God with us face to face | Dec. 27
Revelation 22:4
Jesse Schellenberg | Mission Campus Pastor
“4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”
– Revelation 22:4
I dated my wife long distance for one summer as she lived out of the province. Half way through the summer, she decided to surprise me with a trip out and hatched a plan with my Dad to pick her up from the airport. I remember thinking my Dad had gone out to pick up pizza and wondering to myself what was taking so long. Eventually I heard the garage door open and in walked my Dad, followed by my future wife, to my surprise. The first words out of my mouth after laying eyes on my long lost lady were, “Where’s the pizza?” I like to think it was at that moment she knew I was the one.
People often talk about what they are most excited about when heaven becomes their home. The absence of pain, no more temptation, health, reuniting with our loved ones, perfect peace, meeting the heroes of our faith, and the list goes on. There are so many good things we should long for, but there is one thing that will surpass them all.
It’s the thing every groom anticipates as he waits at the altar, the thing every mom longs for in the pain of childbirth, and the thing every kid hopes for in their dread of being lost at the grocery store. They want nothing more than to fix their eyes on the one they love and to see them face to face. This is the deepest longing in those moments.
Christian, on that day, when heaven becomes our home, the one who lived for you, bled for you, rose for you, forgave you, saved you, sanctified you, and loves you will be standing there and you will see him face to face. In that moment, I just don’t think ‘where’s the pizza?’ will cut it. Because, in the face of Christ, the things of this life will be strangely dim in the blinding light of his glory and grace.
O come, O come, Emmanuel.
PRAYER: Father in Heaven, remind us often of the glorious end to which you are bringing each one of us. Might the light and momentary afflictions of this age be seen as nothing in comparison to what you have prepared for us. Come, Lord Jesus, Come. Amen