Jesus taught: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
With the promises of the Lord, there’s a sense of the present fulfillment of the promise, but it points to a later and greater fulfillment in heaven.
So for the present day, we do get a sense of the Lord, we are invited into a relationship with Christ, growing in our knowledge of him, knowing him better.
There can be times in our lives, seasons of our lives where we find his presence especially strong in our lives. We get glimpses.
We can appreciate and have a sense of awe for the Lord who created everything when we truly behold his creation, see the beauty of the sunset or stand at the foot of a mountain.
We have moments when we see people coming to faith in the Lord, born again to the hope of the gospel, and when we see lives transformed, people made new by the power of God’s saving work.
So in little ways, we get glimpses of God’s glory, of his work in the world.
But the pure in heart, shall see God.
The Christian life, is still being lived in a fallen world, we still deal with our own sins and the ramifications of the sins of others. We still get sick and die.
We shall behold of his glory and holiness in heaven. Not in a glimpse or a flicker of light, but beholding the glory of God, the awesomeness of the Lord for eternity
In the Old Testament, we are told that a person could not see God the face of God and live.
God is so glorious, he is so holy, he is so pure, so full of life and light that sinful people cannot behold his glory.
But the promise of Jesus is an eternal blessing in the presence of the Lord. And for that, we should rejoice. We should enjoy the blessings he has given us today. But to know that they are merely appetizers to the greater feast.
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
Josh Benner 