When He Shall Appear
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does 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. (1 John 3:2)
This verse is somewhat obscured in most translations.
But once we get into the original Greek and see what John is saying, the
Truth that emerges is awesome. This
verse could be paraphrased -- based on the original Greek -- (per M.R. Vincent).
It has never yet been made manifest what we shall be, but we know that when what
we are in Christ is manifested, that it will be out from His likeness, and that
this will enable us to see Him as He is.
This is an awesome thought. In this we see the full manifestation of the sons
and daughters of God in Christ. We
see the inheritance fully realized – we see, “Christ in you, the realization of
His glory.”
But note: The full manifestation of
the sons and daughters of God is to be OUT FROM HIS LIKENESS.
In other words, the full manifestation is CHRIST being seen through His
people. The children of God are to
experience all that Jesus Christ has done and all the Jesus Christ is – in a
full oneness – and this is to be manifested through them.
This is inheritance.
This is the same Truth of which Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Cor. 2:9)
Paul also spoke of this Truth to the Philippians:
For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body -- that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to
subdue all things unto himself. (Phil 3:20-21)
Again -- according to Greek scholar M. R. Vincent, this passage is not
translated well. It could read:
Who shall fashion our present limited bodies to conform to the body of His
glory.
The last part of the passage suggests that this fashioning has begun NOW – in an
inward way -- but that it is all unto the point where, at the resurrection, we
will be clothed upon with a body that is able to contain and manifest HIS GLORY.
To repeat, Christianity in this age is,
"Christ in you, the HOPE of glory.” But then, at the resurrection, there is no
more need for hope, so it will be, "Christ in us, the REALIZATION OF HIS GLORY."
There are a number of ways to say the same thing. We might say that today,
through the forming of Christ in us, that we are being prepared to fully contain
and manifest the fullness of Christ in a resurrected body. By comparison, this
is limited in our natural, or, "vile," body – we are joined to the Lord in
spirit for this age – and can manifest Him to a certain extent. But it is only
at the resurrection that our body will be able to fully contain and manifest
Him.
It is little wonder why the apostle Paul could barely find the words to express
the purpose of God for His people. We have already seen a few of the places
where he tried:
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:17-18)
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
(I Cor. 2:9)
The Resurrected Body or Soma
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised
in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Cor
15:42-44)
There seems to be a common misconception that at the resurrection we are going
to have our natural bodies REPLACED with a spiritual body. But the Bible
indicates that rather than replace our natural with the spiritual, the natural
will be CHANGED to a spiritual body. In other words, there is a one-on-one
correspondence between the natural body and the resurrected body. It is the SAME
body.
But we must understand the meaning of BODY. The word for, "body," in the Greek
NT is SOMA. It can mean the physical body, but often is used to denote some of
the immaterial dimensions of man’s makeup. For example, Paul writes, " If Christ
is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life…(Rom.
8:10) But your physical body isn’t dead if Christ is in you. Paul also talks of,
"the body (SOMA) of sin." (Rom. 6:6) These and other usages suggest that the
more complete definition of SOMA, as used in the NT, would be, "the sum of man’s
earthly nature."
This opens up passages like the one above. It tells us that our entire earthly
nature – physical body included – is going to be changed to that which is
spiritual – changed to what is able to experience and manifest the glory of
Christ.
This only makes sense: We are certainly not going to have an earthly nature in
any way once we are raised. The corruptible must put on incorruption:
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (I Cor. 15:51-54)
From many of these passages, we can see that what will pass through death and be
resurrected in Christ at the end of the age is only what is OF CHRIST – indeed,
what is able to manifest the fullness of Christ.
Hopefully, we can see that the inheritance that God has for His people is not
merely a home in heaven. No.
It is an eternal union, experience, and manifestation of Christ in His
full glory. But as we are going to
see, even that is unto the end that believers spend the eternal ages being
expressions and extensions of Jesus Christ – as the sons and daughters of God –
who reign and rule with Him over all creation.