Seeing God As He Really Is #1 — Completing the Love of God

Seeing God as He really is means letting go of the opinions that keep Him at a distance and responding to His love until it is complete. This first message of a new series teaches that God loves the whole world equally, but His power and presence flow where people love Him back by keeping His word. The pastor calls this completing the love of God.

He also explains why wrong ideas about God become strongholds, why lack is the root of temptation, and how two different words for love in the Gospel of John reveal two levels of relationship. Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, the Scriptures linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway, a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message, posted on March 19, 2026, opens a new series at NTC Ministries. The pastor explains that the series will walk through words that have been badly misunderstood in the church, asking not only what the Bible says but what it is really saying. He says he has been blessed simply preparing it.

The heart of this first message is John 3:16 read beside John 21:20. God so loved the world, yet John is called the disciple whom Jesus loved. The difference, the pastor teaches, is whether love is returned. The service ends with a prayer of salvation and communion.

Misunderstood Words and a Veiled Heart

The pastor begins with words. When people stop believing in absolute truth, words lose their meaning. He tells his brother-in-law that ignorant means you lack the proper knowledge, while stupid means you have it but refuse to use it.

Everyone carries obstacles in the heart. Before we are born again there is a veil over the heart, and when we turn to Christ the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:14–16). Yet many Christians, he says, still live like Old Testament prophets, and even those prophets did not believe as poorly as some believers do now.

Anything we believe that is less than what God agreed to in covenant through Jesus minimizes our experience with Him and what He can do for us. In the wilderness Israel tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 78:41). The pastor does not want the church to limit God. If believers receive this teaching, he says, they will see signs, wonders and miracles like Jesus did, and greater, because Jesus went to the Father (John 14:12).

Jesus said the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). “Are you living that greatness?” the pastor asks.

He borrows a term, cognitive dissonance, to explain why some Christians will not pursue a better life with God. When an opinion is confronted with truth, the wounded ego rises up to protect it, and that one opinion keeps a person from a greater life.

Strongholds Are Thoughts

God wants His word to shake us to the foundation of our hearts. We do not live by experiences, the pastor says, because the just live by faith, but we all need experiences with God, because they reach the heart and not only the intellect. Before Jesus came, people lived only by their five physical senses.

Moses was close to God and wanted to be closer, so he asked to see His glory. God placed him in the cleft of the rock, covered him with His hand and let him see His back (Exodus 33:18–23). It affected Moses so much that his face shone (Exodus 34:29). God did not just teach Moses who He was; He showed him, and it was reflected to everyone around him.

That is why the weapons of our warfare pull down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). The pastor stresses that this passage is not mainly about demons, because the next verse speaks of casting down arguments and bringing every thought into captivity to Christ. Jesus said that if we abide in His word we will know the truth and the truth will make us free (John 8:31–32). Our opinion often stands against it, which is why the carnal mind is enmity against God (Romans 8:7).

Working out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) means dealing with things in your own heart. Proverbs 17:20 warns that a deceitful heart finds no good. He explains the King James word froward as twisted or crooked, a heart that cannot find good in life.

People often think drawing near to God happens at a powerful Christian convention, where everyone shows their best side. The pastor says real drawing near happens when there is opposition and you still do what God asked. He has, in his words, gotten a thousand educations he never wanted.

Praise silences the enemy and the avenger (Psalm 8:2), which only makes sense if we praise when things go badly. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). And Habakkuk 2:14 promises that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. God is already everywhere, he notes; what is coming is the knowledge of who He really is.

Seeing God as He Really Is Through Jesus

When our image of God is positive, healthy and safe, built on Jesus and His teaching, death, burial, resurrection and glorification, we will read His word and His will in a positive way. If our image of God is negative, we will read His word as hard, judgmental and destructive. “However you see God, that’s how He is for you,” the pastor says.

God wrote His commandments on stone with His own finger, but Moses, reacting to the golden calf through his emotions, smashed the tablets, and God told him to cut new stones himself (Exodus 34:1). Under the new covenant, God writes His laws on our hearts and minds, but that requires an intimate relationship with Him, especially when all hell seems to be breaking loose.

That is also why God revealed His names, such as Jehovah Jireh, the provider, and Jehovah Rapha, the healer. He did what His names said, but it never reached the people’s hearts. Now He has spoken by His Son, the exact image of His person (Hebrews 1:1–3).

Words land differently depending on the heart that hears them. “We got to take care of them” means one thing from a movie gangster and another from a loving father. Offense comes from within, the pastor says; great peace have those who love God’s law, and nothing causes them to stumble (Psalm 119:165).

Pharaoh shows the same principle. In Exodus 7:2–5 God says He will harden Pharaoh’s heart, yet Exodus 8:32 says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God’s word was the occasion, but Pharaoh did the hardening. When the church hears a teaching on bringing the tithe into the storehouse, one person takes offense and leaves while another says God must want them blessed. The word is the same; the hearts are different.

Peter explains it in 1 Peter 2:6–8: to those who believe, Christ is precious, but to the disobedient He is a rock of offense. The pastor applies this to not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25).

To rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we must be confident of God’s character and nature. Jesus perfectly represented the Father: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). If a doctrine drawn from the Old Testament does not line up with the life of Jesus, the pastor says, it is not truth. That is the foundation for seeing God as He really is.

Lack Is the Root of Temptation

“Lack is the root of all temptation,” the pastor says. If you think you lack something in your marriage, you will look to someone else to give it to you. If you think you lack something in the job God gave you, you will look elsewhere. With God, he asks, do you lack anything?

In the garden, the serpent persuaded Eve that she lacked something: eat, and you will be like God (Genesis 3:4–6). She saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desirable to make one wise. The pastor lines these up with 1 John 2:16: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. In effect, Adam and Eve were saying that God had not provided everything, so they would look to the earth for provision.

Get a true understanding of who God is and how He has provided everything, he says, and that little fox you keep giving in to loses its grip. 2 Peter 1:2–4 says grace and peace are multiplied through the knowledge of God, and His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

This is not head knowledge, he adds, but experiential knowledge like Moses had. No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).

When we truly know Him, He can bless us without it pulling us away; His blessing adds no sorrow (Proverbs 10:22). But some people get the job they asked prayer for and are never seen in church again, because offenses in their hearts keep them from God. If you believe God wants you to suffer, the pastor warns, you will reject Him and look elsewhere for comfort. All judgment, he reminds the church, was already poured out on Jesus at the cross.

Completing the Love of God

Now the series theme comes into focus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16–17). God wants every person saved and loves everyone. Yet John 21:20 calls John “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Does God love some people more than others, the preacher healing the sick more than the bus driver?

The pastor teaches that in the Greek both verses use agape, but that the language Jesus spoke used two different words, which he gives as follows:

God does not love one person more than another, he says. A few simply love Him in return, and that wakes up a flow of His glory. The greatest heartache is loving someone who will not love you back, which is what God felt when Adam and Eve turned away.

David, sitting under the stars with his sheep, asked what man is that God is mindful of him (Psalm 8:4–5). He let God deal with his heart. Even after adultery and murder, David cried out for God not to take His Holy Spirit from him (Psalm 51:11). He was growing in love toward God, and Jesus came from his line because David had a heart after God.

The pastor shares that the first time he told his wife he loved her, at about fifteen, she just said “What?” and he walked away feeling rejected. But when Pam told him for the first time that she loved him, something took place between them. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, he says; love has to be completed. That is also why the idea that everyone, even Satan, will be saved regardless is, in his words, a doctrine of devils.

Love that is not returned is lonely, but when it is returned it is celebrated, which is why weddings have songs and dancing. Zephaniah 3:17 says the Lord in your midst will rejoice over you with gladness and joy over you with singing. He explains the two words for joy as he gives them: the first means great pleasure and rejoicing; the second means spinning around, dancing under the influence of a strong emotion of love. When we love Him back, he says, that is when prayers get answered, doors open and families are reunited.

Love That Keeps His Word

Salvation, the pastor says, is not only about being saved and going to heaven; it is completing the love God has given. Jesus explained how in John 14:15–18: “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” and the Father will give another Helper, the Spirit of truth. If a husband says “I love you” but never provides for or protects his wife, does he really love her?

When people who called themselves Christians stop worshiping, he says, it was never God who withdrew. Salvation is a love exchange. Romans 5:5 says hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. When we obey even before we feel confident, our devotion is proven.

John 14:21–24 makes it plain: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me,” and the Father and Son will come and make Their home with him. The pastor asks what God has been asking of you for five or six years that you have put off. He resolves to obey not because of feelings but by faith, worshiping in spirit and in truth.

He points to the ministry itself: a handful of people now have a campus, a school, radio and television and churches in 37 countries, not by first gathering more people or money, but by doing what God said and trusting Him to supply every need (Philippians 4:19).

The message closes with a prayer to receive Jesus and a declaration, “Father, I love You. Jesus, I love You.” Then the church shares communion (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Nobody remembers His wrath at the table, the pastor says; we remember His goodness and love. We do not have to feel His power before we act; we act on what He asks, and His power flows.

Completing His Love This Week

The pastor encourages the church to start obeying God in the little things and to practice the same faithfulness in every relationship. Here are practical steps from the message:

• Find the stubborn opinion. Ask God to show one thought about Him that rises up to protect itself when Scripture confronts it, and bring it to Christ.
• Measure doctrine by Jesus. When a verse seems harsh, ask whether your reading lines up with how Jesus lived and treated people.
• Name your sense of lack. Where temptation keeps winning, identify what you feel you are missing and thank God for what He has already provided.
• Do the thing you have put off. Pick one thing God has asked of you and obey this week without waiting to feel it.
• Love people out loud. Show love to your spouse in usual and unusual ways, and thank your boss or coworkers instead of complaining.
• Give thanks in everything. Make gratitude your habit, for this is the will of God concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 A new series on misunderstood words
• 3:38 Greater than John the Baptist
• 4:44 Cognitive dissonance and wounded egos
• 7:12 Moses sees God’s glory
• 8:07 Strongholds are thoughts: 2 Corinthians 10
• 9:17 Proverbs 17:20: a deceitful heart
• 11:40 Drawing near to God in opposition
• 12:49 Habakkuk 2:14: the knowledge of His glory
• 13:55 Your image of God shapes how you read Him
• 15:16 The tablets and the names of God
• 18:53 Offense comes from within
• 20:02 Pharaoh hardened his own heart
• 24:56 John 14:9: he who has seen Me
• 26:12 Lack is the root of all temptation
• 28:32 2 Peter 1: all things for life and godliness
• 34:48 John 3:16 and John 21:20
• 38:37 Two levels of love: is it returned?
• 41:40 The first time he said “I love you”
• 45:46 Zephaniah 3:17: He rejoices over you
• 49:54 John 14: if you love Me, keep My commandments
• 57:01 Prayer of salvation and communion

Seeing God as He Really Is Series

This is the first message in a six-part series at NTC Ministries. Continue with the next teaching:

• You are here: Seeing God As He Really Is #1 — Completing the Love of God
• Next: Seeing God as He Really Is #2: The Love That Flows Both Ways

Frequently Asked Questions

Does God love some Christians more than others?

No. The pastor teaches that God loves everyone equally; He so loved the whole world that He gave His Son. The difference he draws from John’s Gospel is not how much God loves but whether His love is returned. A few people love God back by keeping His word, and that completed love is where they experience greater intimacy, joy and power. It is open to anyone who responds.

Why does the pastor call wrong opinions strongholds?

He reads 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 as being about our own thoughts, imaginations and opinions rather than about demons, because the passage goes on to speak of bringing every thought into obedience to Christ. A single opinion about God that resists the truth can keep a believer from a greater life. Pulling it down happens as we continue in His word and let the truth make us free.

Do I have to feel God’s power before I obey Him?

No. In his closing prayer the pastor says we do not have to feel God’s power before we act on what He asks; we simply act and His power flows. He warns against living like an Old Testament prophet ruled by emotions. Obeying by faith, especially under opposition, is how believers draw near and return His love.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• John 3:16–17 — God so loved the world
• John 21:20 — the disciple whom Jesus loved
• John 14:21–24 — he who keeps My commandments loves Me
• Zephaniah 3:17 — He will rejoice over you with singing
• 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 — pulling down strongholds
• Habakkuk 2:14 — the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
• Genesis 3:4–6 and 1 John 2:16 — the lie of lack
• 2 Peter 1:2–4 — all things for life and godliness
• Romans 5:5 — God’s love poured out in our hearts

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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