The beatific vision is consummate bliss.
A few years ago a new 45-story tower went up two blocks west of us. It is sheathed in black, curved glass, curved because if you look directly down on the tower from a jet you would see it is oblong.
Shortly after construction finished, I awoke one foggy morning and beheld the sunlight reflecting off the tower’s hundreds of windows and through the mists in dazzling ways. I quickly put my camera on a tripod and photographed a light show for 30 minutes as the reflection of the sun slowly moved from tower top to bottom. The tower was like a diamond in a jeweler’s display case, with a spotlight moving on a track slowly above and a tiny fog machine pumping whiffs of mist, only the diamond was 45-stories high, with hundreds of facets, and as big as a city block.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I appreciate beauty as a gift from God, and with photography as a hobby I have learned to recognize the important role of light in beauty.
God’s resplendent glory
What I saw that morning illustrates the holiness of God, for one aspect of that holiness is resplendent glory.
1 Timothy 6:16 says God “dwells in unapproachable light.”
When the apostle John saw Jesus in heaven, he said “his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” (Revelation 1:16)
Isaiah foretold of a day in the New Creation when “the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.” (Isaiah 24:23)
Hebrews 8:1 simply describes God as “the Majesty in heaven.”
Hebrews 1:3 says Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God.”
Job 37:22 says, “Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty.”
And Psalm 104:1–2 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment.”
And therefore we call God holy.
The beatific vision
I am looking forward to seeing God’s holy majesty. For many years I have heard the phrase “the beatific vision” used to describe what souls in heaven experience in God’s presence. You don’t hear the word beatific used in daily conversation, and I never checked the dictionary for its meaning, but I knew it was good. I finally looked it up, and it is related to the word beatitude, which means happy. Beatific things inspire holy bliss, consummate bliss. The beatific is so beautiful as to inspire ultimate happiness.
That is the holiness of God, and it is good. I will enjoy that holy, beatific vision for all eternity. Forever I will enjoy a sight more beautiful than anything I have known on earth.
The beatific vision on earth
However it will resemble something I have had countless experiences with on earth, namely, the sky, the heavens, the weather. Scripture says the sky displays God’s holy glory: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).
Indeed the most dynamic part of our world is up—elevated above the land. The sun, the moon and stars, the clouds, the blue daytime sky and the blackness of night. The powerful thunderstorms and majestic sunsets. The sky is dynamic in color and light, temperature and motion. It is one of the most beautiful parts of our world, as well as the most powerful and amazing.
God designed it all to reveal his holy glory. Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Because I enjoy countless things about the sky, I know I will enjoy beholding the Majesty in heaven. He is high above and transcendent over all creation. He is resplendent in unapproachable light. His beauty is beatific, inspiring unending bliss. Holy is he.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)