March 15: TO BE WITH HIM!
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4
This brief verse ties together two incredibly prominent concepts. The fulfillment of the promise to see [God’s] face hinges upon your choice to allow a re-molding of your character by the power and grace of His Holy Spirit. To have His name (meaning His character) on [your] forehead (meaning in your mind) calls for a surrender of all that you have and all that you are to Him. The only things that He wants to take away are those character traits that stand in the way of your spiritual growth, namely sin. If you have truly been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), you will understand that it is your sin that must be put to death. He is the Giver of life!
Then I [John] looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads (Revelation 14:1). The symbolic number, 144,000, alludes to military units. God’s people are currently in a state of war. See Ephesians 6:10-17 for the necessary armor. But the Lamb standing on Mount Zion has already overcome [this fallen] world (John 16:33). Are you taking your stand with Him? Your life-long surrender to Jesus gives Him permission to purify you. Your surrender to Him means that you are not surrendering to His opposer, for these two are mutually exclusive! Your surrender to Him means your full acceptance of His ability to equip you — by the power of divine grace — to carry out all that He requires, as laid out in His word.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
Our natural tendency is to hide from God, and thus gravitate toward the ways of man, because of sin, also called unbelief (Hebrews 3:18-19 – see also Genesis 3:8; Exodus 3:6; 1 Kings 19:13; Isaiah 59:2). He even hides Himself – at least partially – for our own protection (Exodus 33:22), yet He longs to fully reveal Himself, and the inner longing of man is to see Him (1 Peter 4:13). The thrill of seeing the wonders of nature, talented athletes and musicians, or the grandest fireworks show does not come close to the joy ahead for those who will together (Hebrews 11:40) see God in His full, resplendent glory. We must learn to appreciate His promises for those who love Him, and to claim them, for our enemy works feverishly to obscure them from our minds, distracting us with pale substitutes.
The Bible states that the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11). In this context, face to face, is used idiomatically to indicate an intimate relationship and understanding between Moses and God. Like Moses, Abraham, and David, we can have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. One that will lead us all the way Home to Him!
Even our beloved David yet awaits the resurrection of the righteous. He confidently wrote:
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. Psalm 17:15 (see also Acts 2:29,34 and 1 Corinthians 15:23)
For further study: 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 3:12