May 29, 2006

Seeing His Face

Revelation 22:1-5

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city... They will see his face. Revelation 22:3-4

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The best thing about heaven, the thing that makes it heaven, is the presence of God himself. There will be no more uncertainty or lack of clarity, just clear vision and astonishing enjoyment of our Lord.

We don't know God very well yet, so our desires sometimes focus on other aspects of heaven. But when we get there, we will find that anything beautiful will pale by comparison to the Source of all beauty. Every pleasure will seem dry compared to the Fountain of delight. Even our reunion with loved ones will take second place to our encounter with Love himself. These other joys are droplets, but God is the ocean. These others are rays, but God is the Sun.

There will be many marvelous sights in heaven, but no sight will compare to gazing at the face of the Lord and seeing that he is looking at me--and smiling! There will be many lovely sounds in heaven, but no celestial music or conversation with saints and angels can compare to the sound of the voice that brought the world into being, that shakes mountains and directs galaxies, that whispers faith into my cold heart, that calls the dead from their tombs. Nothing can compare to the sound of that voice saying to me, "?Well done, good and faithful servant.' Enter into your master's joy. Welcome home, my child. Come, reign with me!"

"Father of Jesus, Love divine, great King upon your throne, what joy to see you as you are and worship you alone!" O Jesus, I long to see you face to face. In your name, Amen.

About the author — David Feddes

Dr. David Feddes is pastor of Family of Faith Church and provost of Christian Leaders Institute, which supports mentor-based ministry training through online courses. David is also adjunct missiologist for Crossroad Bible Institute, which provides biblical distance education to more than 40,000 people in prison. Previously he served as broadcast minister for the Back to God radio program, reaching people in more than fifty countries. David earned his Ph.D. in intercultural studies from Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL. He and his wife, Wendy, have nine children (one in heaven).

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