By Doug Redford
In today’s age of working remotely (one of the consequences of life under COVID), FaceTime has become the standard means of digital communication. Its convenience has redefined how business meetings are conducted, making collaboration across the country and around the world possible. Family members can readily connect with each other, though separated by thousands of miles. Of course, nothing beats face-to-face contact, especially within families.
Such contact is at the heart of what is meant by the term incarnation. This is not a biblical word, but the concept is absolutely true to the Bible. Incarnation means “in flesh,” and describes how God (the Word) “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 14).
The apostle John never lost his sense of wonder at what he and his fellow apostles were privileged to experience: face-to-face time with God in the flesh. This is clear from how the letter we call 1 John begins—a letter most likely written when John was old and a seasoned veteran of the faith: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (v. 1). For John, the “face time” with Jesus was as fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.
At Communion, our experience with Jesus is not a matter of “face time” but rather “faith time.” We accept by faith what John and the other Gospel writers proclaimed about Jesus. This includes Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
At Communion we acknowledge by faith that Jesus’ death was for our sins, which Paul affirms is “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). We also look forward to Jesus’ return (1 Corinthians 11:26). For on that great day, our “faith time” with Jesus will be transformed into “face time” when we “see him as he is” (1 John 3:2; see also Revelation 22:4).
That face time will include seeing people like John, along with members of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) and so many faithful servants of the Lord whose faces we have missed seeing since they left this world. Together we will meet in the true “Upper Room” of Heaven and share in the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). A forever “face time!”
Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Now retired, he continues to write and speak as opportunities come.
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