What Is the Beatific Vision?
Beloved brothers and sisters, let us gather around and consider one of the most glorious truths of our faith: the beatific vision. What, you may ask, is this wondrous thing? It is nothing less than the heart of heaven itself. It is the hope of every saint, the promise of our eternal inheritance, and the fulfillment of all our deepest longings. The beatific vision is simply this: to see God face to face, to behold His glory, and to be satisfied forever in His presence.
You see, dear friends, what makes heaven truly heaven is not streets of gold or gates of pearl—though these are wondrous indeed—but the fact that we shall see God Himself. This is what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). And this is the cry of David in Psalm 27:4: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” Oh, what a day that will be! To see the Lord in all His splendor, and not as through a glass darkly, but in the full brilliance of His glory.
This vision, my friends, is no small thing. It is the culmination of all our desires and the crown of every blessing. It is the Promised Land toward which we march, the hope that sustains us on our pilgrimage through this weary world. While we may have many longings and aspirations in this life, they all find their fulfillment in this one great treasure: to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
A Shared Hope Across the Ages
Now, let me tell you something remarkable: this hope is not unique to one corner of Christianity. It is not merely the possession of Protestants, or Catholics, or the Orthodox. No, the beatific vision is the shared hope of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. For centuries, Christians of every stripe have lifted their voices together to proclaim this truth. Though we may differ in how we express it, the central hope remains the same: we shall see God.
Oh, how the saints of old longed for this vision! Augustine, that great father of the church, prayed, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Jonathan Edwards, the preacher of revival, spoke of heaven as “a world of love,” where we shall forever delight in God. And even in our modern day, we are reminded by C. S. Lewis to leave behind the mud pies of this world for the holiday at sea—to press “further up and further in” to the joy of Aslan’s country, which is but another name for heaven.
Why Does This Matter Today?
But perhaps you are wondering, “Preacher, why should we think about such things in a world like ours? Aren’t there more pressing issues—questions of gender, identity, and morality that demand our attention?” And yes, my friends, there are many challenges in our day. But hear me: the answer to the confusion of our age is not to abandon the eternal truths of our faith but to retrieve them. For it is only by grounding ourselves in the hope of heaven that we can rightly address the troubles of earth.
We live in a world that has forgotten its Creator, a world that has traded the glory of God for the fleeting pleasures of self. But the beatific vision reminds us that we were made for more. It calls us to lift our eyes from the muck and mire of this life and to fix them on the One who is the source of all beauty, all goodness, and all truth. It is a reminder that our restless hearts will never find peace until they rest in Him.
The Glory of God’s Blessedness
Now, let us marvel for a moment at the God who gives us this vision. Our God is not needy or dependent. He does not require our worship to complete Him, nor our love to sustain Him. No, He is the fullness of life and joy in Himself. He is the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eternally blessed, eternally happy, and eternally complete. And yet, in His infinite grace, He invites us to share in His blessedness. He calls us to enter into His joy.
This is the wonder of the beatific vision: that we, as finite creatures, are invited to behold the infinite God. And though we shall never fully comprehend Him—for He is infinite, and we are not—we shall forever delight in Him. Our joy will increase endlessly as we are drawn deeper and deeper into His glory. As the psalmist says, “In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
A Call to Lift Our Eyes
So, my dear friends, let us not be content with the fleeting pleasures of this world. Let us not settle for the shadows when the reality is before us. Instead, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who will one day bring us into the very presence of God. Let us press on toward the goal, the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. For the day is coming when we shall see Him as He is, and we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).
And until that day, let us live as pilgrims, with hearts set on the heavenly city. Let us encourage one another with this blessed hope, and let us proclaim to a weary world that there is a joy that surpasses all understanding—a joy that is found in the face of God.
Oh, what a day that will be! When the clouds are rolled back, and the trumpet sounds, and we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. When we shall see Him, not through a glass darkly, but face to face. When every tear is wiped away, and every sorrow is turned to joy. Until that day, let us live with hope, let us walk by faith, and let us yearn for the vision of God that will make all things new.
Amen and amen.
