1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." It appears to me that unless we seek to be like Him in this present world there is a strong possibility that we shall not see Him as He is in the next world.
The other thought that occurs to me is that we can only see Him as He really is when we have our resurrection bodies. In other words, these fallen earthly bodies have serious limitations and are not capable of seeing Him in the fullness of His glory.
The Apostle John states in Revelation 1:17, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feed as dead."
God spoke to Moses in Exodus 33;20, "For there shall no man see me, and live."
1 John 3:3 says, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [Christ] is pure."
The Scriptures teach us in Hebrews 12:10 that "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heard, for they shall see God."
Men, we have to admit that much of our present so-called Christianity that is accepted by man does not represent Christ at all. We must cleanse ourselves from everything that does not represent His purity and righteousness.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell