Seeing God
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
(Matt. 5:9)
Soren
Kierkegaard, a 19th century writer, philosopher, and theologian,
wrote a book called Purity of Heart is to
Will One Thing. That’s an excellent way to sum up everything we’ve learned
in the past few readings, assuming that the one thing a person wills to do is
to glorify God and do His will in every situation, especially in their thought
life and attitudes, in their marriage and other actions of the will, and in the
vows they make and the words they articulate.
Those
who live in such a state of purity of heart, those who are single-minded and
pure in their purpose of pleasing God, will receive the blessing that Jesus
promised – they will see God. There are no “ifs, ands, or buts,” about it;
those who are pure in heart will see God. Jesus said it; we believe it; it will
happen. Count on it.
But
what exactly does it mean when Jesus says “for they will see God?” Is it a
literal viewing of God with our physical eyes, with an outcome similar to that
of the Israelites who looked into the Ark of the Covenant and fell down dead?
Or is it that we will see God with our spiritual eyes, recognizing Him at work
in the hearts of His people and in the world around us? Or finally, when we
talk about seeing God, are we talking about seeing Him in the same way we go to
see a doctor? Are we talking about just seeing Him from an objective distance
or are we instead referring to seeing Him by going into His presence to meet
and converse with Him?
The
answers to each of these questions has a “now” and a “not yet” component to
them. In other words, in this age, in the here-and-now, we see “through a glass
darkly” but in the age to come, after Christ comes again, we will see Him as He
is.
For
example, in this age people don’t see God with their physical eyes, but in the
age to come we will. In this age, we use our spiritual eyes to see God at work
all around us, but in the age to come we will have far more understanding and
insight. And while we enjoy fellowship with Him through worship and the Word
and an intimate prayer life, it is only a foretaste of what is to come when
Jesus welcomes us into His Father’s house.
For
now, though, we must “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”
We are in the same condition as the Ephesians, for whom Paul prayed that “the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to
which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
As
the eyes of our heart are opened, as we get to know God better and walk more in
step with Him in purity of heart, a wonderful thing happens. We begin to see
Him more and more. We see Him moving in a person’s life. We see His will being
done in a situation. We see how His Word fits in a certain situation and are
able to give wise Biblical counsel. We become more and more like Jesus, who
only did what He saw the Father doing.
As fantastic as this sounds – that in the age to come
we will literally see God but for now we see Him with our spiritual eyes –
there is still an even greater truth. For if you think about it, we often use the
word “see” to describe coming into someone’s presence and having a face-to-face
meeting and conversation with someone. In everyday use, we make an appointment
to “see” the doctor. We don’t intend to wave at the doctor from a distance; we
want to be in his presence and interact with him. So when Jesus says that we
will see God, could it be that we will not only see God from a distance but see
Him face-to-face and ask Him all those questions that have nagged us for years?
Could it be that we could really know the Creator and Lord of the universe?
When we think about seeing God in this way, it has
wonderful implications for our devotional life. It means that as we are pure in
heart – 100% clean by the blood of Christ and sold out in our devotion to Him –
we will see God, be admitted into His presence, experience nearness to Him in
worship and prayer. As we seek Him, we will find Him. When we talk to Him,
we’ll hear back from Him. After we pray, we’ll see answers come to pass.
When
we are pure in heart and spend time each day in God’s presence, we will see
God. Our devotional lives won’t be dry exercises but will instead be dynamic
encounters with the Living God.
Let’s enter into the Lord’s presence
now, asking the Lord to open our eyes as we strive to live in purity of heart:
Lord, you
know my heart is to live in purity of heart, with unmixed devotion to you and
to your will in my life. You have promised that the pure in heart will see God,
and I ask that you would open the eyes of my heart more and more each day, so
that I can see you moving and working in my life and in the lives of those
around me…continue praying as the Spirit leads…
For further study and meditation:
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the
truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his
Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the
Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will
show him even greater things than these. John 5:19-21 NIV
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we
are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light
and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:16-18
NIV
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb
12:2 NIV
Please
use this blog for personal devotional use and feel free to share it with
friends and family. However, all publishing rights are reserved. No reproduction
or publication of this blog is permitted without the permission of the author,
Pastor Randy Brockett of New Song Foursquare
Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
To contact Pastor Randy, email him at randybrockett@yahoo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment