“GOD is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” The heavenly city is the city of light for God Himself is its source of illumination, and His beloved Son, the Lamb who bore our sins and now lives forevermore, is the lamp through whom all the light is diffused. “The glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus” brightens our pathway down here. What will it be to dwell in that light forevermore, when every stain of sin has been cleansed and we, once lost and guilty, who are now made fight in the Lord, shall enjoy uninterrupted fellowship in the light eternally.
It will be the joy of all the redeemed to gaze upon that face once marred more than any man’s, and see shining there the infinite love, holiness, and compassion of the God of all grace, who looked upon us in our deep need and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, and that we might live through Him. It is this that will make heaven so wonderful, Christ Himself will be our endless delight.
“Eternal Light! Eternal Light!
How pure the soul must be,
When, placed within Thy searching sight,
It shrinks not but with calm delight,
Can live, and look on Thee!
Oh, how shall I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear.
And on my naked spirit bear
The untreated beam?
There is a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode:
An offering and a sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit’s energies,
An advocate with God—
These, these prepare us for the sight
Of holiness above;
The sons of ignorance and night
May dwell in the eternal Light,
Through the eternal Love!”
—Thomas Blaney.