Face to Face

We have reached the last page of the Bible. Genesis began with God and man together in a garden. Revelation ends with God and man together in a garden-city. The circle is complete. What was lost through sin has been restored — and improved — through grace.

But what will our daily routine look like throughout eternity? Will we grow bored after the first thousand years? Chapter 22, and the closing revelation, show us that eternal life will be an adventure of constant growth, lit by the presence of the One who is the source of all light.

The City With No Lamps

John notices a curious detail about the city's infrastructure: "They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light" (Rev. 22:5).

Today, we depend on the sun to live and on lamps to see at night. But in the New Jerusalem, the glory of God and of the Lamb is so intense and so real that it floods the city with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the glory of a perpetual day. It's not that the sun ceases to exist in the universe, but its light grows pale before the glory of the Creator. This also explains another mystery: "I saw no temple in it" (Rev. 21:22). In the Old Testament, the temple was needed to protect sinful man from God's consuming holiness. It was a safety box. But now, sin no longer exists. The barrier has fallen. The whole city is the temple. Every home is a sanctuary. God is accessible on every street corner.

Job's Dream (Face to Face)

The greatest promise of Revelation 22:4 is short: "They shall see His face." The apostle Paul longed for this: "Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Cor. 13:12). But it was Job, in the midst of his pain and decay, who prophesied this most powerfully of all: "For I know that my Redeemer lives... I shall see Him for myself, and my eyes shall behold Him, and not another" (Job 19:25-27).

Picture the moment. You will not see a diffuse light or a cloud of glory. You will see the face of Jesus. You will look into His eyes. And He will look into yours. The intimacy Adam lost will be recovered. We will talk with God the way one friend talks with another.

The University of Eternity

Will we ever get tired of praising Him? Inspiration tells us eternity will be a dynamic school. "Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased."

Here on Earth, we get tired. Study exhausts the brain. Work wears out the body. But there, "the acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies."

Scientists will be able to explore the mysteries of the atom and the galaxies without limit.

Musicians will compose symphonies we have never heard.

Artists will paint with colors our eyes cannot even perceive today.

The grandest enterprises will be carried forward. The loftiest aspirations will be realized. And just when you think you've learned it all, "new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend" will arise. Eternity is not static — it is constant growth in holiness and wisdom.

Tourists of the Universe

And we won't be confined to Earth. "Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar." The universe is full of worlds inhabited by beings who never sinned. They "thrilled with sorrow" when they saw Jesus on the cross, and "rang with songs of gladness" when they learned we had been redeemed.

Now, we will go visit them! With unspeakable delight, we will enter into the treasures of wisdom gathered by these unfallen beings. They will tell us about the glory of God as seen from other corners of the universe. And we will tell them the story of Redemption — the story that only we know by experience. With undimmed vision, we will gaze upon the glory of creation — suns, stars, and planetary systems, all circling in order around the throne of Deity. In every atom and in every star, we will read the name of the Creator.

Ever-Growing Love

As the years of eternity roll on (if we can even call it "time" anymore), they will bring "richer and still more glorious revelations of God." Knowledge is progressive. Therefore, so is love. The more you know God, the more you will admire Him. As He reveals to us the riches of redemption and the untold story behind the Great Controversy, our souls will thrill with ever more fervent devotion. We will pluck our harps not out of duty, but because our hearts will be bursting with fresh gratitude. The chorus of "thousands of thousands" will grow more powerful still.

The Final Declaration

And so we come to the end of our prophetic journey. From Genesis to Revelation. From the Fall to the Restoration. From Eden lost to Eden restored.

The apostle John hears the universal chorus: "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth... I heard saying: 'Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!'" (Rev. 5:13).

There are no more dissenting voices. There are no more rebels. There is no more doubt about the character of God. The pen of inspiration closes the story with the most beautiful words ever written:

"The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love." (White, GC, 678)

This is the end of the story of evil. And it is only the beginning of our story with Him.