They shall see His face

Revelation 22:4

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

The thought of Heaven is the most wonderful thought of the Christian. It is enamoring, encouraging, enrapturing. It is most glorious to think of our eternal abode, and we just say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” We want to be there! We want to experience the heavenly Jerusalem! As soon as possible, we want to see the end of pain, the end of heartache, trouble, sighing, and crying. We are weary of seeing sin, sorrow, pain, and death. We can barely wait till it is all vanquished and conquered. And we think of what that city shall be like. Look at it! The gates are of pearls! The wall is of jasper! The streets are made of pure gold, as it were transparent glass! The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the midst of it! It will be an absolutely perfect place. And we long to see this sight that our eyes have never seen and our imagination has never fancied. It is above our wildest of dreams. The half has certainly not been told.

But what is the most wonderful thing about Heaven? The most wonderful thing is not the city itself. It is not the tree of life. It is not all the saints of old that walk side by side with us. It is not our dear loved ones, with whom we shall dwell in sweet communion. It is not something in the city—rather, it is the One on the throne. They shall see His face! We shall gaze upon the very face of God! No man can do this and live. But in Heaven we shall be made perfect as Christ is, and therefore we may look upon the face of God! And we shall behold the Lamb of God. There will be nothing in the city of God that will compare to the beauty and grandeur and ineffable splendor of the face of God. It shall defy description and take hold of our entire being. Nothing else will be like this. And we shall dwell will Him for ever. He shall dwell with His people and His people shall dwell with Him. There is nothing in Heaven or in earth that shall ever be remotely commensurate with such an amazing sight. We shall see His face! We shall behold Him face to face. Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. All ambiguities, uncertainties, and clouded conundrums will all at once be solved. The solution shall be one look upon His face. Every thing else shall dim in the great and perfect and holy and eternal light of the face of our God. What a moment this shall be! And this moment shall be an eternal and never-ending moment.

“Dear God, we praise you that you have allowed mortal man to be brought into your presence. And we know that this is only possible through the saving and cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of His salvation, we have been made worthy to see your face one day. We don’t deserve it, but we shall one day lift our eyes to see you in all your glory. May the little, obscure, small, unimportant things of this temporal earth never enamor our souls as much as this. May we be heavenly minded, fixing our hearts upon the One who shall in that day be the fulfillment of our hearts forever. May we keep our eyes upon Him now, looking to Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”