When We See Him

“And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.” (Joh 19:37 AV)

John is referring to the appearance of Jesus to Israel at the commencement of the Millennial reign.  When Jesus appears with the evidence of His crucifixion still on His person, they will realize that for two thousand years, they had rejected their Messiah.  There will be mourning and weeping for the rebellion of their nation.  But this verse brings to mind a conversation I had recently.  A good friend of mine is going through some very dark days right now.  My situation is similar in nature, but not in scope.  His water is much deeper.  We began to speak of heaven, and what it will be like when our eyes rest on our beloved Savior for the very first time.  Many questions reside in our hearts.  Questions whose answers may never come or may (in the light of eternity) not really matter.  There is only speculation at this time.  We can read what Jesus Christ looks like in the first part of the book of Revelation.  We can imagine what John might have meant by what he wrote.  We can only go so far in trying to picture the appearance of Christ as we shall see Him for the first time.  What is clear to me, anyway, is we will see Him for the first time and in an instant, understand divine love as we have never known it in this life.

My primary thought when musing with my friend was after we had bowed prone for an eternity, and finally looked up into the face of Jesus, we would see infinite love behind those eyes which we could never fully understand until we see Him.  We would see every event in life from the reference of that love.  What we might have thought to be too difficult in this life would be seen in the context of divine and infinite love.  When we see those scars we would finally understand the depth of love that drove Him to Calvary’s cross.  We speak of God’s love.  We teach and preach God’s love.  But there is no human equivalent to which we can make a comparison.  One can only imagine the compassion residing behind those eyes.  At first, we may be moved by the pure holiness of Jesus and shirk in humility and embarrassment over what we are.  To be in the presence of perfect holiness has got to be intimidating to an infinite degree.  Yet, in His great mercy and grace, He extends a hand and leads us to our knees;  then our feet.  He looks deep into our eyes and we into His, then we are overwhelmed by the perfect infinite love which is Christ our Savior.

When considering devotions this morning, I asked the LORD to bring me to a passage that does nothing more than glorify Him.  After all the entries on practical things of my Christian walk, I simply wanted to magnify and praise the LORD for being Him.  Salvation is very dear to me.  But if you are like me, we need to be reminded that salvation isn’t all about us.  In reality, it is all about Him!  He is the center of our mercy and forgiveness.  He deserves our praise.  He should be that which we most frequently exalt and not the benefits that we receive because of that grace.  His love is limitless.  His might is matchless.  He is the King of kings and LORD of lords.  Yet, loving the unlovely is not beneath Him.  Praise be to God for His wonderful works toward the children of men.