04 - The Likeness of the Redeemed to Christ
The Likeness of the Redeemed to Christ!
"We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him — for we shall see Him as he is!" 1 John 3:2
"Our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our vile body into the likeness of His glorious body!" Php 3:20-21
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.
The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
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!" 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
It is a blessed feature of the gospel, that it reveals the Christian’s likeness to his Savior. It assures him that he is made a "partaker of the divine nature," — is "changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." This change is started at the moment regeneration takes place. The divine image is then stamped anew upon the newborn soul. The rudiments of a transformation appear, that will carry the subject forward through successive stages of improvement, until he attains "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." At the period of conversion, the real life of the soul begins. Previous to this, it is "dead in trespasses and sins." It has organs of vision — but no insight into spiritual truth. It has the power of speech — but its utterances are incoherent and false. But at the new birth, its true life commences. It becomes then like him who is "the way, the truth, and the life."
We may regard the likeness referred to as relating to . . .
the external appearance,
the intellectual and moral nature, and
the state of felicity which the saints will enjoy in common, though not in degree, with the Redeemer.
Paul says that Christ (Php 3:21) "shall transform our vile body into the likeness of His glorious body!" Of the precise nature of "His glorious body" — we have no adequate conception. Indeed, the meaning of the word glory, as applied to celestial objects, it is difficult to define. It primarily signifies to open, to expand with clearness. Hence, brightness, splendor. The celebrated John Howe defines the glory of Deity to be "nothing else but resplendent excellency, the luster of excellency, or real worth made conspicuous."
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, attempts to describe the glorious bodies of the redeemed, and language seems to break down under the weight of his thoughts, or, rather, it is consumed by their glow and excessive effulgence. "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
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!" A few beams of this celestial glory have at different times reached the earth. They rested upon Mount Sinai, when God appeared to give his law through his servant Moses. They shone about the tabernacle, and in the temple, when special manifestations of the Deity were made. At the birth of the Savior, the pious shepherds were dazzled and affrighted, as "the glory of the Lord shone round about them." At his baptism, the heavens were opened — or, as some foreign commentators interpret the passage, the heavens were cleft asunder, as though by vivid lightning, and the glory burst through and rested upon the Savior. On the mount of transfiguration, the three apostles beheld our Lord in his glorious body. Luke describes the scene thus: "As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became dazzling white!" Luke 9:29
We might cite other instances — but these suffice, as examples of the point under consideration. Those who enjoyed these beatific visions had views of a "glorious body" that we cannot obtain. Stephen at the time of his martyrdom, Paul when converted, the favored company who witnessed the ascension of Christ, and those just referred to — all obtained as vivid impressions of glory as our present organs of vision are capable of receiving.
Although we are less favored — yet there are certain features of this subject, upon which faith may rest with confidence. In the first place, we shall have some form of bodily organization in Heaven. Whether material elements will enter into the composition of this body, or what will be its form, size or appearance, we cannot now determine. We are assured that it will be like Christ’s glorious body, and we may infer that it will bear some resemblance to our present bodies, as in the case of Christ, when Paul, Stephen, and others, recognized him in his glorious body. At least, the change, though great, though inconceivably wondrous, will not be such as to destroy our personal identity, any more than that which takes place when the helpless infant becomes a full-grown and vigorous man. The same being who here, on life’s battle-field, straggles with corruption — shall be clothed with incorruption; the same mortal, here frail, weak, liable to disease, injury and death, shall be clothed with immortality. The change will be such, however, as will fit us for our new state and new duties. It is the universal law among animal existences, that the organization of the being shall be suited to its element — the fish to the water, the beast to the field and forest, the bird to the air. When the insect is removed from one element to another, there is a corresponding change made in his organization; as, for instance, when the crawling worm is converted into the beautiful butterfly — and, instead of mingling in the dust, sports in the sunbeam, and is regaled amid the fragrance of flowers.
It is therefore in accordance with the established order of nature, that "we shall all be changed." We shall have bodies like Christ’s "glorious body," suited to a celestial sphere; with organs of sight that will enable us to view spiritual objects; with organs of hearing that will catch the strains of celestial music; with a splendid and effulgent attire, suitable to our admission to the palace of the great King; with an ethereal organization, fitted to execute, with lightning speed, the commands of our Sovereign. So great will be this change that Paul says, to the Colossian Christians, in their present state, "You are dead," — that is, dead comparatively; dead to all worldly hopes and blessings — "and your life is hid with Christ in God." The life-principle has not perished — but it is hid away, as a valuable treasure, where it will be safe. He then immediately breaks forth with the sublime announcement, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory!" You shall mingle with the bright and illustrious throng that attend him. You shall share his honors, participate in his triumphs, and constitute, in fact, the pomp and regal splendor of this great conquest celebration. The likeness of the glorified saint to his divine Lord will also respect the
If the body is to undergo such astonishing changes — if corruption is to put on incorruption, and this mortal become immortal — why should not the mind be greatly changed? Why should not this thinking, feeling, acting, energizing principle within us, be clothed with new powers and fresh energies? In the present state, the mind is weakened by sin. The storms of iniquity have beat upon it, and shattered its noble faculties, and deranged its fine powers. The reason holds but a precarious authority, and is often silenced and overpowered by passion. The judgment is perverted. The walls of memory are broken down. The will acts inconstantly, and often feebly. Our ideas are crude, indistinct, partial, and unsatisfying. Our truth is half error; our faith is half skepticism.
"We know but in part." "We see as through a glass darkly." But "when he shall appear, we shall be like him!" Out of this wreck of mind, this chaos of mental faculties, will spring a godlike intellect — sound, vigorous, clear, mighty in all its powers. Its full glory, its surpassing excellence, its vast superiority to mind in its present state, "does not yet appear." Nor will any effort or study here make this apparent. We may seek for light earnestly, diligently, and yet no rays will even skirt the darkness of our ignorance. We may knock at the door of the most subtle science, of the most profound erudition, of the sublimest theology, and yet no response will be heard. We may sit at the feet of men inspired of the Holy Spirit, and all they can tell us is, "it does not yet appear what we shall be." We may go to God, in earnest supplication, and the reply to our petitions is, "Have faith."
Indeed, to describe a glorified intellect, is to possess it. To be able to delineate its divine excellencies and vast capacities, would be proof that we had passed out of this present state of being — that we had already exchanged the earthly for the heavenly.
Let us, then, be content to walk around our spiritual Zion; for we cannot enter in. The gates are closed. The great King has not sent for us yet. Death has not yet received his commission to release us — to take off these material clogs, and let the spirit rise. We may meditate outside, profitably. We may "mark well her bulwarks, and consider her palaces." We may make sure that "this God is our God," and that "he will be our guide even unto death." Then we shall be like him. Then we shall renew our strength, and "mount up with wings as eagles." The gates will open, and the splendors of immortality will burst upon the new powers and capacities of the soul! And not only shall we be overwhelmed with these brilliant scenes — but our faculties will be such as will enable us to see Christ as he really is. We shall not behold him through vague types and dim shadows — but in all his glory — in the full effulgence of his divine perfections.
Yet this language must be qualified; for, with all our accession of vitality, capacity and glory, we shall still be finite; and no finite can comprehend the infinite. To whatever heights the Supreme Intelligence may elevate us, there will yet remain a measureless gulf between the Creator and the creature. The Highest must still stoop to bestow his blessings. Communion with us, on his part, must still be condescension. And down to the last ages, if there can be last ages in eternity, the inquiry will still run along the ranks of the most gifted and elevated of the heavenly hosts, "Who by searching can find out God; who can find out the Almighty unto perfection?"
We must be infinite, to comprehend the infinite. We must be gods, to fully know God. And yet we may with strict propriety say that when we awake in his likeness, we shall behold his full effulgence and glory; for it will be full to us. It will fill every capacity, and satisfy every desire. And to whatever heights the law of progress, in its eternal operation, may carry us — we shall still be overpowered with views of the divine excellence and glory. In our estimation, infinite will be piled upon infinite, like Alps upon Alps. When we consider . . .
how contracted our minds are here,
how limited our sphere of vision,
how faint our impressions of the Deity —
we are struck with the immensity of the change that is to be wrought in us. We cannot grasp it, nor comprehend it. It is like converting . . .
dew-drops into oceans,
pebbles into worlds,
the dust floating in a sunbeam — into stars of the first magnitude, destined to shine forever and ever! And although the thought is noble, exciting, stimulating — yet there is also something solemn in this aspiration to be like God. There is a fearful grandeur in the idea of seeking and expecting a resemblance to the Infinite One, the great I Am! And there is a sense in which a desire to be like God is impious. The haughty Prince of Tyre was severely rebuked by the prophet, because he set his "heart as the heart of God." The threat was uttered, "Behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom," Ezekiel 25:6-7. The first transgression arose from a desire to "be as gods;" and the very essence of sin is to seek a supremacy over the Supreme Being. But a proper imitation of God is a matter of command and duty.
It is required of us by the Sovereign, as evidence of our loyalty.
It is required by our Heavenly Father, as proof of our affection.
It is required by the Creator, as proof of our respect and reverence. The likeness to the Deity that we anticipate, will also be a
in holiness,
in benevolence,
in perfect love.
"We shall see him as he is," and this will be enough to kindle in the soul the most intense desires to be like him in those moral attributes which are the chief ornament and glory of his character. As the sun, on rising above the horizon, dissipates the darkness of night, and turns all the objects it illumines, as it were, into light — reflections of its own brightness and glory — so the Sun of Righteousness assimilates to itself all the beings upon which it shines, imparting to them a divine luster. A vision of God’s holiness . . .
transforms the soul into the same element,
obliterates all impurity,
spiritualizes what before was carnal, and
chases away every cloud of skepticism. A view of his majesty brings every faculty and desire into sweet subjection to his will. A sight of his infinite love renders the beholder lovely. The whole constellation of his virtues, shining down at once upon the redeemed spirit, fills it with a glory that will never grow dim! And this moral likeness will be to the saint a source of infinite felicity. He will feel that sin, the cause of all corruption, danger and wretchedness, is forever banished from his soul; that it will . . .
no more blast his virtues,
no more peril his hopes,
no more cripple his energies,
no more shatter his good resolutions,
no more open upon his spirit the flood-gates of unbelief.
He is now free, gloriously free. The monster is slain, is dead, without the possibility of a resurrection. The battle is fought; the victory won
Well does the Psalmist exclaim, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness." Satisfied? The word is too feeble, too inexpressive. And yet it is the best that the language affords. Satisfaction to gratify desire to its full extent. And if this is done, the bounds of possibility are reached. Omnipotence can do no more than satisfy every desire. But we would look at this moral likeness a little more carefully. It consists not simply in the absence of sin — but in the presence of perfect holiness. It is a vital, living, soul-pervading, soul-transforming principle, that inclines one to love all that is excellent, pure, and lovely. It leads one to seek the society of holy angels, and a holy God. The glorified saint desires to enter the divine Shekinah, the presence-chamber of the great King, the place where his honor dwells. He desires . . .
to breathe its pure atmosphere,
to experience its sacred influences,
to draw near to the fountain of light, and life, and all blessedness,
to feel the pulsations of that great divine heart, that sends its streams of benevolence to the furthest extremities of the universe! This holiness has so penetrated his nature, as to become a part of his being, as really as light is part of the sun, or oxygen is a part of the atmosphere. It has . . .
taken complete possession of the spirit,
regulates every faculty,
gives exercise to every power, and
reigns over the motives, desires and purposes, of the soul.
There is no more any conflict — no warring of the flesh against the spirit. A blessed peace reigns. A calm felicity like a summer-cloud rests upon the soul.
And, as the capacities of the mind expand, there is a corresponding increase of holiness. Indeed, there is in holiness itself a power that acts mightily upon the intellect and heart.
It gives clearness to the mental vision;
it gives extent and compass to the power of thought;
it creates pure thoughts;
it creates as well as satisfies desires;
it calls forth the affections, and fills the heart with a glowing love, that waters cannot quench, nor floods drown.
There is another feature of this likeness of the glorified saint to the Deity. He will be like him in
God will open before him his works, and bid him look abroad upon the magnificence and splendors of creation.
Worlds upon worlds,
stars upon stars,
systems piled upon systems —
will pass in review before him!
He will understand and realize why at the dawn of the creation "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy!"
He will view, also, the government and providence of God. That mighty system of moral forces and instrumentalities, that sustains the divine authority, will open before him, in all its stupendous machinery and glorious ends! He will rejoice that he is under the protection of such a government — will rejoice in its wise sanctions and infinite rewards. He will sympathize with the great Ruler in its equitable administration, and participate with him in the glory of its successful operation in every part of the habitable universe.
He will also find happiness in the ideas and sentiments of the Godhead. Having a similarity of taste, feeling and purpose, he will covet the society of the Deity, and will exclaim, with an emphasis never experienced on earth, "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore!"
He will know what it is "to sit together" with prophets, apostles, martyrs, and hosts of the redeemed, "in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And O, what floods of joy will fill the soul, when the saint awakes to the full consciousness, that the resources of God’s boundless universe are at his command! What rapture will thrill every sensibility of his nature, when he fully realizes that he has reached those glorious heights for which he had been so long toiling — that he has received the crown after which he had been striving — that he is an inhabitant of that celestial city, to which he had for so many years prayed, and struggled, to be admitted!
"When, on Devotion’s seraph wings, the spirit soars above,
And feels your presence, Father, Friend, God of eternal love,
Joys of the earth, you fade and die before that living ray,
Which gives to the enrapt soul a glimpse of pure and perfect day —
A gleam of Heaven’s own light, though now its brightness scarce
appears, Through the dim shadows which are spread around this valley of tears!
But your unclouded smile, O God, fills that all-glorious place,
Where we shall know as we are known, and see you face to face!"