Psalm 97 verse 3 says, "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God", but have we been able to see this? We are led by John in his First Letter to 'seeing', or rather to 'experiencing in faith' through God's gift of His Son who came to abolish sin. This undeserved gift has made us God's children and God, in His righteousness (holiness), expects us to keep His commandments of belief and love, unlike those morally heretical people ('the world' of 3:1), who neither know nor acknowledge Him.

'The salvation of our God' has also been presented to us in John's Gospel. In his account of John the Baptist's hailing of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin, the Baptist acts as a powerful witness to the One coming after him. Calling Him the Lamb of God evokes images of the paschal lamb sacrificed for sins. Images of Jesus as the Servant of God, the 'Suffering Servant' found in Isaiah, are also called forth when the Baptist describes the Spirit of God coming down upon Him and resting upon Him, signifying the one-ness of Father and Son. This Spirit, received by Jesus and communicated through Him to humankind, is the divine seed which enables people to walk in God's Law, that is, 'to see the salvation of God'.