Episode Transcript
Hello, I'm Dr. Kylie Fisher. Welcome to Heavenly Harmonies.
Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3 says, the Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. It was God's heart of love that led him to create people, intelligent beings who could appreciate and return that love. Further still, God gave to human beings everything they needed and all that could make them happy.
Yet God did not force people to love him in return. And sadly, human beings rejected him. They formed an alliance with God's self made enemy, the rebellious leader of the heavenly angels.
Yet God's love was so deep that he made the greatest sacrifice love could ever make. All this was done that we might once again dwell in his presence. As the title of our song for this week says, we may one day behold our Redeemer face to face.
Stay with me to discover how the heavenly harmonies of this song can keep you near to the heart of God. Face to face with Christ my Saviour Face to face what will it be when with rapture I behold Him? Jesus Christ, who died for me Face to face shall I behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by Only faintly now I see him with the darkening veil between But a blessed day is coming when his glory shall be seen Face to face Shall I behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by. What, rejoicing in his presence when are banished grief and pain when the crooked ways are straitened and the dark things shall be plain Face to face shall I behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by Face to face, O blissful moment.
Face to face to see and know Face to face with my Redeemer Jesus Christ, who loves me so Face to face shall I behold Him Far beyond the starry sky, Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by. What a glorious thought this is. And indeed that hope of seeing Christ for ourselves, the hope of seeing Christ for himself was what brought comfort to the heart of Job at one of the saddest and most difficult times of his life.
Job, chapter 19, verses 25 to 27. Say, this is Job himself speaking. Job, who you know, lost all of his.
All of his wealth, all of his children, lost his own health, lost the support of his wife, lost the support of his friends. Just everything was taken away from Job but this is what Job said at that time. Job 19:25, 27, which say, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Though my reigns be consumed within me, so Job said, I will see for him, for myself.
My eyes shall behold him, and not another. And so this was the hope that buoyed up the heart of Job in the midst of his greatest suffering. And indeed, this hope of seeing Christ, the thought of seeing Christ has been the longing of all his true followers all through the ages.
Acts chapter 3 and verse 21, speaking of the second coming, this verse says that God has spoken of this quote by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. End quote. And so let's consider a few other of many Bible characters who looked forward to that day.
So Enoch, one of the earliest of God's prophets, he was the seventh from Adam, and he prophesied of that day. And that prophecy is recorded in Jude. Jude has only one chapter, it's a very short book.
Jude verses 14 and 15 says there that Enoch prophesied saying, behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds. And so, yeah, Enoch looked forward to the coming of the Lord and saw that Christ would come with all of his angels. That's what it means there when it says with his saints.
Let's also there are many psalms also that speak about the second coming, second coming of Christ. Of course, he came once as a baby in Bethlehem, but he will come again. And so Psalm 50 and verse 3 says, Our God shall come and shall not keep silence.
A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. Verse 4 says, he shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge his people. And so here we see that God is going to come, and the coming of God is not going to be silent.
Says there that he will not keep silence. In fact, I think it's in Joel, it says, the Lord will roar from Zion. And so God is coming again.
Christ is coming again. And we have discovered in previous episodes that this second coming of Christ is what we describe as present truth. So it is an event that it's really the next great key prophetic event that we are to look forward to and that we are to prepare for.
And so we need to understand about this event because many of Satan's deceptions are focused on trying to distract us from being prepared for the second coming. So the second coming is an amazing event. As we've been saying, it's been the hope of God's followers all through the ages.
But that day requires great preparation. We need to be prepared if we really want to actually welcome Christ when he comes, and if we really want to behold him face to face and not just run in fear from him. Because that brings us to verse two of our song for today, which says, only faintly now I see him.
And so we might ask the question, why are we not able to see God face to face now? And when we look at the beginning of the Bible, Genesis, the story of the creation of our world as told in Genesis chapters one and two, I have not been able to find a verse in this passage or in the Bible actually that says human beings originally spoke to God face to face. But I believe if you look really carefully, there's clues. And it's just really obvious actually when you stop to think about it, that human beings did originally behold God face to face.
Behold God in His glory face to face. You know, when Jesus came down here to earth. Let's just look at a quick verse about this.
When Jesus came here to earth, he came to save us at his first coming. As we've said, as you know, many people are aware that often, you know, at Christmas time we sing Christmas carols. You know, we sing about Jesus as a baby.
And. But notice the words of Isaiah, chapter 53 and verse 2. Isaiah, chapter 53 and verse 2.
This is a very famous prophecy about Jesus coming as the Messiah, coming as a baby. It says there, he that is Jesus shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. Now, so this speaks about him growing up.
Okay, so he was a baby, he grew up. So that's clearly talking about Jesus at his first coming. But notice the next words here.
This is what I want to draw your attention to. It says, there, he have no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
And so when Christ came to earth the first time his heavenly glory was actually veiled. He came as a human being. And he looked like a human being.
He didn't look all shiny and glorious. You know, sometimes we see pictures of, you know, baby Jesus and he's got like a halo around him. Well, like, that's not actually what the Bible says.
He didn't come, you know, looking particularly special. He came as an ordinary human because if he had come with the glory that was his when he was in heaven, we would not actually have been able to behold him. And human beings did originally do this.
And I think the most amazing verse that talks about this, you know, when I was thinking about this, because somebody sort of asked me the question, you know, what actual verse tells us that Jesus spoke to human beings face to face? In the beginning, I was thinking, well, you know, I'm sure it's there, it's sort of indicated. But yeah, there's not actually a verse that says that straight out. But, you know, when I started thinking about this, I thought about this verse.
I thought, wow, such an amazing verse. Genesis chapter two and verse seven. Genesis chapter two and verse seven dot I believe this gives a really clear answer.
Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 says, the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Now this is talking about the creation of Adam, who, according to the story in Genesis, was created, and then Eve was created second from a rib from Adam's side, which I just think is just so amazing. It shows how, you know, a wife is to stand by the side of her husband.
And I just think it's the most beautiful story that I've ever heard in terms of creation. Just so many. Yeah, I mean, just every story in the Bible is just amazing.
And I guess the birth of Christ is even more amazing. But I just think it's an amazing story about the creation. So, but this is talking about God's creation of Adam, the first man.
And it says there that God formed Adam. So he had God formed out of clay, essentially this lifeless man. And then to give Adam life, it says that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Now, if you have ever done a first aid course or have given mouth to mouth resuscitation to someone, how close do you have to be to breathe into someone's nostrils? You're right there, face to face with them. And so as Adam awoke and took in, you know, his first breath and opened his eyes, what would he see but the beautiful face of his creator? And so this is just such a beautiful picture. And there's other, you know, verses that talk about the things that God said to human beings in the Garden of Eden.
And, you know, he told them various different things, does not record any of the things that they actually said back to God. But I'm sure that they must have said things to God. And so I believe from that amazing picture, we can see that God did originally communicate with human beings face to face.
And so you know what happened? Well, the answer is that, sadly, human beings chose the wrong path. They chose to violate the free choice that God had given to them. And so they sinned.
And Isaiah 59, 2 says, Your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Your sins have hid his face from you. So let's look at a verse about this.
Exodus chapter 33 and verse 20. Now, Moses was an amazing Bible character, you know, and he walked with God for so many years. And one day Moses asked to see God.
But notice that even Moses, who was so close to God, what was God's response to Moses? Exodus chapter 33, 20. God speaking, said to Moses, you cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. So as I say, as I said before, if we were to see God in His glory, being as we are creatures that have sinned, we just could not behold his glory.
We would just actually be consumed by it, as it says in my believers. Hebrews 12:29, God is a consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire to sin.
And, you know, because sadly, as human beings, we have chosen to sin, we are not able to bear God's glory in our, you know, mortal form. We would just perish if God were to reveal his glory now. So he mercifully veils his glory.
So let's just have a look, because, you know, we're talking about this hymn. We're tracing through this hymn. So we've said only faintly.
Now I see him with the darkening veil between. Now, this is actually quote from very famous passage in the Bible. Many people, even if they don't know much about the Bible, might have heard some verses from this very famous chapter.
First Corinthians, chapter 13. And this is a quote from verse 12. This alludes to verse 12 which says, First Corinthians 13, 12 says, now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as also I am known. And so this song, at various times throughout this hymn, it picks up these words. And so, yeah, it's just so tragic that we are separated from God by sin.
But we do have the amazing hope that one day we will be able to see Christ face to face. And so this hope was given to human beings right back at the. On the very day that Adam and Eve sinned God said in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 says, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed.
It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. So this was actually the very first prophecy, it was the very first promise given that, one of really pointing forward to the final destruction of sin and really pointing forward to the second coming and that day when Christ would finally crush evil, crush that old serpent called the devil and Satan, that it's just such the most tragic story. To think that, you know, the leader of the heavenly angels, as we've discussed in other programmes, the leader of the heavenly angels rebelled against God.
Yeah. So that's just so tragic. Now it will be a truly blessed day, as our hymn says, a blessed day when the glory of God, the glory of Christ shall be seen.
Now, this will happen at the second coming. Let's just. We're so short of time in these programmes, but let's just look at a verse about this.
There are various verses we could look at. We're going to read Matthew 24:30, but you can also look in Matthew 16:27. There's other places as well that you could look at.
But, yeah, let's have a look in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30, which says, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Now not everyone will be glad to see Him. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.
They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Not everyone will be looking forward to him, friend. We need to make sure that we are prepared for that day.
So I just hope and pray that these programmes can help you to understand present truth, to understand this amazing truth about, and this amazing hope that we have of one day seeing God face to face. And so verse three of our hymn for today, we've looked at verses one and verse two, Verse three really answers the question of, you know, what will happen at the second coming? Why is this such a wonderful event? Well, you know, grief and pain are the results of sin. But we can see actually from the story of Lazarus, a really important lesson here.
You know, Lazarus was one of the closest friends of Jesus. Now, this story is found in John, chapter 11. John chapter 11 tells a story about Lazarus, as I say, one of the.
The closest friends of Jesus. And yet Lazarus fell sick and people came and told Jesus that Lazarus was sick and yet Jesus did not go and heal him and Lazarus actually died. Now and, you know, we might Sort of think why that's so hard hearted.
If Jesus one of his closest friends and he didn't heal him. Well, for one thing, it gives us hope, you know, that, you know, even in this life, those who love Christ may still fall under death. We see this from, you know, even Lazarus died one of Jesus closest friends.
But you know, why did Jesus stay away? Why not at least go to comfort Lazarus? Well, if Jesus had actually gone to Lazarus home to comfort him, that sickness, you know, Lazarus wouldn't have actually died. And so this is just such an amazing truth because you know, grief and pain and all of these terrible things that are the results of sin, these things cannot exist in God's eternal kingdom. They cannot exist in the presence of God.
And so when Jesus comes again, that will be the moment according to Daniel chapter two, also Daniel chapter seven and Daniel eight, when God's eternal kingdom of glory will be reestablished. Christ will be reunited with his followers. The righteous will forevermore live in the presence of God.
They will never be separated from him again. The righteous will be reunited with their faithful loved ones, torn from them by death. As it says in 1st Thessalonians 4, 16, 18, the righteous will live and commune with holy angels and the righteous will be freed from the physical presence and effects of Satan.
And, and you can look in First Corinthians 15, verses 50 to 57, it says that this model will put on immortality. We will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And so that's just absolutely amazing.
And we will no longer even desire to sin, which is even the best thing. So let's just read a verse about this before we listen to Fountain View sing this beautiful song. A solo from Fountain View singing this beautiful song.
Let's look at a verse that just really states plainly the theme of this song. Revelation chapter 22 and verse 4. And this says, they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads.
This is talking about when we are in heaven and in the new earth. It says they, that is God's people will see his face and his name shall be in their forehead. So one day, what a glorious promise, friends.
We will see Christ face to face. And I just pray that you will reflect on this hope as we listen to this beautiful hymn. Face to face, face to face with Christ my Saviour.
Face to face what will it be when with rapture I behold him? Jesus Christ who died for me Face to face shall I behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by only faintly now I see him with the darkening veil between But a blessed day is coming when his glory shall we see face to face. O blissful moment. Face to face to see and know Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who loves me so Face face to face shall I behold him far beyond the starry sky, Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by I shall see him by and by.
Revelation 21:3 says, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God friend. Do you long for the day when you will see Christ face to face? Let's pray that we will be ready for that awesome day. Dear God, thank you so much for this amazing promise of the Second Coming that one day we can see Christ face to face.
Dear Lord, and we know that it is through love self sacrifice that we have this hope and that we will be able to do that. So please help us, dear Lord, to surrender ourselves to you today and every day that we may be prepared for the Second Coming of Christ. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. So thank you so much for joining me today on Heavenly Harmonies. Remember, you can find past episodes on our website, so if you just click the listen button you can select Heavenly Harmonies from the list of programmes.
We would also love to hear from you. Please do email us and I do invite you to join me again next time to explore more Heavenly Harmonies. But until then, may you stay close to the heart of God through song.
