Will We See God In Heaven ?
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Heaven is the biblical term for God’s dwelling place (Psalms 33:13,14: Matthew 6:9). And while in our present bodies the realities of heaven are unseen, and we know them only by faith. Yet when we die and our spirit returns from where it came (Ecclesiastes 12:7), to be eternally in the presence of the Lord, will we be able to see Him?
Yes, but not in the same way we physically see by sight in the physical realm. Spirit to spirit our soul will have a super natural mindful, emotional, and willful visual sense of Jesus’ awesome presence in ways we can not imagine. Until Resurrection Day, we in spirit will dwell in heavenly Paradise with Christ in the invisible spirit realm along with the saints and angels spending our time worshiping, exploring God’s creative handiwork, learning, growing, and developing together in a never exhaustive journey getting to know our One triune God in three person’s (Revelation 7:15-17).
Paul alludes to his experience in the third or farthest heaven also called Paradise where God dwells (2 Corinthians 12:2,3).
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” (2Corinthians 12:2). He is confirming that there is eternal life in heaven in the presence of the Lord.
In Christ
12 comments:
Wonderful post, bro Dan. It is also interesting to note that not only will we see Him as He is, but we will also be like Him..
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3). And all this within a twinkling of an eye (1 Cr 15:52).
All to God's glory....
Great response, sis.
Do you think we will be exactly like the Lord, Adam 2... like we are Adam 1?
Below is this same question, "Will We See God In Heaven?" that I answered a couple of different times in the past for Got Questions Ministries. It is the full article in more detail than this post. Just thought I would contribute it to our archives. The mystery and victory of Christ was a challenge to prepare.
Thanks for commenting... bro Dan
p.s. The post is too many characters so I will have to make 2-3 post to get it all in.
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Will we see a physical God in Heaven or will we just be surrounded by his spirit?
Scripture tells that the saints in heaven see God but His presence is not physical or locational. And yes, they are surrounded by His omnipresent spirit (Psalm 139:7-10).
God is spirit and does not fill space for He has no physical dimensions. He exists outside of time and space (Isaiah 57:15). But even though God’s personal appearance is not physical and locational we will still see and worship Him in heaven relationally in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Heaven is the biblical term for God’s dwelling place (Psalms 33:13,14: Matthew 6:9). In the here and now while in our present bodies the realities of heaven are unseen but we know them by faith. And when we die and our spirit returns from where it came (Ecclesiastes 12:7), we, like God’s angels will see and experience these realities first hand (Matthew 18:1; Luke 1:19; Isaiah 6:23).
cont... next post
Continuation from previous post...pg 2
We will see God but not in the same way we physically see by sight in the physical realm. Only by the heart of our spirit’s soul in our minds “vision”, will we visually be able to sense the essence of God’s majesty and awesome powerful omnipresence in ways we cannot imagine. We cannot fathom how but assuredly the saints in heaven are actively walking with the Lord as do earthly saints, yet in a glorified, holy, and pure spirit (Revelation 2:1).
But What About Jesus? He ascended Into Heaven In His Body.
When considering seeing God in heaven we must remember that it is only through the Son of God Jesus Christ that we know who and what God is. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). While dwelling on earth He is giving us a clue that He is God in spirit by divine nature, the second person of the Trinity who became incarnate, who also became human in nature. Jesus also said, “no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Thus our spiritual sight, focus, and personal relationship with Father God when in heaven or earth is only through God the Son.
Jesus often used physical examples to give us a glimpse of what is real in the spiritual realm. And we learn that He never meant to say that Father God has a body nor that He would be in His earthly physical body in heaven, or that His earthly body would vaporize. He was clear in saying and demonstrating that His natural body would raise and transform into a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Only in His incarnate body did He become physical flesh but when He ascended up into heaven His body transformed transcending time and space to be at the Throne with Father God.
Jesus is God and has the power to become physical “in” human flesh and nature on earth but at the same time He is Divine and not a material being in heaven. Just by the fact that the Lord in spirit created the universe it is reasonable to believe He became incarnate flesh, died at the Cross, resurrected, transformed His natural body and ascended back into heaven from where He came transcending His universe in His spiritual body, in a flash.
Will We Ever Physically See Jesus?
Upon death and until Resurrection Day, we in spirit will dwell in heavenly Paradise with Christ in the invisible spirit (non-physical), realm along with the saints and angels spending our time worshiping, exploring God’s creative handiwork, learning, growing, and developing together in a never exhaustive journey getting to know our One triune God in three person’s (Revelation 7:15-17).
But it is not until we resurrect in our glorified bodies upon the Lord’s second return that we will “see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). That is, once resurrected in our new supernatural spiritual body (1Corinthians 15:50-57), we will then be able to see, touch, and walk with Jesus for an eternity in His new Kingdom to come (Acts 1:9-11).
In Christ
This is such a fascinating read, you have done an excellent job here. There are so many points I want to touch on, so I may have to get back to some of them.
What I find really fascinating, bro Dan, is that I have always imagined God to be the brightest light possible, now I have not limited Him to this alone, but often in Scripture He is described as being in a light which is very bright. (Can't think of a Scripture to support it right now). But think about this? IF God is everywhere and He radiates a bright light, then why in Gen 1:2are we told that "darkness was upon the face of the deep, and Gen 1:3 He created light, and then in Gen 1:4 He divided the light from the darkness. Do you see what I am saying, if He is pure light (PLUS SO MUCH MORE...Spirit) then why would light have to be created if He is omnipresent? If you don't have an answer I can understand. LOL!!!!
I will come back with the Adam 2&1thing soon.
This is sooo much fun...I love this blog. I hope to learn and grow and apply God's wisdom more and more every day. AWESOME!!!!
Thanks for sharing all your thoughts.
Dan,
Maybe there is dimension "in time" that was/is seperate from everything else, since God is outside of time, this may explain the conundrum. And if God is omnipresent (we know He is), we surely know that He cannot be in hell.
Just musing!
Bro Dan:
I know that Jonathan Edwards talks about this very subject, and I have it somewhere, but at the present I cannot find it. I am talking about how we will see God in heaven. If I find it I will pass it along, it was very much like what you posted here.
I think we will be like Adam 2. What does 1 Cr 15:50 say? That flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Does this mean what I think it means, that flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Because in the following verses it says that we will be changed in the twink of an eye...this seems to imply, that this change will be from flesh and blood to the incorruptible body.
I also feel that this verse means that corruption will not inherit the Kingdom, (which sounds kinda funny because it is true), because the flesh is associated w/ the old nature. So I think nothing about the old nature (physically at least) will be in heaven.
What say you?
Sis Mary,
Why isn't God the Father's LIGHT omnipresent since Creation? Because of HIS purity HE can not be in the presence of darkness, sin, and evil. Jesus was sent to regenerate and restore the universe first before the Father will shine Himself in omnipresence and dwell in and with His creation. Until then I think it is reasonable to believe the Son and Spirit are omnipresent at the will and command of the Father.
God's LIGHT is omnipotent and omniscient purity. He is waiting to be fully omnipresent. Until He is His LIGHT will be shown through the WORD, the Son of God with the help of the Spirit.
God is non-physical spiritual realm LIGHT. Many passages describe HIS radiance as purity.
The connection seems to be that God is not a part of His physical creation-that is, the universe is not a part of God, the divine being. God the Father is the 3rd infinite heaven outside of time and space whereas the first and second heavens are located within the universe.
Yet all creation is dependent on God for its existence so He sustains the universe with the power of HIS being. But the Way He created the universe it doesn't need nor can it have the full power of God the Father's LIGHT. All the power that was/is needed is the WORD who is the SON, and also the Spirit who is like the wind.
We get but only a glimpse of the Father's LIGHT through the SON and Spirit, and then it retreats. Even then it could be blinding or could vaporize physical matter e.g.,(Sodom and Gomorrah). For example; Paul experienced a Christophany and was blinded for 3 days. Moses experienced a Theophany and glowed for days. Jesus the God Man experienced a tiny touch of the Father's radiant LIGHT and was transfigured (Mark 9:3).
Angels and the saints in heaven sense the full power of God's LIGHT but it is too pure and powerful for them, too. Angels have six wings for which two are used to cover their face before God's radiance of LIGHT/purity. The saints are sheltered and covered by the Blood veil of Christ.
So God is LIGHT but used the Word and Spirit omnipower to create the universe and set it in motion. Only physical light is provided through the stars until the Father's appointed time.
cont...
page 2
And yes, it is because He is in a different dimension, the invisible spiritual realm outside of time and space for which we can not see unless HE gives us a glimpse e.g.,(Theophanies,Christophanies,visions and dreams). We have to wait until we get to heaven to sense HIS LIGHT, and then upon our resurrection we will be able to see and dwell in HIS LIGHT for eternity in the new heaven and earth, the new Kingdom to come.
Sis, this leads us to (1 John 3:2,3). We will see Christ as He was after His resurrection and we will be like Him after our resurrection. Meaning...in resemblance of Him in purity only. We will look like and be in our Adam 1 human appearance but in our Adam 2 supernatural spiritual body.
God is LIGHT in purity and we will be able to dwell for eternity with the fullness of His substance Being in three persons because we will be pure.
Again, consider that the reason God the Father's LIGHT/purity is not omnipresent now is because HE separated from and can not and will not be with darkness and sin. But when Jesus returns and consummates HIS Kingdom He will present us in our fully redeemed Adam 2 "pure" spiritual body to the Father and then HIS LIGHT will appear to us omnipresent and shine upon us forever.
We must be pure in body and spirit before we can be in the omnipresence of God the Father.
This is a lot of rambling, sis. I just let the words flow as they came so I hope you can make sense of what I wrote. Whew!
bro Dan
Having said all this we can not deny that Father God's LIGHT is omnipresent in a righteous spiritual Way thru His Son and the Holy Spirit.
A point of clarification... 1 John 2:7-14, helps us to understand that the Father's LIGHT is within His people internally, spirit to spirit (John 4:24). Granted, the Father's LIGHT doesn't light up the universe physically but it does light up the elect and the invisible Church on earth spiritually.
v-13, because of the spiritual light "in you" (by the Blood of Christ) we have overcome the dark and evil one.
What say you?
bro Dan
Bro Dan:
This is such a BEAUTIFUL answer. Leave it to ME (LOL!) to ask such probing questions, or....leave it to brainy Dan to have an answer to such perplexity. I think I like the latter far better. :)
At first I thought maybe there was no real answer to why God created light in Gen. when we already know He is light, and because He is light and omnipresent we naturally think of Him being everywhere, so we naturally think of His light being all around us. But as you have pointed out God is in another dimension, which I thought to be the case, too. I knew many of these things, but just never weaved them all together.
And if I can remember what J.Edwards had to say about sin, he said something like this, sin happens when God turns His back; the analogy he made is like when the sun goes down. And if we think about this it is true, sin is associated with darkness and is darkness, and God is light. So you are right in all your godly wisdom, bro Dan.
There had to be darkness in order for light to shine, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are that light in our dimension. It is the theory of opposites that God uses to display His glory. In order for God to display His goodness, we need to know the opposite. There is a Scripture verse for this. But I cannot think of it right now.
What say you? Sorry for the late reply, my Aunt Alice is here from Florida, my friend Lisa is back again in the hospital with yet another pancreatic attack, and I just recently got a reply off to All About God.
I am enjoying this immensely!!!!
Bro Dan:
Exd 9:16 and Rom 9:17 are the Scripture verses I could not think of earlier.
God raised up Pharoah for the purpose of showing and displaying His power and His name throughout the earth.
We can see by contrasts/opposites that God is powerful, mighty and full of glory in contrast to
the wickedness of Pharaoh. It is so true that God tells us throughout Scripture that He is great, powerful, merciful, holy, and loving, but He chooses to put that on DISPLAY thru Pharaoh, as well.
Just like Jesus verified that He was God by healing the sick and performing other miracles, this was to give clear proof of His power and His claim to be God Himself. God chooses to back things up with His actions and not just His words.
And when you think about it, He does not owe us an explanation for anything, we should take Him at His word. He is God! But I think His primary purpose is to display His glory!
Piper talks about so much of this in the two books I mentioned to you. How God is concerned about His glory. And how God's love for Himself is the most important love of all. Think of it, if God did not love Himself and glorify His name, what standard would there be for holiness, purity?
What say you???
Hi sis,
I know you have been busy but it is good to hear all is well.
I enjoyed reading your two posts. You added some insight I hadn't thought of. That is what i like about you sis, your perspective is refreshing. Be encouraged to share your thoughts and know that what you have to say is meaningful and very helpful.
More coming...
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