"Beloved, now we are 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. And every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John 3:2-3
I use to think that this scripture meant that when Jesus returned we would become, or transformed, to be like Him, yet that is not what our Father said. Look at all of the scriptures that we have studied together so far on this blog. We have seen that Jesus told us to be perfect even as our Father is perfect. We have studied that we are joint-heirs with Jesus right now. We have learned that we are like Jesus on this earth, right now. The Truth is Jesus is going to return when the church is like Him; we will not become like Him when He returns, but He returns because we are like Him. When Jesus returns the world will be at its worst. It will be the end of the Great Tribulation, yet the church will be at its best, glorious, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.
Look at John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father."
I use to think that this scripture meant that when Jesus returned we would become, or transformed, to be like Him, yet that is not what our Father said. Look at all of the scriptures that we have studied together so far on this blog. We have seen that Jesus told us to be perfect even as our Father is perfect. We have studied that we are joint-heirs with Jesus right now. We have learned that we are like Jesus on this earth, right now. The Truth is Jesus is going to return when the church is like Him; we will not become like Him when He returns, but He returns because we are like Him. When Jesus returns the world will be at its worst. It will be the end of the Great Tribulation, yet the church will be at its best, glorious, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.
Look at John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father."
Now for us to be used to do the same works as Jesus is almost unthinkable for so many of us at this time. But Jesus says that we will be used by our Father to do even greater works than He was used to do. The only way that we can ever do greater works, and we will, not because I said it, but because Jesus said it, is by us being like Him. Because when we are like Him, our Father will be able to work through us under the full power of the New Covenant! I have never heard of a person being used to do greater works than Jesus, but Jesus says that we will be used by God to perform them. So I believe that for this to be true that we will have to be like Jesus, as He is right now, not as He was, but as He is, and then He will return, 1 John 4:17. Jesus prayed that we would be one, even as He is one with God, so that the world will believe, John 17:20-23. Jesus is God, He was God when He was here 2000 years ago, and now we are one with Him. God came and joined with human flesh to birth Jesus from Mary, so if we can believe this, why should it be that He didn’t come and join with us right now? Jesus was perfect because He was born of God; we are perfect because we are born of God. We can be born again, because of Jesus sacrifice. The scriptures just keep saying it over and over, and faith comes from hearing the Words of God!
Pray about this. Even if you disagree that we have been given such glory, it should still be the goal of all believers to allow our Father to work mightily through us. It is not arrogant to desire to be like Christ. "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John 2:6 It is a goal that we can never achieve on our own, only God can conform us into the very image of Jesus. Only the Spirit can teach and guide us. Jesus told us to be perfect, so it is not wrong to desire it. Jesus is not coming back because of evil, He is coming back for a perfect church, Ephesians 5:26-27. "That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the Word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Pray about this. Even if you disagree that we have been given such glory, it should still be the goal of all believers to allow our Father to work mightily through us. It is not arrogant to desire to be like Christ. "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John 2:6 It is a goal that we can never achieve on our own, only God can conform us into the very image of Jesus. Only the Spirit can teach and guide us. Jesus told us to be perfect, so it is not wrong to desire it. Jesus is not coming back because of evil, He is coming back for a perfect church, Ephesians 5:26-27. "That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the Word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
3 comments:
Pretty good view on the whole "we can be like christ" line of thought. I see a problem with your belief that Christ will return when we are like him though. The bible clearly states that Christ will return to help clean up all the evil present in the world because evil has become so prevalent. Not really sure how you came to your conlusion considering it's so black and white.
Thanks for the comment. It is always great to hear from other people. I agree with you, I don't believe that the world will be at all like Christ. When Jesus returns the world will be at its worst. But for the Bride, the saved, it will be something entirely different.
Think about this, the world will be saying peace and safety, and then sudden destruction will come on them, 1 Thess. 5:3. The world never talks about peace and safety. What will change that will allow them to actually say this?
Also look at the verses that talk about the church. We will be used to do the works that Jesus did and even greater works, John 14:12. As He is so are we in this world, 1 John 4:17. Romans 6:4-7. These are good starting points.
Yes, your absolutely right, Jesus does come and clean up Babylon, the world. But we are not of this world, even though we are in this world, John 17:14. Once again thank you so much for the comment. Hearing from others really encourages me and I am so grateful that you took the time to write.
Brad
Hi Brad, I just want to say that I have been having extreme spiritual revelations that are guiding me to this very conclusion (which is how I came across this blog.) It is very late and I need to go to sleep, but I hope to talk more to you about this and some other very interesting components related to being like Jesus on earth NOW. Thank you for writing
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