It’s humorous to look back on an era without cell phones. When my wife and I watch an old TV program or movie, we often laugh at the ring of an old desk phone or the telephone booth some movie star had to use while away from home. Today, we expect to see on our cell phone, computer, or tablet the face of the person we want to talk to. Why do we want to see their face? Because it is much more personal than just a voice. Face-to-face communication is a step up from communicating merely by voice.
Face-to-face communication with God is not something to be taken for granted. In the garden of Eden before the sin of Adam and Eve, God lived and walked with the first couple in personal friendship. They apparently were able to see God and he was obviously able to see them. But they hid themselves from him after they sinned (Gen. 3:8). From that point on in human history, people were not allowed to approach God to see him because of the sin problem, except in selective prophetic visions.
Even Moses (ca. 1450 BC) was not permitted to see God. Not long after the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses asked God to show him his glory. God replied, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Ex. 33:20). God’s face (his brilliant glory) would have killed Moses if he had seen God directly.
The apostle John introduced the ministry of Jesus by stating, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). People were able to see God indirectly by seeing Jesus, who had taken on a human (visible) body through birth. In this way, people could see God in Jesus and not die. So Jesus revealed God and his glory to people. John wrote, “The Word [Jesus] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (v. 14).
In the new Jerusalem of eternity, the privilege of all those who have obeyed Jesus by placing their faith in him will be able to see God personally. Revelation 22:3–4 prophesies, “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” To see God’s face and to have his name on their foreheads pictures God’s identification and personal companionship with every believer. In heaven there will be no barriers or restrictions between God and his people.
A close relationship with a spouse, family member, or friend involves having a knowledge that is held in common and mutually enjoyed. Paul seems to refer to this in his famous chapter on love: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12). To see God face-to-face will mean a deeper, fuller, more personal knowledge of God that cannot be attained on earth.
In the Old Testament, criminals were often banished from the presence of the king and not allowed to look upon his face again (cf. 2 Sam. 14:24; Est. 7:8). Jesus, in his famous Sermon on the Mount, explained, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). Those who through faith are purified by being given the righteousness of God (see question #2) will live forever in God’s presence, face-to-face.
What will be our reaction when we see God? We will be astounded by his absolute beauty. With this beauty we will experience warmth, comfort, love, peace, and complete satisfaction. David wrote, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD . . .” (Ps. 27:4). As I mentioned before, David wasn’t asking to live in an earthly temple all his life. He was longing for the eternal temple, the very presence of God.
The beauty of the Lord describes more than a literal, aesthetic experience of God. It is also the spiritual response to who God is in all of his attributes and qualities. We will perceive all at once that God has/is unattainable knowledge, unimaginable power and creativity, and unfathomable grace and love.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Job 19:26–27; Psalm 11:7; 17:15; Daniel 7:9–14; John 14:6–10; Hebrews 12:14; 1 John 3:2; 4:12