Then we will see face to face (v.12)

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

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In a mirror we see only a person’s reflection, not “face to face”. This is the relevance of the incarnation. “No one has ever seen God,” John tells us, but the coming of Jesus changed that. The Son of God came from the Father to make him known (John 1:14,18). He uniquely was qualified to say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

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Advent is a season for remembering the coming of Jesus into the world at Christmas. But it is also – and even more so – about remembering and preparing for his coming again in glory. Then “we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). His first advent is the sign and guarantee of his second advent, when he will return to complete what he began at Bethlehem.

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Many of our carols remind us of that glorious conclusion. For example, “Once in Royal David’s City” declares, “And our eyes at last shall see him”. This time not in a stable, “but in heaven, set at God’s right hand on high”. This is the Christmas hope. And if the glory shone around when he first came, how much more so when he comes again.