In his first epistle to his spiritual “brethren” (1:7) the Apostle John explains: 1) who they were spiritually, 2) how they came to be who they were, and 3) what they would be like in the next life.  His message is as relevant today as it was then.  None of the three factors has changed.  Students of the Scriptures can see that the prophets, the apostles and Jesus Himself all preached the same message–obedience to God’s Word.  He is the Lord, He does not change (Mal. 3:6).  He is the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14) Who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).  Jesus of Nazareth was God’s Word in human form.  Those who will spend eternity with Him must also be God’s Word in human form.

In 1 John 3:2 the apostle ventures into a less-defined area involving the visual appearance of Christ’s brethren following His return, their resurrection and rebirth.  Read The Three Resurrections.  Key word–Three.  In verse 2 John states: “Beloved, now we are the sons of God, but we do not yet know what we will look like.  But we know that, when He (Christ) appears (in His reborn spirit body) we will be like Him (in bodily appearance) for we will see Him as He is (now).”  John tells us that, upon their resurrection and rebirth at the time of Christ’s return, God’s Very Elect will look exactly as Jesus looks now.  They will have been born again–transformed from physical to spiritual–as was He.  But as the Scriptures tell us, the visual likeness is not the only way in which the saints will be like Him.   As incredible as their bodily transformation will be, that is only the beginning of the wonders He has in store for those who obey Him.

In Ephesians 4:4,5 we are told that there is one body (church), one (Holy) Spirit, one hope (for salvation), ONE LORD  (Jesus Christ), one faith (belief system), one baptism, ONE GOD and Father of all (including Jesus of Nazareth) who is above all (including Jesus) ….”   Note that there is one God (the Father) and one Lord (the MAN Jesus).  We are told in Romans 8:17 that God’s saints have the same inheritance as does Jesus.  Jesus presently sits as A MAN on His throne in heaven at His Father’s right hand.   God’s Very Elect saints will also sit on Christ’s throne which will be located in God’s earthly kingdom.  Read The Kingdom of God.  Key word–Kingdom.  Jesus confirms this Truth in Revelation 3:21 where He says that those who overcome Satan (keep sin out of their lives) will “… SIT WITH ME ON MY THRONE ….”  We are assured by both God and the Lord that if we overcome Satan’s temptations to sin we will sit with THE MAN JESUS CHRIST on His throne.  And in that His faithful saints will be like Him and have the same inheritance, SAINTS WILL BE MEN AS JESUS IS A MAN IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.  BECAUSE JESUS DID NOT RETURN TO THE GOD STATUS HE OCCUPIED BEFORE HE CAME TO EARTH, HIS SAINTS WILL BE EXACTLY LIKE HIM–MEN, HAVING THE SAME APPEARANCE, THE SAME POWERS, ETC. AS HE DOES.  THERE WILL BE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MAN JESUS AND HIS SPIRITUAL BRETHREN.  If that does not thrill the reader ….

The reality of this Truth rose from the pages of the Holy Bible one day as I was reading about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus while on his way to Damascus to arrest some people who who called themselves “Christians.”  Let us return to that episode so that I can reveal to you what God revealed to me ABOUT THE PRESENT MANHOOD OF JESUS AND THE POTENTIAL LORDHOOD OF MAN.

In the 9th chapter of the Book of Acts we find Saul of Tarsus lying in the road, blindly staring into the light that surrounded him and hearing a voice coming out of that light which said: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”  Note, Saul was the number one persecutor of God’s people after the founding of His church on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D.  Here we find this invisible, celestial Being telling Saul that when he persecuted those physical Christians he was actually persecuting HIM.  Saul asks the unseen One, “Who are You, Lord?”  Christ’s answer was what grabbed me by the heart and has not let go to this day.  He said: “I AM JESUS WHOM YOU PERSECUTE” (vs 5).  Note that the LORD called Himself by His HUMAN NAME.  He did not say that He had once been a man named Jesus; He did not identify Himself as “God,” or “the Lord,” nor the “Word.”  He USED HIS HUMAN NAME, thereby identifying Himself as a HUMAN BEING.  Bear in mind that by the time this episode took place Jesus had been in heaven with His Father for some time. Having been born again, and having ascended to the Father, and having been sitting at His Father’s right hand on His own throne, one would assume that He had left behind all of His humanness.  Not so, as His answer to Saul’s question affirms.

Another passage of Scripture that grabbed my attention is found in 1 Timothy 2:5 where Paul (the former Saul) writes to the young evangelist: “For there is one mediator between God and man, the MAN Jesus Christ.”  Paul, the apostle who was taught the gospel by Jesus Himself through revelation (Gal. 1:12), identified the resurrected Messiah as a MAN, then called Him by His HUMAN name.  What are these Biblical authors telling us?

They are telling those who are obedient to the Man Jesus Christ that they, like Him, will indeed sit with Him on His Throne with Him as human beings who, like Him, have been born again and are spirits.  GOD’S RESURRECTED SAINTS WILL OCCUPY THE SAME STATUS, RECEIVE THE SAME INHERITANCE, DO THE SAME DEEDS, ETC. AS THEIR BROTHER JESUS.  Just as Jesus was recognized by His disciples after being born again and in His spirit body, His brethren will be recognized as who they were in their previous physical form.  Paul makes this clear in 1 Cor. 13:12 where he declares that in the next life he will be known as he was then known.  The only change will come in the form of bodily composition.  In part 2 we will study the Lord’s rules of engagement which tell us how we must live in this life in order to be born again, receive eternal life, be allowed to live in universe headquarters–New Jerusalem–and rule, first the earth, then the entire universe.  Read God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe.  Key word–Caretakers.  L.J.