April 22

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. — 1 John 3:2 BSB

What Christ is to the Church, and what the Church is to Christ, cannot be fully understood until time gives way to eternity, faith becomes sight, and hope transforms into enjoyment. Even then, when the glorified souls and bodies of the saints are conformed to the glorious image of Christ, and when they are overwhelmed with the revelation of His glory, seeing Him as He truly is, even then they will not be able to fully comprehend the love of Christ. This love, which in time and eternity “surpasses knowledge,” is essentially incomprehensible because it is infinite and divine.

Consider the sun in the sky. Who can truly measure the amount of light and heat it radiates? We see it, feel it, and enjoy its warmth, but who can number the countless rays it sends across the earth, bringing light, warmth, and fertility to every corner? If this created thing is so great, glorious, and beyond our comprehension, how much more incomprehensible must be its divine Creator!

Scripture promises that when Christ appears, His people will be like Him, for they will see Him as He is. They will see the Lord face to face and will know Him as fully as they are known. Their bodies, once vile, will be transformed to be like His glorious body. They will be conformed to His image and satisfied when they awaken in His likeness. They will be before God’s throne, serving Him day and night, and the Lord will be their everlasting light, giving them an “exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” They will shine like the brightness of the skies and the stars forever.

But even with all this unspeakable bliss, there will always remain unfathomable depths in God that no creature can fully comprehend. No matter how exalted, no created being can ever plumb the depths of God’s infinite wisdom and love. While God became man, man will never become God. He fully knows us, but we can never fully know Him. Even in eternity, we will not be able to discover God to perfection, for His ways and His nature are as high as the heavens and deeper than the depths of hell.

If eternity itself cannot fully reveal the heights and depths of God’s love, how little can we grasp of it in this life! Yet, even the smallest glimpse of that love is the balm for all sorrows and the only foundation for true peace and rest.