The Runner Who Made God Visible

In the Weihsien internment camp in occupied China, a Scottish missionary organized games for restless children, tutored teenagers in science, and carried coal for elderly prisoners. Eric Liddell — the Olympic champion later immortalized in Chariots of Fire — was wasting away from a brain tumor he did not yet know he had. A young man in the camp later said simply, "He showed us what God looks like."

That is precisely what Philip wanted. "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Philip had walked dusty roads with Jesus, watched Him multiply loaves, seen Him give sight to the blind — and still craved something more, some unmistakable vision of the Almighty. Jesus' reply was breathtaking: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

The invisible God chose to make Himself known not through fire on a mountaintop but through a man washing feet, touching lepers, and weeping beside a tomb. In Christ, the full character of the Father — His mercy, His tenderness, His fierce love — became visible in human flesh.

Then Jesus made an astonishing promise: the Spirit of truth would come to dwell within His followers. The same divine presence Philip longed to see would live inside ordinary believers. Those prisoners at Weihsien caught a glimpse of the Father not in the sky but in a dying runner who gave away his last rations.

The Holy Spirit still makes God visible — through His people.