Face to Face

 “Charity [agape—love,] never faileth:
but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease;
whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child,
I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
but when I became a man I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face;
now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
​1 Corinthians 13:8-12. 3SG 13.2 

​The apostle here contrasts the mortal state with the immortal;
the present imperfect, with that which will be perfect;
the cloudy present while we walk by faith, with the open glory of the life to come.

Here, we only know in part, prophesy in part; there, that which is in part will be done away.
Here, we see through a glass darkly; there, face to face.
Here, we know in part; there, we shall know, even as we are known.
Charity, or love, will never end.
Here, it is the highest Christian grace; there, it will be the crowning glory of immortals forever and forever.
In this sense, love will never fail.
But prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away.
The light of heaven through the dim medium of these, and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit,
is represented as being only in part,
and is to be superseded by the perfect day of glory when we may talk face to face with God, Christ, and angels,
as our first parents talked with God in Eden before sin entered.

“And let all the people say, Amen.” 3SG 14.1