I'll Live to Tell About It

I am not well versed in the ways of Apple products, given the fact I own a Compaq (a company which doesn’t even exist anymore) laptop computer which will turn fourteen years old this year. Yes, you read that right - 14 years. The poor thing is maybe one step away from a needing a hand-crank to turn it on. If one year in human years equals seven years in dog years, then let’s suppose one year in human years equals 10 years in technology years. With that being the case, that means my laptop is, in fact, 140 years old. Sounds ‘bout right.

But rumor has it that Apple has this pretty cool feature called FaceTime. This is total hearsay on my part, as I also happen to have a 50-year old Android phone (remember, 1 human year = 10 technology years), so I’m assuming a lot when I say FaceTime is “cool”.  Nevertheless, notice that it’s called FaceTime. Not TextTime or SpeakTime or ChatTime. The central point to the tool is you get to lay eyes on someone’s face.

Faces matter. When you listen to the radio, don’t you always imagine the face of the deejay looking a certain way based on the way his voice sounds? And when you’re missing someone special, aren’t you picturing his or her face in your mind? Isn’t that what makes long-distance relationships so hard, the fact that you don’t get to see that significant other face to face on a regular basis? When you’ve got a friend who is trying to set you up with someone on a date, isn’t the first thing you want to see is a picture of the mystery person’s face? We love faces. They are how we identify people. They are how we detect emotions and thoughts, based on facial expressions. They are how we can tell siblings and parents and who belongs to whom, based on similar facial characteristics.  Faces matter.

Both apostles John and Paul said emphasize this several times in their letters to the churches and people of the New Testament:

“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face…” (1 Thessalonians 2:17, ESV) 

“…as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?” (1 Thessalonians 3:10, ESV) 

“Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” (2 John 1:12, ESV) 

“I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.” (3 John 1:14, ESV)

Face time. It’s what is most critical in cultivating and sustaining relationships.

When I think about heaven, you know what I think about most? I think about seeing the face of God. If there’s anyone I want to FaceTime with, it’s God. You may have had someone ask you before, “What do you think we’ll do in heaven?” or “What do you think heaven will look like?” Some people picture harps and clouds and angels and an eternity of sunshine and rainbows. I think when we get to heaven we’ll be so busy looking at the face of God that we won’t be able to take our eyes off him. We’ll be so captivated by his beauty, his glory, his majesty – harps and clouds will hardly be what fill our minds.

But why is that significant? Why is seeing the face of God going to matter?

When the people of the Old Testament wanted to encounter God, they were always told they could not see the face of God and live to tell about it. To witness him as he was would leave them stone cold dead. He was too much for them to take in, so he would veil his glory in such a way that they would only catch what amounts to a shadow of God. When Moses asked to see the glory of God, God responded by saying in Exodus 33:19-23 (ESV):

"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But, he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."

You can’t see his face and live to tell about it. Not back then anyway.

But there’s going to come a day – a sweet, beautiful, overwhelming, breathtaking day – when I’ll get to see the face of my God. Revelation 22:3-4 proclaims, “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

I’ll see his face.

And live to tell about it.

I’ll see him face to face, as he is, in all his glory, and then spend all eternity proclaiming, “I have seen the face of God.”

I long for that day – when I get to see God face to face. To encounter this God, to have a never-ending session of FaceTime with him – when that day comes, that’s when I’ll realize that his face is the only face that ever mattered.