Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. [Matthew 5:8]
Are we there yet? Are we absolutely sure we’re not holding anything back, avoiding any uncomfortable issues we haven’t faced; can we say with full confidence that we have poured the last drop of guilt on the ground at His feet and asked fervently for His forgiveness? Is there anything left hidden that we choose not to lay before Him? Are there several or at least more than one degree of “pure in heart”? Pure in heart sounds like it’s absolute, either you are or you’re not, and in the context in which the Lord speaks this, He seems to be implying such. If there are degrees of purity however, then they must grow as one spiritually matures, thus whatever level of purity you have indicates the level of clarity with which you “see” God.
What does Jesus mean by being able to see God? We know from the Scriptures that it is impossible for a human in physical form to see God and continue to live. It costed Moses dearly to just catch a glimpse of the back of His form. That event was probably the extreme limit of what a faithful human could ever endure by seeing God, so how does Jesus mean the pure in heart can see God? The Savior of mankind who does not, cannot lie said we would be able to see God, so it has to be possible somehow. Being able to see God in the context Jesus mentions also must be a tremendous reward!
Jesus said the gate is wide that leads to destruction and that many will enter therein and the way to life is narrow, and few will find it, and also that purity in heart is the attribute that allows us to “see” God. Of the few who find the gate, will all of them (us) have attained the purity of heart that will give them that ability to see God? Do we understand the significance – the incredible reward – of this ability? The fifth chapter of Matthew is where the Sermon on the Mount is found in which Jesus lists the attributes of believers and their rewards. What a servant of God we would be if we were able to attain to all of them! This post explores verse 8 in which Jesus makes us this promise of the pure in heart being able to see God, but sometimes the notion is difficult – even for believers – to fully understand what He is saying.
Purity in one’s heart at the level Jesus addresses is absolute honesty with God, which, if you think about it, has pitfalls and shortcomings for most of us. There are scars on our consciences from past sins that we’d rather not revisit, pretending instead that they never occurred, but repentance requires our admission of all of our sins, even – and especially – the bad ones. We must find the courage to admit to those things done in secret that we’d prefer to skip over and pretend they never happened, and if that’s the route we decide we want to take, then we’re denying ourselves the opportunity to “see” God.
If we harbor doubts in areas of our faith as to anything the Scriptures require our steadfast belief, doubts such as to whether or not God loves us, especially with dark sins on our record, we are in doubt of our forgiveness, and that is an especially troublesome issue, but some of us believe the sins of which we’re guilty are of such a despicable nature that even the blood of Christ will not cleanse our soul, we must be reminded of this: [1 Corinthians 10:13]: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man…” so your sin(s) are not as unique as Satan has convinced you, then what Saint John said [1 John 1:9]: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” All humans are subject to the same pitfalls, no matter how dark and repulsive they may be, but Jesus offers to forgive them so you can clear the hurdle of despair over whatever you’ve done being something no one else has ever done.
We are admonished in the Scriptures to fear God, and as we gain understanding of exactly Who He is, we cannot but tremble at His power and magnificence! He is truly awesome in every sense of the word; in fact, there are no words in any human language that could even begin to adequately describe Him! After all, He created everything – even the uncountable stars of the heavens. He is also a gentle and merciful God Who loves His human creation. From the first day He created man, He desired our company; our fellowship – that’s why He made us in the first place.
God gave us this bountiful earth on which to live and raise our children. He gave us all the animals, some to tame for pets, some to raise for food, and some to just enjoy – birds, creatures of the forest and such. There is a dark enemy who has tried from the very beginning to obstruct our fellowship with God, and unfortunately for the vast majority of mankind, he succeeds too often. We are all subject to the devises of Satan, and in order to maintain a healthy Spiritual relationship with our Father, we have to keep up our guard to avoid Satan’s pitfalls, but we still have further opportunity to get to know God and to see how we can enjoy His company in our lives. When we begin to understand and to experience the joy of His presence, we begin to “see” Him as we more profoundly experience Him and understand His desire to keep our company. We truly begin to “see” God.
God is by no means hidden from us. He sent His Son to guide us through this valley of darkness and to ultimately reach Him; to see Him. The only thing preventing us from fully getting to know – to see – God is our desire to live and thrive in this world of sin and shame. Many – way too many – people ignore the great sacrifice Jesus Christ made precisely so we could make our way to God through Hm. We can experience the joy of walking with God, as did Enoch, as did King David, and we can look forward to one glorious Day when we meet Him in person. If you reject Jesus Christ in this short life we have here, you will forever be denying yourself the opportunity to “see” God. What a horrible loss!
May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.
MK