“We Shall Be Like Him”
1 John 3:2

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Sunday after the Ascension—May 29, 2022

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our text is from today’s Epistle Reading.  The Apostle John writes: “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

The book of Exodus records that the prophet Moses once asked the Lord, “Please, show me your glory.”  Just once, Moses wanted to see the Lord not by way of a burning bush, or a pillar of cloud, or a pillar of fire, but to really SEE the Lord, face to face.  But the Lord replied, “My face you cannot see, for no one may look on me and live.”

Have you ever heard the expression, “If looks could kill”?  Well, God’s look CAN kill.  In the old westerns they say, “There’s not room in this town for both of us.”  God is perfectly holy and righteous, and we are utterly sinful and wicked.  And in this case opposites do not attract, for God’s holiness and our sinfulness, God’s righteousness and our wickedness are so mutually exclusive that there’s not room for the both of us.  So much so that if we sinners were to just look upon the Lord in his perfect glory we would be struck down dead.

“We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  The Good News is, God’s gaze upon you has the power not only to kill and destroy, but also to forgive and restore, to transform and glorify.  As we say in the Benediction: “The Lord lift up his countenance upon you. . .  The Lord make his face shine upon you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.”

You’ve heard of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses?  Well, God looks at the world through RED-colored glasses, stained red with the blood of his Son.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them.” 

This is a filter for a camera, called a UV filter because it filters out the ultraviolet light.  God looks upon you through a filter, the filter of the cross.  God looks upon you through the filter of his Son’s sacrifice for you, the filter of his Son’s blood.  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  “And the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”  God looks upon you not just through rose-colored glasses but through red-colored glasses, stained red with the blood of his Son.  And the blood of his Son’s sacrifice for you filters out all your sin, as Paul says in Colossians, “He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

“We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  God’s gaze upon you has the power not only to kill and destroy, but also to forgive and restore, to transform and glorify.  Right now you are already “holy IN HIS SIGHT, without blemish and free from accusation.”  And in heaven your transformation will be complete.  For by the power of the Lord’s transforming gaze upon you, you shall actually BE like him: perfect, holy, righteous, forever free from all sin.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.”  We are curious about what heaven will be like, and we can be frustrated because the Bible doesn’t give us as much detail about heaven as we want to know.  That’s because heaven is totally beyond anything we can comprehend, the essence of heaven is something no one still living has ever experienced before:  “we shall see him as he is . . .  then we shall see face to face.”

THAT is the essence of heaven, that is what heaven is all about.  The ancients called it the “beatific vision.”  To see God face to face, and by looking upon him to be transformed to be like him.  Paul expresses the transforming power of the “beatific vision” in 2nd Corinthians: “We, who . . . all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.”  You see, the radiance of God’s glory, God’s perfection, God’s holiness is so powerful that when you see him face to face in heaven, you will perfectly reflect the glory of his holiness.  “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

“We shall be like him” — Holy, righteous, without sin.  As Jude says, “He is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault.”

“We shall be like him” — Living forever, no more death or grieving.  As Jesus promises, “They can no longer die; for they are like the angels.”

“We shall be like him” — With our resurrected bodies perfected and glorified, as Paul says in Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

“We shall be like him” — No more of the pain and sorrow, disappointment and frustration, crying and sighing that you experience in this life.  As John says in Revelation, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”

“We shall be like him” — With perfect knowledge and understanding of all things, all your questions about this life finally answered.  As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Now I know in part; then I shall fully know.”

“We shall be like him” — With total happiness, and joy, and peace.  Isaiah says, “They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”  Psalm 126 says, “Then were our mouths be filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.”

“We shall be like him.”  Paul sums up all the joys that await YOU in heaven in 1st Corinthians: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”  Sometimes in this life there is no help, no hope, no healing for the hurts that we experience here.  “Set your hearts on things above.”  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

“He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. . . .This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven. . . we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.”