In One Vast Blaze of Unobscured Glory!

"Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty!" Isaiah 33:17

To see the Savior as He is, in the splendors of His glorified humanity--is the highest and most attractive view which is given of the Heavenly world. 

To see Him as He was, when He tabernacled here below--was a high privilege, one which prophets, and kings, and righteous men of old, ardently desired. But to behold Him . . .
  clothed with majesty divine,

  exalted above all blessing and praise,
  the object of celestial adoration,
  with all the heavenly hosts prostrate before His throne
--that will be a blessed sight indeed!

Between the view that is enjoyed of the Redeemer's glory on earth, and that which is realized by the redeemed in Heaven--there is a threefold distinction:

In the first place, His glory, as seen here, is dark and obscure--but in Heaven it is clear and unclouded. The apostle speaks of our beholding Him now imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror. It is by means of certain indistinct mediums, such as the representations of His word and ordinances; but He will be seen above, face to face!

In the second place, His glory is beheld here, only in separate parts and portions. The things recorded of Him in the sacred writings are studied one by one, and, by comparing them together, we form a general estimate of His character. In some passages, we have an account of His person; in others, of His offices; in others, of His love or mercy. And it is by collecting these scattered fragments together, that our knowledge of Him is now obtained.

So it was with the spouse in the book of Canticles. She examined every part of His person by itself:

 His head was as fine gold;
 His cheeks were as a bed of spices;
 His lips were like lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh;
 His countenance was as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

And after having glanced at these several particulars--she comes to the conclusion that, "He is the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely!"

It is thus that the Savior is seen here on earth; but how will it be in Heaven? We shall see Him all at once--complete and entire, in one vast blaze of unobscured glory!

And, in the third place, the view we have of Christ on earth is only in occasional glances. There are seasons in the experience of every believer when he has to say with Job, "Behold I go forward--but He is not there; and backward--but I cannot perceive Him!" Or in the language of the prophet, "Truly, you are a God who hides Yourself!" 

But, precious truth! the vision in Heaven will be perpetual; it will be altogether unbroken and undisturbed. "Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended!"

Blessed Jesus! reveal Yourself even now, according to Your promise, to my waiting soul; be it mine to enter in some feeble measure, into the feelings of Your disciples of old, when they said, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth!" And, refreshed, quickened, transformed by the sight--may I be daily looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of that day when Your own prayer, offered on the night of Your great agony, shall be fully answered: "Father, I want those You have given Me--to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory--the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world!" Then shall I know how great Your beauty is--and what it is to be eternally enraptured with Your charms!

~John MacDuff~