August 2025

We Shall See God
“One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4

What do you look forward to in Heaven? No more pain, no more sickness, no more suffering?
How about reuniting with long lost friends and family?… With Mercy Me, we can say “I Can Only
Imagine”! There’s an abundance of lyrics and publications that give us possible features of what
heaven might look like. At least, heaven isn’t portrayed as some boring, over-spiritualized place
with ever-efficient AC!

Even as songs and books enhance our vision of what Heaven looks like physically, we must be
careful not to reduce it to some kind of celestial Shangri-la! We might miss out on what true
Christ-followers really celebrate and focus-on when it comes to Heaven… this is what Prof.
Samuel G. Parkinson of Gulf Theological Seminary calls “the glory of glories” and what the
psalmist David says is the “one thing” he desperately longs for… to gaze upon the Lord and to
behold God Himself! Seeing God face-to-face is “what makes Heaven heaven”!

The promise of Heaven (seeing God in glory) is guaranteed in Christ. Jesus also promises that
we can be “blessed” and “see God” if we have a pure heart! (Matt.5:8). The faith experience of
beholding God, even just a glimpse of His glory, is a promise for all who are pure in heart! Oh,
what joy!… that we can experience His Presence and “see God” even as we are here on earth
WHILE holding on to the glorious promise that we will “see God” in Heaven when He calls us
home or He comes back again! Have a great week ahead!

Pastor Vino Atienza