Reading this Bible verse written thousands of years ago, we might ask ourselves the question, “Can we know God in this way today?”

The same God who made the heavens and the earth, who is eternal, all-powerful, and completely holy, has made a way for us to indeed have an intimate relationship with Him.

He is not a God who is aloof or distant. He invites us today to know Him face to face!

"Jesus Christ tore open the way for us to enter into the very presence of God the Father!"

For thousands of years, the “Most Holy Place” in the Temple of God was where the presence of God dwelt. A thick veil, or curtain, separated God’s people from entering the Most Holy Place. Only the High Priest was able to pass through this curtain through the sacrifice of a spotless lamb. Jesus Christ hung on the cross to become that sacrifice, pure and spotless.

At the moment Christ said, “It is finished,” this veil was literally torn in two

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51).

Jesus Christ tore open the way for us to enter into the very presence of God the Father! We are no longer separate, but now able to enter face to face with the Father because of Jesus’ work on the cross.

In the gospel of John, Jesus told His disciples,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7).

Jesus prayed for us who are in this generation on the night before He went to the cross,

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent Me. I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:25-26).

Jesus made the way where there was no way for the gentile and for the sinner to come into the presence of His Father. Through His blood shed on the cross for the sins and trespasses we have committed against this holy God, we have peace with God. As we turn to Jesus, we may come and be with the Father who created us.

The Apostle Paul writes, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

"There are many references throughout the Bible of God meeting with His people face to face."

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (Hebrews 1:3).

Through Jesus, God made the way for us to come face to face with Him, never to be the same again. Just as a child grows to look like his father, we are supernaturally transformed into the image of our Father. Our face shines because His face shines. The powerful radiance of God is reflected between His face and ours. 

There are many references throughout the Bible of God meeting with His people face to face. Genesis 32 describes Jacob’s encounter with the Almighty God, where God blesses Jacob and changes his name.

“…Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel… then He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

"We can know him as Jacob did - Face to Face"

The Hebrew expression that Jacob used for being face to face with God was Panim El Panim, which means being “in the presence of” God. Jacob’s life was forever transformed in this “Panim El Panim” encounter. It was in the presence of God that Jacob’s name was changed from “Jacob,” meaning deceiver, to “Israel,” meaning God prevails! He would now be forever known as the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and from his seed would come Jesus Christ, the One who would restore all back into the Father’s presence.

Jacob called the place where He met with God “Peniel,” meaning face of God. This place “Peniel” would now testify for all generations to come that it is possible to walk with the living God, face to face.

Today God continues to transform lives by a very real and intimate relationship with Him. We can know Him as Jacob did – face to face. We can live every day in Panim El Panim, in His tangible presence! For this reason, Christ came to the earth. The Word of God speaks of the restoring power of His presence through the intimacy that is grown each day in the lives of believers as they seek His face.

Jesus prayed that we would know the Father and that His love would dwell within the hearts and minds of those who are called by Him. When His presence enters, not only does God begin to restore our own relationship with the Father, but He also empowers us to carry that restoration with the Father into our homes, schools, workplace and communities, and all the way to the nations.

Through true relationship with Him, it is possible in this generation and in those to come to turn the tide of all that has caused separation from God- addictions, violence, hopelessness- everything that currently ails our society today. Now we believe this promise, that as we turn and seek His face, He will hear us from Heaven and come to heal our land (2 Chron 7:14).

As we walk by faith with Him face to face- Panim El Panim– every place we set our feet shall be called “Peniel.”