Meeting God Face to Face

Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62; Matthew 17

Recently Wm. Shatner, better known as Capt. Kirk of the TV series Star Trek and the spaceship Enterprise said: “To see the blue color [of the atmosphere] shoot by like that; Down there is mother, comfort – and up there is death.”

The disciples experienced the very opposite as they saw Jesus transfigured before them and then descended to see why man needs not a starship, but the healing power of God. When you enter the “final frontier” and when you see the power of God vs. the power of sin, how will you respond? 

Jesus went on to remind them that if you cause a child who has great faith to fail, you will experience not comfort but hell itself, as Mark aptly describes “where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” [Mark 9:48] Both visions caused the disciples to be fearful, and rightly they should be, for when you see God face to face, you will respond either in fear or in faith. You will either hear “I never knew you” or “enter into the joy of the Lord.”

Which will you choose? How will you respond?