Face to Face: A hymn of perspective

I was first introduced to the hymn “Face to Face” at the Homegoing Celebration Service of my Aunt Polly. The date was November 6, 2014. I made a mental note of it, and life continued to happen ... at a very rapid pace, it seemed.

Within the last several weeks/months I have begun to dwell on this hymn more & more. I’m not entirely sure why, though.

In the night, the lyrics will consume my mind.
In the day, the melody rings loud and clear.

As I have meditated upon the truth of this beautiful hymn, I have been reminded of several things. Here are a few:

(verse 1): Face to face with Christ, my Savior, Face to face - what will it be
When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me?
(verse 2): Only faintly now I see Him, With the darkling veil between;
But a blessed day is coming When His glory shall be seen.

Verse 3 says: “What rejoicing in His presence, When are banished grief or pain;
When the crooked ways are straightened And the dark things shall be plain.”

There’s coming a day/time when grief and pain are no more ... the crooked/twisted/ungodly things of this life WILL be straightened out. The dark things will be plain. How is this even possible?! Because we will be “face to face in ALL His glory” ... it’s in the presence of Jesus Christ where the holiness of God straightens out all the unholy ways of humanity. It’s in His presence where His glory shines as the noon day sun; therefore, the darkness of life, the unknown purposes of every single trial....it will ALL be made plain in the light of the glory of Jesus Christ.

Verse 4 says: “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!”

I think of all of the family members who have taken their final earthly breaths since November 2014 (at least 8). For those who were truly redeemed (a mere profession doesn’t make one a Christian, just as me living in a garage professing to be a car doesn’t make me a car), their final earthly breaths were taken the moment they drew their first heavenly ones ... as they beheld Jesus face to face.

For those of us still on this earth ... we seek to serve Jesus with a heavenly, God given perspective. We rest in knowing that a glorious day is coming when we, too, will see Jesus face to face ... This temporal world isn’t all there is! The Apostle Paul put it like this in Romans. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (8:18).”

An eternal perspective for the temporal!
​Soli Deo Gloria!