A FACE-to-Face Fellowship with the Living God Fellowship with God is the cry of the human heart even in all of its perplexity it is the true yearning of the soul. As the psalmist cried out, AS the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. My souls thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear to stand before God? (Psalm 42:1-2). Likewise, in Psalm 63:1, the psalmist yearned, O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (*Yearn means have an intense feeling of longing for something, typically something that one has lost or been separated from. . . . a relationship!) Throughout many human history, God has fellowshipped with His people in various ways. How exciting it must have been for the patriarchs---men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob--- to see God appear in the form of the angel of the LORD (see Genesis 22:11-15). He appeared to Moses in a burning bushed and conversed with him (Exodus 3:2). When God delivered His people from enslavement in Egypt, He led them in the wilderness in the form of a pillar of cloud during the daytime hours and a pillar if fire during the night (exodus 13:21-22). In the New testament times, God directly dwelt among His people in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14, 18). Jesus, though fully God as the second person of the Trinity, took on human flesh so that in the incarnation, He was 100 percent God and 100 percent man (see Philippians 2:5-11). This is why Jesus could say to His followers. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9). In modern times , GOD make Himself present to us through the HOLY SPIRIT (see John 12-16). Indeed, every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). God the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian every bit as much as God dwelt in the temple in Old Testament times (for example, see Ezekiel 10:4). God has clearly appeared to and interacted with humans throughout the centuries in various ways. And He has always been the aggressor in making Himself known to people.. In the future, it only gets better! On a future day, when we finally enter the eternal state in heaven, we will have unhindered, full access to God and will behold Him face to face. The Apostle John likewise exulted, Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as In have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). Such verses bring to mind the declaration of the psalmist in Psalm 17:15 says, because I am righteous, I will see you. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied. Often when people think of heaven, they ponder the reality that they will live forever and that death will be finally defeated.. As wondrous as this is, the true wonder of heaven lies in the reality that we will fellowship with God face to face. Just think about it. Can anything be more sublime and more utterly satisfying for the Christian than to enjoy the sheer delight of unbroken fellowship with God and to have immediate and completely unobstructed access to the divine glory? (see John 14:3; 2) 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:7). The human mind can scarcely take all this in. We will actually gaze upon the countenance of eternal God! Surely there can be no greater joy or exhilirating thrill for the creature that to look upon the face of the divine Creator and fellowship with Him forver... Our eternal God--the ONE Who alone has IMMORTALITY who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16)---WILL DWELL INTIMATELY AMONG HIS PEOPLE> AS THE BOOK OF REVELATION puts it, THEY WILL BE HIS PEOPLE AND GODHIMSELF WILL BE WITH THEM AS THEIR GOD (Revelation 21:3). And as the psalmist so eloquently exclaimed (people of God) IN YOUR PRESENCE THERE IS FULLNESS OF JOY; AT YOUR RIGHT HAND ARE PLEASURES FOREVERMORE (Psalm 16:11). No longer our fellowship with the Living God be interrupted by sin and defeat. Our communion with Him will be continuous and unbroken, for sin will no longer be among us. A;; things will be made new. To fellowship with God will be the essence of heavenly life, the fount and source of all blessing. The crowning wonder of our experience in the eternal city will be the perpetual and endless exploration of the unutterable beauty, majesty, love, holiness, power, joy, and grace of GODHIMSELF. When I ponder or to think about carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion such wondrous heavenly realities, I sometimes reflect back to the gospel of Matthew, where we are informed that one of Jesus Name is IMMANUEL which means GOD IS WITH US (MATTHEW 1:23), We all ought to meditate on the reality that in the eternal state, JESUS AS GOD will be with us in the closest possible sense.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 21:22:48 +0000
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