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What Does It Mean to See God?
There isn't too much to say on this verse. God isn't on Earth, he is in heaven. That is what Jesus said incessantly in the gospel of Matthew.(Matthew 5:16, 5:45, 5:48, 6:1, 6:9, 7:11, 7:21, 10:32, 10:33, 12:50, 16:17, 18:14, 18:19, 23:9, Joshua 2:11, Job 22:12, Psalm 53:2, Ecclesiastes 5:2, Mark 11:25-26, Luke 11:2.) Thus, we can never see God here. Jesus said,
In order for someone to see God they must be chosen(Matthew 20:16, 22:14.) for entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. This beatitude is yet another beatitude on about the kingdom of God. But this makes sense, as Jesus came with the gospel was the kingdom of God. Any other gospel is false.
What Does It Mean to Be Pure in Heart? Back to Top ↑
There is no one who would deny that all little children are pure in heart. Their intentions are easy to see and all are endeared to them. There are no flickers of ulterior motives or hidden desires. These children want what they say they want, and are deeply beholden to their base desires of hunger, love, and rest.
It is for reasons like these that the will of God does not tolerate offending these children.(Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2.) But really, what God wants is for us to be his little children. Jesus says,
Our father doesn't desire hardworking children who set up churches and massive businesses in his name. he doesn't care if we invent medicines that cure all manners of disease. God is already able of doing both of those things if he so wanted to. But what he wants from us is for us to make a choice to be with him, just like the prodigal son did.(Luke 15:18-19.)
The prodigal son did it because he was hungry and realized that he didn't really enjoy eating with the pigs.(Luke 15:15-17.) But there isn't much of a difference between that and living our lives here on Earth. Sure, we can party like the prodigal son did,(Luke 15:13.) but even if we spent our lives well and built these churches and made medicines, we would still be just as lost and dead as the prodigal son was at that time. If God really wanted to churches and medicines and a perfect world, he could do that himself. And if Jesus wanted it, he has the authority to do so.(Matthew 28:18, See also Matthew 26:53.)
No, we must be pure in heart and desire to be with God so we can be reunited with our family. Only in doing so can we enter into the kingdom of God and see our father, who is in heaven.
Why Do We Have to Be Pure in Heart? Back to Top ↑
Imagine if we were all sent to heaven, where only perfection reigns, but no sin. If we do not have God's will and want to follow it perfectly, it would be an awful place to be. There is no sin, which so many humans indulge in. By creating Earth, God allows us to decide if we want to live in an incredibly sinful world, or if we are immune to it's corrupting temptation in the light of the righteousness of God.
If we have even a little stain on our hearts in heaven, we would grew to hate both heaven and ourselves, and our father would grieve over that. Better for us to live out our lives the way we want on Earth and then perish then to forever hold secret rebellions against a perfect being.
Our technology has progressed 2,000 years since the time of Jesus, so I think we can now make a fairly good analogy to the situation us humans and God find ourselves with. Would a parent rather have a human child who chooses to be with and love them, or an artificial intelligence that had no choice, but was made and shipped to be the perfect child, but only within the confines of its programming? The answer, of course, lies within the first choice.