Reading material from my Sermon on the Mount class. This is from Charles Quarles' commentary on "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
“Will see God” looks forward to that time when Jesus’ disciples will behold God in all of His glory and majesty. The words are not to be interpreted figuratively or mystically as if they referred to special insight into God’s person and nature or to a visionary experience. Nor should the promise be reduced to a sentimental level as if it referred to seeing God in the kindnesses of others. Although the early disciples saw God incarnate in the person of Jesus especially in events like the transfiguration, this promise like most of the others accompanying the Beatitudes anticipates eschatological fulfillment. In the new earth and the new heavens Jesus’ disciples will literally see God.
OT figures longed for this great privilege. Moses came closest to experiencing it when he was placed in the cleft of the rock and allowed to behold the aftereffects of God’s radiance. However, even Moses was warned, “No one can see my face and live.” God’s presence is surrounded by unapproachable light (1 Tim 6: 16), a glory so great that sinners who attempt to look at it are destroyed by it. The new Moses promised His followers what even the old Moses could not experience. When believers are resurrected and glorified and every trace of sin is removed from them, they will have unhindered fellowship with God even to the extent of seeing Him. Those who “seek the face of the God of Jacob” (Ps 24: 6) will see Him at last.
Charles L. Quarles, Sermon On The Mount: Restoring Christ's Message to the Modern Church
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