0133. 130. Christ’s Body of Glory

130. Christ’s Body of Glory

“We Shall Be Like Him” 1Jn_3:2

One of the things which He will give to His own, when He comes as the Saviour, is a body of glory. He will fashion anew the body which has been humiliated by sin, and make it like to His body of glory—Php_3:20, Php_3:21. What is His body of glory like? We have a description given to us in Revelation 1. We recognise Christ is alone in the absoluteness of His Deity; but His glory as revealed to John is that of the Son of Man, and therefore there will be a similarity between Him and us, when it is said we shall be “like Him.”

1. “Like Him” in the Glory of His Immortality. “I am He that liveth, and am alive for evermore.” He could not die again, for He lives in the power of an indissoluble life—Heb_7:16, R.V. Immortality is more than deathlessness, it is a state of holiness and bliss in a glorified body from which we can never fall.

2. “Like Him” in the Purity of His Spotlessness. His, head and His hair are said to be as white as snow. Being as white as snow is always a symbolical expression of purity—Psa_51:7. As the sunlight which shines into a muddy pool cannot be contaminated by its contact with it, so, being like Him in the holiness of His nature, we shall be incapable of contamination.

3. “Like Him” in the Eyes of His Penetration. His eyes are as a flame of fire. What we shall see we cannot tell, but we shall have the capacity to see into the heart of things, which we do not now possess.

4. “Like Him” in the Feet of His Capacity for Endurance. His feet are said to be like unto “fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” Brass is an enduring metal, and is therefore typical of that which endures; and the burning in a furnace suggests intensity of purpose. “He maketh His angels as a flame of fire.” Being like Him, we shall have the capacity to endure in His service without tiredness, and to glow with intense love as we are on His business.

5. “Like Him” in His Voice of Power. His voice is said to be as “the sound of many waters.” Some conception of what is meant may be gathered from the flow of many waters that tumble over Niagara, and the generating force of its onrush. The thought is the inherent quality which is able to produce effects.

6. “Like Him” in the Right Hand of His Administrative Ability. The seven stars are seen in His right hand, which represent the messengers of the seven Churches. Christ Himself hints that some of His glorified ones will have rule over His hemisphere—Luk_19:17, Luk_19:19; Mat_25:21.

7. “Like Him” in the Effectiveness of His Ministry. “Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.” The two-edged sword is identified with the power of His Word—Heb_4:12, and with His ability to smite the nations—Rev_19:15. Here again it indicates an inherent quality which breaks down all opposition in carrying out the will of God.

8. “Like Him” in the Glory of His Personality. His countenance is said to be as the sun shineth in his strength. There are many things suggested by the sun shining as described, such as light, heat, colour, and healing; but perhaps the main thing is that of luminosity. The Lord is said to clothe Himself as with light, and it may suggest that which our first parents lost by sin—namely, that they were clothed with light as with a garment, and their transgression robbed them of this, and, therefore our glorified body will have a luminosity which will be dazzling in its appearance and wonderful in its glory. Human language cannot describe what the glorified body of the believer will be like, and, therefore, we must summarise it as the Spirit of God does, “His Name shall be in their foreheads,” for name stands for nature. He will look upon us and see Himself.

By: DR. F. E. MARSH