who You are, and believe in You.”

The first thing we have to do is believe. When we believe in God, then we can see Him. God is invisible to the eyes of those who do not believe. Even if Jesus shows them the miracle of walking on the water and the miracle of bringing a dead person back to life, those people will never believe in Him.

Those who did not believe in Jesus but just watched Him failed to remain as His disciples till the end. One of them was Judas Iscariot, a member of the Twelve. Like the other eleven disciples, he listened to many teachings from Jesus and saw everything He did while staying right beside Him. In the end, however, he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This is clear evidence that he had no faith in Jesus. Jesus is never visible to the eyes of those who do not believe; they cannot recognize Him as God no matter how long they follow Him.

The Apostle Paul before and after believing in Jesus

When we have faith, we begin to see everything clearly. The Apostle Paul, when he belonged to Judaism, persecuted the church of God and opposed Christ. He was a violent man who arrested the saints and put them in prison and even took the lead in stoning Stephen to death.

1 Ti 1:13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Even Paul, when he did not believe in Jesus, could not recognize who Jesus was—whether He was Christ or a mere man called a Nazarene. No one can see God without believing in Him. Without faith, we cannot see God, though seeing, and we cannot hear or understand the life-giving words of truth from Him, though hearing.

On the road to Damascus, Paul saw the light of the glory of Christ. Then he repented of his sins and came to have faith in Jesus. As he believed, he realized Jesus was not a mere carpenter, but God in nature. From then on, Paul began to preach that Jesus was the Christ, testifying to all His teachings. Since he believed and knew that Jesus was truly God, he devoted his life to preaching the gospel.

Php 2:5–6 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God . . .
Ro 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

The books of Philippians and Romans were written by the Apostle Paul when he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Before he believed in Jesus, he understood Jesus only as a carpenter and the son of Joseph and Mary. After he had faith in Jesus, however, he came to recognize Him as God Almighty. Paul also came to realize that he had persecuted God and labeled Him as a heretic. That was why he confessed himself to be the “worst of sinners” (1 Ti 1:15).

Only when he had faith could he see everything clearly; he was able to understand why Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on the colt of a donkey, why He established the new covenant while celebrating the Passover—the Last Supper—with His disciples, and why He rose from the dead on the third day. When he believed in Jesus as God and looked at Him, he was able to see that everything He did was in exact accordance with the prophecies of the Bible.

It is the same with the teachings of the Bible. When we believe, we can understand them correctly. If we see the Bible as a novel, a record of Israel’s history or a collection of the life stories of certain people, the 66 books of the Bible never open our eyes to see the spiritual world. When Paul had faith, he was able to understand the Bible and see God. Before he believed in Jesus, he just regarded Him as the leader of a cult, but after he believed in Jesus, he received Him as the Messiah and followed the life of Christ by preaching the gospel with fervent faith, saying, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord” (Ro 14:8).

Believe in the Spirit and the Bride, and you will be saved

God came to this earth in the flesh and showed Himself to human beings. He did so at His second coming as well as at His first coming. However, though God has revealed Himself to people, they do not believe in Him.

In this age, Heavenly Father and Mother have come to this earth to save us. They are in human form just like us, breathing the same air in the same space with us. So, people just understand Them as ordinary people. There is a great difference between viewing God with faith and viewing Him without faith. Faith is necessary. It is only with faith that we can see God. The apostles in the early Church kept telling people to have faith in God first if they wanted to be saved.

Ac 16: 30–31 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

The Bible says that if we believe, we will be saved. Look at God with faith. When you have faith, you can see God. If you doubt, you cannot see God, nor can you recognize the truth. Like Judas Iscariot, those who do not believe cannot see God even though they are right beside Him; even if God shows them an amazing miracle every day, they can never find God who performs the miracle; they just see the miracle itself.

When people saw God who came in the flesh, they said, “Why can’t God do such a thing? Shouldn’t He do this and that with His power?” “Come down from the cross, that we may see and believe” (Mt 27:42). However, God would never do that. It’s because faith based on miracles is not true faith at all.

When we have faith, we can see why God has done things in such a way. If we believe that Christ, who came to this earth in the flesh, is God Himself and examine everything He did, we can understand that He lived in accordance with all the prophecies and testimonies of the prophets in the Bible.

Since God has opened our eyes and ears and has given us a heart to understand, we have been able to receive God the Father and God the Mother who have come to this earth as the Spirit and the Bride. When we look at the Spirit and Bride with the eyes of faith, we can realize Their great will for the salvation of mankind, which is contained in everything They have said and done.

Now, the saying “Seeing is believing” should be changed to “Believing is seeing.” Just as the apostles shouted out confidently 2,000 years ago, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household,” let us preach boldly, “Believe in the Spirit and Bride, and you will see Them and be saved,” as the workers of the new covenant in this age. When we believe, we can see everything and the doors of heaven will be opened for us. If we believe in all the teachings of God and look at everything with faith, we will be able to see that God really exists and that the promise of salvation and all the other promises of God are true and sure.

There are still so many people around us who are in darkness and do not see, though seeing. Let us tell them all, “Believe, and you will see God.” Heavenly Father and Mother have come to this earth to save us. They have restored the truth of the new covenant and have given us a holy command that contains Their love—the command to find all of our lost brothers and sisters and come back to heaven together. I earnestly ask all you brothers and sisters in Zion to obey this command and follow Father and Mother wherever They go.