"We shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
I was doing my best to comfort a little girl whose mother had gone to be with the Lord Jesus. "You will see her again," I said, "brighter and more beautiful than ever she was on earth." Up from the lacerated little heart came the answer, "But I want to see her just as she was. I shall see her just as she was, shan't I?" That was love's cry, as she had known her mother so she wished to see her. What else could satisfy love but that? And this is the desire of our hearts in regard to our Lord. When we see Him we do not want to see a stranger, nor shall we; we want to see One whom we know well, who has won our heart's affection, and so we shall. We shall see Him as He is, as we have learnt Him, so full of tenderness, patience and love. We shall see Him as the One who has come near to us in our days of darkness and sorrow, and held us up when we feared that we would be overwhelmed; we shall see Him as the One who has restored our souls when our fickle hearts turned us into ways of misery and sin. We shall see Him as the One who never forsook us day or night in our earthly pilgrimage, and who has become more to us than father, mother, husband, wife, child or friend. We shall see Him as He is now, our Lover, our Lord, our all.
We shall see Him as He is in the Father's favour, loved by Him, and all glorious in that love, and our hearts will thrill at the sight. This is one of the chiefest joys that His brethren shall ever have. We are to be with Him for this very purpose. For this He prayed, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). The world will not see Him thus; they will see Him in the dread majesty of the Judge of quick and dead, as King of kings and Lord of lords, and will wail in their fear of Him; but His own, whom He loves and will love to the end, are to be enraptured by the sight of Him as He is, in all the beauty of His grace and love.