God With Us (4)
…continuing looking at how God reveals Himself in covenant with us,
especially through His names, in the Bible.
In the last chapter of the Bible we are told that, at last in heaven, we shall see the face of God:
“There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.” Rev 22:3-4
We will see the face of God. The Father’s name shall be written on our foreheads (so we are told in Rev 14:1; a textual variant also adds the “name” of the Lamb); we shall see the face of God.
The Face of the God?
A few commentators baulk at asserting we will see God.
They say it is only the face of the Lamb that we will see; but not God the Father.
They give two reasons:
1) They quote Exod 33:20, where God tells Moses “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
They also cite Isaiah 6:2, where even the angels cover their own faces in the presence of God. Though, interestingly, the same commentators will often tell you that “the Lord” that appeared in the temple (Isa 6:1) that the angels do not look upon was Christ alone, not the triune God (even though v 8 implies it was). But that would then mean that the angels (and we?) could never look upon the face of Christ either.
2) They point out that God is “invisible” and hence cannot be seen (1 Tim 1:17).
Only Christ had a physical body; and therefore only the Son may be seen.
However, I believe that neither of these reasons prove that the saints will not at last see God in heaven.
I am persuaded that the Bible teaches we will, at last, see our heavenly Father.
Certainly, it will be our glory to look upon the face of Christ, our Saviour, whom at present “having not seen we love; and though now we do not see Him, yet believing, we rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8
But then “I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story, saved by grace” (Fanny Crosby)
But without seeing the face of our heavenly Father our communion with Him would be marred for all eternity.
To see the face of God is the ultimate realisation of God’s covenant with Man: “I will be your God, and you shall be My people.”
It will be the culmination of thousands of years of redemptive history.
At last, the work of Christ will find its fulfilment in all that He set out to do.
It will be all that is meant by: “God with us”.
Answering Those Who Say We Will Not See God
1) “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
This is true of Man in his fallen state.
Hindson & Kroll (KJV Bible Commentary) answer those who say: “Mortal man cannot look upon the face of God.” They explain,
“This can be true of man in his sinful state and in his condition before his resurrection. But, when he is glorified with the Saviour, it will be entirely different (cf. Rom 8:28–30). In eternity there will always be a difference between deity and redeemed humanity, but this truth does not preclude the ‘beatific vision,’ as it has been called.”
Other commentators make the same observation, eg. the ESV Study Bible:
“Moses could not see the Lord’s face and live (Exod. 33:20–23; 34:29–35), but when the Spirit has completed their sanctification, God’s redeemed people will see his face. It will be the greatest blessing of the age to come, as God looks upon his people with favour and delight.”
Rev 22 is about restoring all that was good in the original Garden of Eden. At very least, this must mean enjoying communion with God as intimate as Adam first enjoyed.
R.C.Sproul (The Reformation Study Bible) notes:
“The final description of paradise contains elements alluding to the Garden of Eden. The intimacy of God with His people (vv. 3, 4) and the abundance of His blessing (vv. 1, 2, 5) are stressed even more than in the preceding verses. The final state restores the unbroken, idyllic communion between God and human beings. But the apex of history is more magnificent than the beginning.”
Others comment in a similar vein, eg. A.B.Luter (Revelation):
“The wording here pictures the new Jerusalem as the new and permanent ‘Eden’, where there will no longer be any curse (see Gen 3:14–19). As Adam and Eve enjoyed unbroken fellowship with the Lord in the garden prior to the fall (Gen 3:8), how much more will God’s servants enjoy his constant presence in the new ‘Eden’.”
2) “You cannot see God’s face because He is invisible”
This objection doesn’t make sense in the light of God’s word to Moses. Why would God tell Moses: “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” if you can’t see God’s face anyway?
But it also misunderstands what “seeing God’s face” means.
Jesus told us that the “angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 18:10) How is that possible if God is invisible?
Surely “to see one’s face” means more than simply to see a physical form.
Jesus Himself always beholds His Father’s face. God’s invisibility does not mean the Son does not see the Father.
Jesus has seen the Father’s face as no one else has seen Him:
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:18)
Also, we read: “the Word was with [Gk. pros] God” (John 1:1).
This means more than that He existed in the same universe, or even in the same heaven as the Father.
William Hendriksen aptly translates it as: “the Word was face to face with God”.
He explains it as:
“The meaning is that the Word existed in the closest possible fellowship with the Father, and that He took supreme delight in this communion.”
“To see the face” of God means to experience the closest possible fellowship, in an intimate relation with God in all that He is.
This is impossible for sinful man to experience.
He cannot behold God in all that He is – a God who is so pure, so holy, so awe-full that the very sight would immediately annihilate sinful man.
This is what Adam and Eve hid from when, “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face [Heb. paniym, same as in Exod 33:20] of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
They could no longer live in an intimate relation with God in all that He is.
The Unfolding Revelation of Who God Is
Though for the present we cannot look upon God fully as He is, yet from the beginning God has been making Himself more and more “visible” (as previously explained) to those in covenant with Him.
1) In the Old Testament
Even of Moses, it says (also in Exod 33, but earlier, in v 11), “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Also: “With My servant Moses…I speak with him face to face.” (Num 12:7-8).
And later in Exod 33, though Moses could not look fully and intimately upon the face of God, yet he was permitted to see the “back” of God as His glory passed by. (vv 18-23)
Isaiah also in some way “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isa 6:1).
As noted before, this was a vision of the triune God.
Ezekiel testifies that “the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” (Ezek 1:1)
2) In the New Testament
Those alive in Jesus’ day were given a glimpse of the glory in God’s face in Christ: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Three of the disciples witnessed this glory shine even more brightly on the Mount of Transfiguration. (2 Pet 1:16-18)
We who are alive today also witness something of that glory. “God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6)
And now, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor 3:18)
So, to a limited extent, God’s covenant people, even in the Old Testament, but especially in the New, “saw” something of the glory that shines out of the “face” of God.
The Final Revelation of Who God Is
But the full revelation of the glory of God’s face awaits us in the final glory of heaven: “Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.” (1 Cor 13:12)
Christ’s mission was to restore us to intimate fellowship with God.
By Him, we are restored to fellowship with the Father, as intimately as with the Son: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)
Our fellowship with the Father and the Son will find its ultimate expression when we finally “see” God, i.e. when we experience the closest possible fellowship, in an intimate relation with God in all that He is.
This was David’s hope: “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)
Elsewhere he testifies: “The LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold His face.” (Psalm 11:7 ESV)
This is the hope of all those “being transformed into the image [of Christ] by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The end result we look for is as promised: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt 5:8)
And “without [this ultimate transformation in] holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14)
We will see the Father!
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)
What would this mean if, throughout eternity, we never “saw” our Father?
What if, like the Wizard in Oz, He were to remain forever hidden behind a screen?
No! Then we shall know the Father; “then I shall know just as I also am known”.
What glory that shall be!
We will see our Saviour.
We will intimately share fellowship with the Spirit.
And, finally, we will see the Father!
We will experience the closest possible fellowship, in an intimate relation with our triune God in all that He is.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
“There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:3-5)
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it.
Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). (Rev 21:22-25)
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:3-5)