“We know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is…” 1 John 3:2 {ESV}
This morning brought to mind something that I wish I would remember more often. In the midst of a fairly busy life, filled with demands and duties and delights, I suffer regularly from spiritual amnesia. In short, I often forget to remember that one day I will literally see my Lord. There is coming a day wherein praise will forever replace petition. Requests for forgiveness will have been abolished because there will be no need for pardon where there is no longer sin. In that great day there will no longer be any faith because a person no longer hopes for what they have already received.
Yes, the consummation is making its way towards us and — joy of all joys! — the glorified Son of God will be enthroned before our brand new eyes.
Perhaps if we could secure this lone thought before our hearts and minds we would be a much more restful people. With riots in Egypt, battles in Afghanistan, financial albatrosses flying over America and woeful wrestlings in our own hearts…maybe we should determine to remember hourly that God is on the throne and His hidden calendar marks the exact moment of new beginnings. Can you imagine the glory of never having to petition God again? This thought is not prideful at all — it is faithful. There will be no unmet needs in glory. Think of this: there will come a grand moment when your personal praise of Him will no longer come up pitifully short of His due. There is an appointment with an overhauled reality in the which we will all be able to love and worship and sing and magnify Christ with an unalloyed oneness. Every generation, every race, every tribe, every language will be blended into an ordained perfection as all the trappings of this life and our flesh will be removed forevermore. We will see Him – and we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.
Truth be known, I am greatly looking forward to Heaven. Please forgive that grand understatement but it is impossible to convey that desire in proper words. I am not overly interested in the architecture of Heaven: gold streets, pearly gates, or jasper walls. The awesome sight of the heavenly creatures is not what tugs upon my heart; cherubim and seraphim have their place, for sure, but not near the top of my list of longings. While Paul and David and Joseph and Joshua are men I desire to know in eternity (and I will!), they are not the prime attraction for me. There is not a loved one awaiting me who holds the utmost wanting of my heart. I say this — not because I am supremely sanctified but because I am graciously saved: I must see Jesus. The climax of life and faith is the great moment of ecstatic joy when our glorified eyes find their final rest upon the Savior, Redeemer, Master and Lord Jesus Christ. This moment defies all description and it will be anything but sweet, sappy and sentimental. If one could survive one million volts of electricity surging through one’s body it could not touch the power of that inevitable moment when we meet Him face to face. We could joyfully run across the oceans with our feet riding the waves and not come near the allotment of awe that His countenance holds in a split second of affirming love. Not a birth nor a marriage not any victory on this earth is able to approach this most precious blessing of finally fixating on the glory of the Master! We will likely be so deeply rocked that we will instinctively fall upon our faces with poured out praise and gushing glory. I’m treading on holy ground here, kept from the minds of men for ages – I should not write another word lest I sin by offering paltry presumptions about how it will be. All I know is that He has appointed me to be present and accounted for. Grace will lead me home.