Made for Forever · Day 13 of 14 · About 10 minutes

Face to Face

The best thing about heaven isn’t the gold. It’s God.

Michael Kendrick · Scripture: King James Version

READ FIRST Revelation 21:3 · Revelation 22:3–5 · Exodus 33:18–23

We’ve talked about crowns, a city of gold, new bodies, and a river of life. All amazing. But none of them is the main thing. The main thing is God Himself.

Listen to the announcement John hears from heaven:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. — Revelation 21:3 (KJV)

God with us. God living with us. Heaven isn’t heaven because of the streets of gold. It’s heaven because God is there.

The Story of God Moving Closer

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells one long story: God moving closer to His people.

In Eden, God walked with people — until sin sent them hiding. Then God came near in a tent, the tabernacle, but behind a thick curtain. Then He came closer still: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Then He moved in — the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer (1 Corinthians 6:19). And at the end: face to face.

Even Moses, one of the greatest men in the Bible, was told, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). But in the new creation, every one of God’s people “shall see his face.” What Moses begged for, you’ll have forever.

Two Words Worth Knowing

The New Testament has a word for this: parousia — presence, nearness, arrival. It’s the word used for Jesus’ coming. Its opposite is apousia — absence, distance. (Paul uses both side by side in Philippians 2:12.) God never stops being everywhere, but sin breaks our closeness with Him. The gospel is God bringing us from distance into presence. And the New Jerusalem is parousia — forever.

Full Access for Everyone

This matters: every believer sees His face. Rewards may differ, but nobody gets a back-row seat to God. “In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). And you don’t have to wait to start knowing Him. Jesus said, “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life isn’t only a place you go later. It’s a relationship you can start today.