1 Corinthians 13 Part 20: We See in a Mirror Dimly
1 Corinthians 13:12 - We shall be known and know in the full light of the Son!
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 NASB1995
We are nearing the end of a very convicting journey through 1 Corinthians 13, on the essence of love. Do you still think this is just a fluffy set of nice-sounding verses that people can repeat to each other during their wedding vows? I know that I have had some life-changing revelations from this that I will summarize in the next devotional ending this series with the last verse of the chapter.
We have learned at our church that studying God’s Word means more than just reading it and then getting back to the “fun” life. We follow a four-step process with Reading, Research, Reflection and Response, resulting in daily Bible studies that are lengthy but also meant to fundamentally change you and help you piece together the partial things we see. I’ve tried to take that approach to these devotionals and, boy, am I learning a lot (and it is beyond just rote knowledge)!
Now, I’m going to toss another wild one at you. Do you realize that you can NEVER see what your face looks like other than in a mirror or photograph? You can use your eyes to see your arms, legs, front torso, and maybe the end of your nose. Unless you want to go cross-eyed trying (and don’t try), you can’t see your own ears or most of the features of your face. And when you do see yourself in a mirror, you’re seeing a flipped image under different lighting variations and mirror qualities. You are not seeing the full reality.
When I read this passage, what also came to mind is the allegory of the cave. I recall having to read some of the Greek philosophers in an advanced English class in High School and one of the things we read was The Republic by Plato. Within this treatise is this allegory that really made an impression on me at the time, but was mostly forgotten until I jumped into this series of devotionals, then it came rushing back. Although I had read 1 Corinthians 13 many times before, I now grasp that the allegory of the cave and Paul’s allegory are very similar, with obviously different outcomes. Please indulge me for a detour into this philosophical allegory.
For those who didn’t suffer through Ancient Greek philosophers, the allegory of the cave is summarized as follows (and the drawing from Wikipedia really helps in explaining this):
In the allegory "The Cave", Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality, but are not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason.
Socrates suggests that the shadows are reality for the prisoners because they have never seen anything else; they do not realize that what they see are shadows of objects in front of a fire, much less that these objects are inspired by real things outside the cave which they do not see.
Socrates continues, saying that [a] freed prisoner would think that the world outside the cave was superior to the world he experienced in the cave and attempt to share this with the prisoners remaining in the cave attempting to bring them onto the journey he had just endured; "he would bless himself for the change, and pity [the other prisoners]" and would want to bring his fellow cave dwellers out of the cave and into the sunlight.
The returning prisoner, whose eyes have become accustomed to the sunlight, would be blind when he re-entered the cave, just as he was when he was first exposed to the sun. The prisoners who remained, according to the dialogue, would infer from the returning man's blindness that the journey out of the cave had harmed him and that they should not undertake a similar journey.
Plato and Socrates described that what the prisoners see is our reality in this world using our limited senses. They both hoped for a higher state of reason that would lead them to the full world under the Sun, with the higher forms of natural sciences, mathematics, geometry and deductive logic. Their view of a higher state is limited to a philosophical state of awareness. Paul uses a similar analogy, that we are children looking into dim mirrors and seeing shadows and our full world is only when we are face-to-face with the Son. This higher state is perfect and complete. Those who are left behind in both analogies are resentful and unwilling to believe in this wonderful perfection and completeness and also believe we have been blinded to “reality”. But we shall know just as we are known.
Since Paul spent some time in Athens (Acts 17:16-34) before his first time in Corinth trying to reason with the philosophers that were sitting around getting wide-eyed at their own theories, I’m sure he probably heard some of these ideas when he tried to evangelize. Let’s end this with some excellent commentary by David Guzik:
The city of Corinth was famous for producing some of the best bronze mirrors in antiquity, but at their best, they couldn’t give a really clear vision. When we get to heaven, we will have a really clear vision of the Lord.
We couldn’t handle this greater knowledge on this side of eternity. “If we knew more of our own sinfulness, we might be driven to despair; if we knew more of God’s glory, we might die of terror; if we had more understanding, unless we had equivalent capacity to employ it, we might be filled with conceit and tormented with ambition. But up there we shall have our minds and our systems strengthened to receive more, without the damage that would come to us here from overleaping the boundaries of order, supremely appointed and divinely regulated.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Then I shall know just as I also am known: God knows everything about me; this is how I also am known. But in heaven, I will know God as perfectly as I can; I will know just as I also am known. It doesn’t mean I will be all knowing as God is, but it means I will know Him as perfectly as I can.
Heaven is precious to us for many reasons. We long to be with loved ones who have passed before us and whom we miss so dearly. We long to be with the great men and women of God who have passed before us in centuries past. We want to walk the streets of gold, see the pearly gates, see the angels around the throne of God worshipping Him day and night. However, none of those things, precious as they are, make heaven really “heaven.” What makes heaven really heaven is the unhindered, unrestricted, presence of our Lord, and to know just as I also am known will be the greatest experience of our eternal existence.
“The streets of gold will have small attraction to us, the harps of angels will but slightly enchant us, compared with the King in the midst of the throne. He it is who shall rivet our gaze, absorb our thoughts, enchain our affection, and move all our sacred passions to their highest pitch of celestial ardour. We shall see Jesus.” (Spurgeon)
We shall see Jesus!!! What glory and wonder! Spread the news far and wide!
My next devotional examines 1 Corinthians 13 Part 21 - Love is the Greatest (Along with Faith and Hope). The devotional will summarize what I believe we learned about love. My next series of devotionals that start on Ash Wednesday will be very exciting for me: I plan to dig into the miracles of Jesus!
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Beloved Savior - My whole life now is made up of the partial and incomplete things that are like looking into a mirror or watching a puppet show on a cave wall. I am eagerly awaiting the day that I know and am known and have your infinite love and are face-to-face with you, in the full Light. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Barb that was beautifully put together. Thank you so much for sharing.
Such a worthy dissertation. Takes me back to grad school. Thank you so much. ❤️