The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Face To Face"
A beautiful red glass cardinal, given to me by my son this past Father's Day, sits on my desk as I write these words. Illuminated from within by a small bulb, the cardinal glimmers with a vivid display of color that almost duplicates what we see of these beautiful birds in God's creation.
Almost. As lovely as the ornamental piece may be, it only begins to compare with the real that inspired the facsimile. This reminds me of our present lives, wherein "we see through a glass, darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12). Thankfully, we can know the Lord well enough to walk with Him in the faith and faithfulness that elicits genuine peace, joy, fulfillment and a life truly lived. Indeed, "darkly" can shine pretty brightly in the hearts of born again believers in the Lord Jesus. However, I am sure that compared to what we shall know when we "see Him as He is," my cardinal illustrates how much this life, real as it is in Christ, will one day seem like a facsimile of the reality we will then know.
"But then, face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12).
We will one day look into the eyes of the Creator who became our Redeemer by becoming as one of us, forevermore to remain human for our sakes (without relinquishing His divinity). "The Word was made flesh… For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (John 1:14; I Timothy 2:5). I wonder if in that moment, the realization of how much the Lord Jesus sacrificed simply to become human for us will overwhelm us with awed appreciation, but also with agonized grief? Perhaps this is one reason the Scriptures indicate the Lord will wipe away our tears after we having entered into His presence (Revelation 21:4). The price of His sacrifice will be far more known in that hour, as will the realization in our hearts, "My sins made necessary the sorrow, pain, forsakenness, and death that could only have resulted by God becoming man." Surely tears will flow from our glorified hearts and eyes, and even more surely, we will feel the hand of our Savior wipe them away.
We close with the obvious question to which no full answer will ever be possible: What sacrifice would be involved in an infinite, eternal God taking upon Himself the limitations of our humanity? When facsimile gives way to vivid reality in our Lord's presence, the answer will doubtless be much clearer. However, I suspect we will all realize that the reality, even as known in Heavenly places, will transcend our capacity to fully understand. As the hymn writer beautifully portrayed, "None of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed" by the Savior in making His sacrifice to live and die as a human being, and to forever remain human for our sake. Nor will we ever...
"The love of Christ… passeth knowledge."
(Ephesians 3:19)
"Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh."
(I Timothy 3:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
"The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth."
(Ephesians 5:9)
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