What will you be when you grow up? Have you asked that question? Have you asked it multiple times? Have you asked it in jest? Did your plans for your life go as you planned? Are you the person today you thought you would be? Have you wondered what you will be for eternity?
When we are young, we may say we want to be a certain profession. Often, at a young age, we don’t really know what we want to be. As we get older, we may continue to wonder how things will turn out in our lives. We may wonder if we will ever grow up. Then, suddenly, we are old.
As a young boy, I wanted to play for the St. Louis Cardinals. As an adult, I have changed professions five times. Today, I often say I am on my third profession, but that is because I was a “retread” Marine, meaning I got out and went back in. I believe I am finally where God wants me to be, and that is pastoring.
But what will we all be in eternity? The Apostle John tells we do not yet know. Yes, there will be a resurrection. But resurrection does not mean we will look exactly as we do today. The Apostle Paul says the plant is not planted but the seed that becomes the plant (1 Cor. 15:37). The two apostles are in agreement that we will not be the same as we are now.
Notice that John says we will look like Jesus when He appears again. Do we know what He looks like? We have some clues. When Jesus was transfigured, His face was bright and His clothes were dazzling white (Matthew 17:2). In Revelation 1:12-16 we are given a description of what John saw in his vision of Christ. We will be transformed from a temporary body into a permanent body, one that is like Jesus.
I pray we all desire to be a seed that is planted. I pray we produce much fruit from our planting. I pray each one of us know that we will be resurrected, and we will be like Jesus for eternity. Be a seed. Produce much fruit. Know there is a resurrection. Know that you will be like Jesus.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Marty Pressey 