January 5: Face to Face
♫ Music:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
I John 1: 1-4
FACE TO FACE
Imagine the moment the reality set in, when John and all the apostles realized the man they had known and loved and followed, the one they had seen and heard and touched, the one who had called them friends and shared his time with them and given his life for them, was the one who was from the beginning.
Was the realization gradual, slowly settling into soul and mind, or did it arrive in a moment? Did the Spirit bring it as they reflected on this marvelous man and the words he spoke? Did he whisper the truth to minds unguarded and dreaming? Did it come with the weight and power of a truth long known yet newly recognized? Did it change them? Did they marvel? Do we?
Can you imagine seeing, hearing, and touching him? God in flesh, eternal and uncreated? The one who spoke and life emerged? The one who came that we might have fellowship with him and with each other?
One day we will see him face to face, and we will hear him say the words our souls have yearned for since Eden was lost: "Well done." One day we will touch him and know his nearness in a body like our own. On that day our hearts will be full and our souls satisfied. On that day we will sing together with one voice, extolling our great God and King, the uncreated one whose love has changed us, the one who was from the beginning and chose us for his own before the beginning began.
On that day our fellowship and our joy will be made complete.
Hallelujah! Come Lord Jesus!
Adam Shaeffer, Donor Research Analyst
COMING SAVIOR, you are the Word, the wisdom, and the very image of the Father.
Ready my ears to hear your word of truth, my heart to learn the ways of your wisdom, and my eyes to see the beauty of your likeness. Amen
Phillip Reinders from Seeking God’s Face
The Fruit of the Spirit
Michael Schrauzer
Oil on Canvas
About the Art and the Artist
Michael Schrauzer lives in Coronado, California and teaches at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. His haunting paintings are rich and complex, incorporating ancient Christian understandings of sacrament, symbol, and ritual. Art critic Gordon Fuglie writes of Michael’s work, “Charged and significant moments are a frequent feature in Schrauzer’s work: light breaking through clouds; the divine hovering above earthly matter; people on the verge of waking or unification; new dawns and final sunsets. Common to these moments is their relation to events that happen in time, but not necessarily in chronological order. Rather, it is God’s time—kairos instead of chronos—which concerns Schrauzer, the arrival of the divine that announces new possibilities for humankind. He also is concerned with kairos in its eschatological meaning: the time when the purposes of God for His creation attain fulfillment [in Christ].”
Website: http://www.michaelschrauzer.com/
About the Musicians and Music
The Brilliance is a contemporary classical music duo composed of David Gungor and John Arndt, originating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The journey started in early 2009 when David became inspired to create a unique and different musical experience outside of the typical “Christian music” soundscape. “I wanted to make a Christian record that was constructed in a fresh way. I had an idea to base a record around a string quartet and piano, and then build around that.” David teamed up with longtime friend and fellow musician John Arndt and began the creative process. “I called John Arndt, and asked if he could produce the record, and do the string arrangements.” The rest is history. Website: http://thebrilliancemusic.com/adventtour/
Lift up Your Eyes Lyrics:
A son, a son, a son is come
A son, a son, a son will come again
Lift up your eyes, your eyes
Lift up your eyes, lift up your eyes
A son, a son, a son is come
A son, a son, a son will give us life again
Lift up your eyes, your eyes
Lift up your eyes, your eyes
Lift up your eyes, lift up your eyes
And see the king of glory
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!
A son, a son, a son is come
A prince or peace to give us life again
We join the Heavenly Host, We join the Heavenly Host
We will join the Chorus, We will join the chorus
And sing the song of glory
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!
Come join the chorus as we go on
Singing the song the Word of God began
Lift up your eyes, your eyes
Lift up your eyes, your eyes
Lift up your eyes, lift up your eyes
And see the king of glory
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!
In the heavens and the earth
We will join the angels singing
Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!