What does it mean that we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2)?

This is no mere empty title. "Beloved, now are we the sons (children) of God; and it doth not yet appear" (that is, it has not been manifested) "what we shall be." As far as the word of God could show, (and how well it does!) it is clearly revealed there. This remark is added to cut off misapprehension of the sense, as it may hinder the vagueness that prevails in many minds. Indeed, an hope has been revealed to us most distinctly: what we shall be is revealed not only elsewhere, but here also. The apostle does not at all overlook this. But "it doth not yet appear," in the sense that it has not yet been manifested as a fact before the world; but "we know," says he, and we only know because it has been revealed by the Holy Ghost in the word. "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." There is no haze over the future of the child of God. He has the certainty in his soul, because he has the revealed assurance in scripture that he shall be like Christ. Christ being his life now, no wonder that he must be like Christ then; and this too is founded on a ground blessedly sure and simple, and at the same time full of glory to Christ: "We shall see him." This is enough. Such and so great is the gracious assimilating energy of the Second man, that for us to see Him is to be like Him. When we saw Him here on earth by faith, we were made spiritually like Him; when we shall see Him bodily by and by, we shall be like Him even in our bodies.

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." It has not been seen what we are to be. The apostles saw it for a moment in the transfiguration; but, as to the manifestation of it, it does not yet appear. But being saints of God, having the same life, we know that we shall be like Him. He identifies God with Christ, and in a sense identifies us with Him. His glory is not yet manifested: but we shall be like Him, for "we shall see him as he is" - not as He will be, but as He is now in heavenly glory at the right hand of God. The flesh could not see this and subsist. Daniel fell as one dead, and John too, at the appearing of it. But we shall be like Him, and therefore capable of seeing Him as He is. This is a matter of infinite blessedness. We are to be conformed to the image of God's Son, that He may be the first-born among many brethren. If we were only conscious that there was all this blessedness, and yet had the thought, I am not to be like it, this would not be joy: whereas we are in it with the consciousness that we are the same. "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is"; that is, in glory as He is at the Father's right hand, and we shall see Him in that way.

However, the more real the sense of our strangership here, the more we shall delight in the certainty of our eternal relationship with the Father, and the sweetness of it. “Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it cloth 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.” This holy relationship is at present established, and for eternity. Yet, while we are owned as God’s children, and intended therefore to partake of the privileges and blessings of this unchanging relationship, our present condition is far from the pure, foil manifestation of future glory; for we are hampered by the painful impurities of a sinful nature.

What we shall be will only be manifested when our blessed Lord is manifested. Surely we should not desire it other‑wise, for in this way the glory will all be given to Himself, rather than that one iota of it should be given to us. But we know that we shall be like Him then, and this will fill our souls with utter satisfaction. “For we shall see Him as He is. “ The thought here is not that the sight of Him will transform us then, however precious a transforming power there is even now in looking into His face (2 Corinthians 3: 18); but rather that, since the promise is given us of our beholding His face in righteousness, then it follows that we must be like Him, for only in having been made like Him will it be possible to take in the beauty and glory of His Person, “as He is.” In fact, it will be His own voice that raises and changes the sleeping saints, and changes the living also “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” so that before being caught up to meet Him in the air, we shall already be changed into His image.

The children's place is ours NOW. The love of the Father, which is proper to the relationship, is ours NOW. Yet there is that for which we wait. What we shall be has not yet appeared; but it is going to appear when He appears. When He is manifested in His glory, we shall not only be with Him but like Him, for we are going to see Him as He is. The world will see Him in that day, arrayed in His majesty and His might. They will see Him in His official glories. We shall see Him in His more intimate personal glories. The kings of this world are seen by the populace in official trappings on state occasions: but by members of the royal families they are seen in private as they are.

Now we must be like Him to see Him as He is. Only as bearing the image of the Heavenly One can we tread the heavenly courts and gaze upon Him in this intimate way. We are actually going to be LIKE HIM. The children of God today are nothing much to look at. They are often a very poor and despised people. In the autumn we may see a number of dull, uninteresting caterpillars crawling upon the nettles. What they are going to be does not yet appear. Wait till next summer, when they will emerge as gorgeous butterflies! Even so we shall emerge in His likeness in the day of His manifestation. We shall be seen then in the estate which is proper to the children of God.

But it is not by power only that we shall be conformed to Christ. The apostle John declares, "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when [or, if] He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." So that being like Him is consequent upon seeing Him as He is. Wondrous sight! The disciples saw Him after His resurrection, saw Him when He ascended up, but they did not see Him glorified on high, and were not like Him. They and we await the resurrection of those that are Christ's at His coming. Then shall we all be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Rapturous sight! Now, even where faith is most in activity, (as surely it was in Paul), "we only see in a mirror, darkly"; but then face to face, "as He is." The consequence will be, that we shall reflect His beauty and His glory, so that He will be glorified in His saints and marvelled at or admired in all them that believed. Observe, it is said "in them." Were it said "by them" it would not necessarily be that they were "like Him."

How blessed to be forever where this glory is displayed, and where the eye will be perfect to let in the light! "We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." And in order to see Him as He is, we must be like Him. The passage is often read the reverse way; as if it were the sight of Him that would change us into His likeness: but I do not believe that to be the thought. The truth is, that as we must have the divine nature to know God, so we must be in Christ's moral image to apprehend Him. Man knows man by reason of the common nature; here, where all obstruction is at last removed, and we enter into life as our abiding and exclusive condition, — the "body of death" gone forever, — here we shall be at last face to face with Christ indeed. And this will seal and perfect the blessedness of a life always in us essentially dependent. We shall still and ever, now with no inner obstruction to prevent its realization, be "complete" (or "filled full") "in Him."

(V. 2). A third great truth is the blessed hope attached to the relationship in which we are set. Christ is going to appear, and when He appears, “we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” On earth, Christ was the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; His face was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. For ourselves it does not yet appear what we shall be, for we bear the marks of age and care and sorrow, but we look on to His appearing. For a moment the apostles saw His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, and by faith we “see Him as He is”, crowned with glory and honour, and “we know” we shall be like Him, not as He was, but “as He is”.

Again, we are to see Him “as He is” (1 John 3:2). Now the world will never see Him as He is. It will see Him coming with the angels of His might, in flaming fire (2 Thess. 1:7-8). “As He is” is apart from all regal splendour, and judicial terror, and treading of the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. It is as He is at home, in the quiet, and peace, and rest of the Father’s house. There we shall see Him, and there we shall be like Him; He the First-born among many brethren, and we His brethren around Him in that holy place. Were we to wait, like the world, for His appearing, we could neither appear with Him nor see Him as He is.

"We shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

I was doing my best to comfort a little girl whose mother had gone to be with the Lord Jesus. "You will see her again," I said, "brighter and more beautiful than ever she was on earth." Up from the lacerated little heart came the answer, "But I want to see her just as she was. I shall see her just as she was, shan't I?" That was love's cry, as she had known her mother so she wished to see her. What else could satisfy love but that? And this is the desire of our hearts in regard to our Lord. When we see Him we do not want to see a stranger, nor shall we; we want to see One whom we know well, who has won our heart's affection, and so we shall. We shall see Him as He is, as we have learnt Him, so full of tenderness, patience and love. We shall see Him as the One who has come near to us in our days of darkness and sorrow, and held us up when we feared that we would be overwhelmed; we shall see Him as the One who has restored our souls when our fickle hearts turned us into ways of misery and sin. We shall see Him as the One who never forsook us day or night in our earthly pilgrimage, and who has become more to us than father, mother, husband, wife, child or friend. We shall see Him as He is now, our Lover, our Lord, our all.

This last scripture reminds us that now we are the sons of God, and it is not yet manifested what we shall be. “Sons” should read “children.” Paul speaks of us as the “sons of God,”—sons through adoption; but the striking thing in John is, he sees us as begotten of God, and says, “Now we are the children of God.” That relationship will be no more ours when we are in heaven than it is “now.” What wonderful love the Father has bestowed upon us already; and when Christ shall appear “we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.” That is future, of course; but we could not see Him “as He is” if we were not like Him. He is so glorious, so bright, so beautiful, so pure, so holy, that if we were put into heaven with the eyes we have now, we could not gaze upon His glory, upon the Son of God in all the intense splendour of His majesty. It is said, the eagle can look at the sun shining in its strength. Even that is questionable; but when we are like Christ, we shall be able to look upon Him, to “see Him as He is.” The eyes of our bodies of glory will be able to rest upon Him with delight. They will feast upon His loveliness without being dazzled. We shall be able to contemplate His holy perfections. Our mortal bodies will have put on immortality, and the bodies of those saints now in the grave will have put on incorruptibility. Mortal now, immortal then; corruptible now, incorruptible then. In splendour, in glory, in power, in honour, in spiritual and heavenly bodies, we shall be able to look upon our beloved Lord and rejoice with exceeding joy as we “see Him as He is.”

What is the present effect of this? He that has this hope in Him (not in himself, but in Christ)—He that has this hope in Christ Jesus, who Himself is our hope, “purifies himself even as He is pure.” Present personal purity is the effect! We hear a great deal about personal purity. Let this hope be given its proper place in the life—that at any moment we might be transferred from this earth and go up to meet Christ in the air and be like Him, then this effect will surely follow. We are to be with Him in His glory, and in His likeness for ever, pure as He is pure. It is this hope in Him which results in our purifying ourselves now, until at last, in glory, we shall be perfect, altogether pure even as He is pure.