What You Will Look Like

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Since human beings are made in God’s “image” and “likeness,” this process will not—and cannot—be complete until the Resurrection, when we are no longer composed of “flesh and blood.”

Then John adds, “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). We will one day have the very likeness of Christ. At that time, we will be born of God. But Romans 8:16 states that we are “children” of God now and heirs with Christ now.

Recall we saw that David and John understood that, LIKE Job, they would “awake” at the resurrection and look exactly like God, in image, form, and character—and be composed of spirit!

So then—let me also repeat this—God is reproducing Himself in human beings who have received His Holy Spirit. He is creating children that will look and be just like Him!

Paul amplifies what John and David referred to when they said that Christians will be “like Him”—and with His “likeness.” Notice: “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence [Christ is coming here, not the other way around] also we look for the Saviour, 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).

This is mind-boggling knowledge. Nothing compares to it! But let’s make it even clearer.

The following is a direct description of Jesus Christ, as He now exists in full glory. Meditate on it, realizing that YOU will look—and be—like Him: “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength” (Rev. 1:14-16).

What this astounding description reveals about your future is not my personal opinion. It is what your Bible reveals! This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49). While we are physically formed and shaped like God now, we shall later become Spirit, and take on the “IMAGE of the HEAVENLY.”

Grasp this. The very Spirit of God in us will allow us to awake in the resurrection. Notice Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies BY His Spirit that dwells in you” (also 1 Cor. 15:1-58 and, I Thes. 4:13-18). Christ was raised (resurrected) to return to His position alongside the Father. He had fulfilled His task of becoming the Saviour.

Now, understand this point! It is the very same Spirit, dwelling in us from the moment of begettal, which will raise us (all those begotten of God) to join God in His kingdom.

Like the newly-begotten baby grows in its mother’s womb, the Christian must also grow sufficiently before he can leave the womb. Christians are to GROW in this lifetime. In order to be given divine power and authority, as “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17) later, they must qualify, through building God’s holy, righteous character in their lives now!

The Role of Suffering

Earlier, this book spoke about the terrible suffering, misery, and insoluble problems of a world cut off from God. His mercy will soon cut this short, bringing it to an end forever. Man’s allotted time under Satan will soon be over, and all human beings will be taught why they were born.

But why has such terrible suffering been necessary—and for so long? What purpose has it played in God’s Master Plan? Much! We read that Christ, as the “Captain of our salvation,” was “made PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS.” It is critical to understand why Christ was required to suffer.

Hebrews 5:8-9 explains clearly: “Though He were a Son, yet LEARNED HE OBEDIENCE by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.”

What a profoundly important verse to grasp. Suffering kicks the spiritual learning mechanism into gear. When people suffer—encounter adversity—they LEARN (Ec. 7:14)! They gain experience—learn crucial lessons. This is critically important to the character-building process—to fulfilling their purpose for being!

Though He was sinless, even Christ learned through suffering. This allowed Him to “captain” the salvation of the many sons that God will add to His Family.

Can you now understand why the world must suffer? Can you now better understand that it is through difficult, painful, experience that people will eventually understand life’s deepest lessons? (This will be examined in greater detail in Chapter Six.)

Of course, the deepest lesson of all is that men must recognize they can achieve nothing—accomplish nothing!—apart from God. They desperately need REVEALED SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE, so that they can come into harmony with God’s great Purpose of reproducing Himself!

Paul wrote to the Philippians that he (Paul) wanted to know Christ “… and the fellowship of HIS SUFFERINGS,” so that “… by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:10-11). This is why he told the Ephesians, “… to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery [which involves the need to suffer and endure hardship in order to learn], which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.… According to the eternal PURPOSE which He PURPOSED in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:9, 11).

God’s Plan truly is a mystery to this world. But His PURPOSE has not changed since the beginning of the world. You now understand more of how YOU can be a part of it!

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