Expect the grace to love when you need it

John 1:50-51 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” We’ve been talking the last two days about the supernatural work of God in our lives and in the lives of those Jesus loves through us. These two verses testify to the supernatural work of God to be expected in the lives of those who have been granted faith in Jesus. Upon Nathanael’s testimony of faith, Jesus planted seeds of expectation in him. Jesus knew that if Nathanael believed in Him based on the initial revelation by the Holy Spirit, then it was the first revelation of even greater revelations about Jesus to come. It is the same with all who believe in Jesus. As the writer of Hebrews 11:1 stated, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” Let me encourage you today in this way. Jesus gave two commandments in one. We are commanded to believe in Jesus and to love one another as He has loved us. The apostle John shows how connected these two commandments were when he wrote in 1 John 3:23, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.” Do you see it? One commandment is explained by two commandments: believe and love. Now, let’s make the connection with what Jesus knew about Nathanael in light of his testimony of faith. Jesus knew that faith was a testimony of God on behalf of the believer. And if the Father gives someone faith, then there’s more, much more to come. For Nathanael, Jesus was specific about what He was to see. The encouragement for us is this: If God has given us the ability to obey the first commandment to believe, then He will also give us the ability to obey the second commandment to love. Jesus assured Nathanael of future grace and revelations of God’s power and glory. We can also draw a similar assurance because Jesus’ assurance was based on truth. He said, “Truly, truly.” This was another way of testifying that Nathanael’s faith was the work of God. If you believe in Jesus, then I can say to you also, “Truly, truly, you will see greater things in your life than the work of faith. You’ll see the heavens opened over the Son of God abiding in your life. You will do greater works of grace and love for the glory of God because that’s how faith works—through love (Gal. 5:6). Let me make another connection and encouragement from this passage. Jesus said Nathanael would see angels descending and ascending on the Son of Man. Hebrews 1:13-14 tells us about the ministry of angels.