Now, we trust in a God that we cannot see. But when our lives come to an end, we will behold Christ in His unveiled splendor and glory. Today, R.C. Sproul strives to describe the supreme hope that awaits every Christian: the beatific vision.
How many of you saw the Super Bowl? Anybody see the Super Bowl? Let me see, get your hand up there. You saw the Super Bowl. Where were you? You didn't see the Super Bowl. You weren't there. Were you? No, but you just said you were. You saw a televised broadcast of transmission, of light images and all of that in your living room, and yet you thought you saw the Super Bowl.
You never saw the Super Bowl. You saw a television account of the Super Bowl, or you read about it in a newspaper, or you hear about it on the radio. Am I different to you hear from those who are just listening to the radio? But imagine having an unmediated direct apprehension of the very being of God. That's what the New Testament promises as the end of the Christian life. We don't know what we're going to be yet, but we know this we're going to be like him, and we're going to see him as he is.
Now, here's the question. Here's the chicken and the egg. The Bible tells us at the end of our sanctification is our glorification where all vestigial remnants of sin are removed from our character. It's all gone. No more doubt. No more fear. No more error. No more pain. No more evil. All gone. And we're going to be like Christ. Totally sanctified. For we shall see him as he is in his unveiled splendor and glory. We're going to see something that dwarfs the vision that Isaiah had of the Holy one.
Now, are we going to be able to see him, because first God is going to purify us and glorify us, which makes it possible for us to see him, because the reason why we can't see God now is why? Not because there's a problem with our eyes, the problem is with our hearts, and God will not allow himself to be seen by anybody who's anything less than pure in heart. And we are not pure in heart. And so we can't see beyond that dimension. I can see things in three dimensions, but I can't see beyond this. I can't see into the realm of super nature because I'm not allowed to see into the realm of God.
And there still is an angel at the doorway to paradise with a flaming sword that bars access, no man shall see him live. I can't see him. And I'm not going to be able to see him until I'm purified, right? So is this what happens that God purifies us, and then the lights come on and we bask in the immediate apprehension of the glory of Christ? Maybe, I don't know. Or is it the thing that totally purifies us, that he shows us his glory so that the instant we see him as he is the very sight of him is that power that he uses to perfect us. I don't know which comes first and I don't care which comes first.
