11 Sep 2012
I John 3:2
I John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we 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.”
“when he shall appear” is a reference to the Rapture. The next time the Church (as a whole) will see Jesus will be at the Rapture, when He returns to Earth to take the Church home with Him to Heaven. At that moment the living believers will be transformed and the dead believers will be resurrected. That is when the mortal will put on immortality, and the corruptible will become incorruptible. At this point we don’t really know what we’re going to be like after we are transformed; all we do know is that “we shall be like him”, which is a comforting and exciting thought.
There is another piece to this promise: when He returns we are told that “we shall see Him as He is”. We will see Jesus in His glory, majesty, and power – and it will be a sight unlike anything else. We will see Him at last – the one whom we have believed without seeing. Our relationship will be changed from one of faith to one of sight. Our days of longing will be over, and our hope will be replaced with fulfillment and joy.
We are already the sons of God, but we are still young. We have only received a part of our inheritance – the Holy Spirit – but we are still corrupt and mortal. It is at the Resurrection when this will change, and we will become both incorruptible and immortal. Right now we cannot see Jesus at all, but soon we will see Him as He is.