I John 3:1-3
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
The featured Scripture for this Gem is I John 3:1 through 3. In these three verses, we encounter the final transformation of our entire selves – from limited physical and mental existence into eternal beings, perfectly suited for heavenly living! And, in verse 3, we learn that the knowledge we gain from the first two verses should directly affect our living out the Christian life!
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that
we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does
not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall
be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope
in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
But what will we be like in heaven?
- What kind of bodies will we have?
- At what level will be the function of our minds?
- How will we interact with those Christian loved ones who will also be in heaven?
I can only go as far as what the Bible says, but it says quite a lot!
However, first I want to share with you how to ensure your place in heaven…because there is only one alternative, a hot eternal hell! I, and every other true Christian (those who have accepted Him as their Savior) can be sure of possessing eternal life! John the Apostle wrote in I John 5:11 through 13:
And this is the testimony; that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he
who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These
things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life....
So be sure you have opened your heart and life to Jesus Christ! He is the only way, and He has already paid the ransom price to redeem you from the devil’s clutches, and to give you an entrance into eternal life!
- John 5:24 – Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has [already] passed from death into life.”
- John 10:10 – “The thief [Satan] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
- John 14:6 – Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
- John 17:3 (part of Jesus’ prayer before He was arrested) – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
- John 5:11, 12 – “…this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
- Acts 4:12 (English Standard Version) – “…there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- I John 5:20 – “…we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
I have taken the time to quote several truths concerning salvation in Jesus Christ alone; but it is that important! Your place in heaven or hell for all eternity rests on what you do with the Son of God in this life now!
Reach out to Jesus!
Accept Him as your Savior!
Make Him the Lord of your life!
Let’s get back to Heavenly Bodies. What will we be like in heaven?
When we die during this Church Age – between Pentecost (see Acts 2) and the Rapture (see I Corinthians 15:48-54; Thessalonians 4:13-18), we leave our physical body temporarily on (or in) the earth; but our spirit (soul) goes to be with Jesus in heaven! Saint Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:6 and 8, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord….We are confident…to be absent from the body…[and] to be present with the Lord….”
At the Rapture, our bodies are raised from the dead, and if we have not yet died, “…we shall be caught up together with them [those believers who died, but are now raised from death] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:17).
Jesus’ purpose is to save people (see Luke 19:10) and restore to them the perfection that Adam and Eve had at the beginning! We are told in Genesis 1:27; “So God created man in His own image…male and female He created them.” But they lost that image, that perfection, when they disobeyed God and sinned! (see Genesis 3:1-24). Christ’s purpose of restoration to reflect God’s image is being fulfilled by degrees now, as Paul said in II Corinthians 3:18, “But we…beholding as in a mirror [an imperfect reflection] are being transformed into the same image [of Jesus Christ] from glory to glory…by the Spirit of the Lord.” I think Paul could have added a few more glories to show that we are to be growing more and more like Jesus, bit by bit as we learn more and more about Him through Bible reading and study, prayer, worship, fellowship, and obedience.
Our perfection will be completed at the Rapture, according to I John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” What was Jesus like after He was resurrected? Do you remember how terribly He was mistreated?
- Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12 gives a prophecy of several details of His suffering and death eight hundred years before it happened!
✡ Isaiah 52:13 – He was so beaten, whipped, and gen-
erally manhandled, that He hardly looked human!
✡ Isaiah 53:4-6. 11, 12 – His was a substitutionary
death! He suffered and died, taking our sins upon
Himself, so we would not be condemned!
✡ Isaiah 53:9 – Jesus died as a wicked man among
wicked men!
✡ Isaiah 53:11 – This verse hints at the resurrec-
tion!
- In Isaiah 50:6 we learn a fact of torture that the gospels do not mention – the hair of His beard was ripped out, and He was spit upon! It says, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
- Psalm 22 gives detailed information a thousand years before it happened, about the extreme suffering by being crucified! He was nailed to a cross, and the final indignation – a Roman spear was thrust through His heart! By the way, crucifixion was not even invented for at least four hundred years after this psalm was written!
✡ Verse 1 – Jesus’ very words, uttered from the cross,
are prophesied! When the sins of all mankind were
piled upon Him, He cried out, “My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?”
✡ Verse 8 – The very words of His tormenters are
prophesied: “He trusted in the LORD, let Him res-
cue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights
in Him!”
✡ Verses 14 through 17 – Some of the extreme tor-
tures of crucifixion are named:
➔ extreme dehydration!
➔ strain on heart function!
➔ pierced hands and feet (when nailed to
the cross).
➔ the indignation of being naked in public!
✡ Verse 18 – The very specific prophecy is given of
the Roman soldiers’ divvying up Jesus’ clothing,
and gambling for His robe!
Yes, Jesus’ mistreatment was extreme! His suffering and death were brutal! But He was perfect when He arose from the dead! And Jesus’ perfection was more than just a human body healed.
- His body was glorified, in that it was physical (see Luke 24:39), but also eternal!
- He could appear and disappear at will! (see Luke 24:13-32).
- He could enter locked rooms! (see John 20:19, 26).
- At His ascension, gravity had no power over Him!
He was more than a perfect specimen of manhood. Jesus was the image of an eternal glorified human being! And, as quoted earlier from I John 3:2, “…we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Let’s examine what we will experience in heaven:
- We will be reunited with our Christian loved ones in heaven, and we will forever be with them! (see I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
- They, and we, will be perfect like Jesus, and we will be completely happy and content forever! In Revelation 21:3 through 5, John writes this:
...I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the
tabernacle [dwelling place] of God is with men, and He
will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and
God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God
will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall
be no more sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He
who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things
new....these words are true and faithful.”
- In the eternal dwelling place of heaven, we will be perfect, so there will be nothing to hide from one another!
✞ It says of the Lord Jesus in John 2:24 and 25,
“...He knew all men, and has no need that anyone
should testify of man, for He knew what was in
man.”
✞ Jesus, being God, had the ability to know even
the thoughts of people, which He demonstrated
several times in the gospels. (see Matthew 9:2
through 4; Luke 5:22; Luke 11:17; John 1:47
through 51; John 4:17, 18, and 29; and many
more!).
✞ Being like Jesus, we will be able to fully know
everyone we meet in heaven.
✞ My own opinion is, we won’t even need to speak
to one another, but just think to one another
to communicate! And there will be no negative
thoughts!
We see a glimpse of heaven when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, recorded in Matthew 17:1 through 8. Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus, had been dead for 1,400 years, or translated from earth 900 years ago respectively. Peter, obviously, had never met them, but he instantly knew who they were without being told!
According to Matthew 22:30, Jesus said, “…in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven.” I don’t know what can be better than a wonderful marriage, and a life with a wonderful mate! But Paul, in I Corinthians 2:9, said this: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those that love Him.” Whatever the eternal relationship might be called between my wonderful wife and me, it will be so great and so fulfilling, it will be beyond any earthly marriage or relationship…….and it will last forever!
I hope this helps you to understand some of the heavenly blessings that await the Christian. I know I don’t have all the answers, but the Bible does reveal quite a bit!