In God's Likeness

"As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."

Psalm 17:15

David saw with eyes of faith the reality of a future no man could imagine unless God revealed it to him.  This reminds me of what Job declared in Job 19:25-27:  "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; ²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, ²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"  David and Job both knew the death of the body was not the end.  Their flesh would be destroyed and see corruption, but they would ultimately be raised immortal and incorruptible.  Such is the enduring future for all those deemed righteous through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Job spoke of seeing God, but what caught my attention is David knew he would be raised in God's likeness.  It is one thing to observe a person with your eyes, but another thing altogether to be likened to them.  David knew satisfaction beyond explanation would be his when he awoke in God's likeness.  I am not aware of a promise to this end in the Law, but David received this revelation from the Holy Spirit even as the apostle John related in 1 John 3:2, "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."  Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:  "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- ⁵²  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."  And what a profound change this will be.

We are transformed on the inside when we are born again through faith in Jesus, and we shall be changed physically into the likeness of Christ after we depart this earth.  We will not look like Him, but we will be like Him.  All human beings share the same basic features, and our risen LORD Jesus remains a man.  Upon graduation to eternal glory we will not be made into angels, stars, or disembodied spirits, but our perishable body will be made into an imperishable one likened to Jesus after His resurrection.  We see the future dimly, but the day is coming when we will see our Saviour face to face.  That is something Job and David spoke of, a future assured for all those who are made righteous through faith in Jesus.  If we look forward to a holiday, the big game, or special gatherings with glad anticipation, then it is only proper for us to be excited about our eternal future in the presence of God.  Everything we look forward to on earth passes by quickly and is overshadowed by future plans, but our glorious future will remain in the present forever.