WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM

 

WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM

D. P. Weary

December 2025

[1Co 15:35 NKJV] But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?"

To get a glimpse of the answer to this question let us look at what the Lord Jesus [Yeshua] was like after His resurrection because for those who are born again believers in Jesus will be like Him.

In the very beginning God made mankind in His image.

[Gen 1:26 NKJV] Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

[Gen 1:27 NKJV] So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Image - צֶלֶם tselem, tseh'-lem; from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol:—image, vain shew.

Likeness - דְּמוּת dᵉmûwth, dem-ooth'; from H1819; resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like:—fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude.

Mankind fell from this exalted state because of sin. But God did not give up on mankind. God the Father sent His only son to the earth as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for sin which is death. For all who accept this free gift of cleansing of sin and salvation, this is our destiny; we shall be like Him!

[1Jo 4:9 ESV] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

[1Jo 4:10 ESV] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

[1Jo 3:1 NKJV] 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.

[1Jo 3:2 NKJV] 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.

Like - ὅμοιος hómoios, hom'-oy-os; from the base of G3674; similar (in appearance or character):—like, + manner.

 

So, what was the resurrected Yeshua like?

[Luk 24:13 NLT] That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem.

[Luk 24:15 NLT] As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.

[Luk 24:16 NLT] But God kept them from recognizing him.

Jesus’ appearance was not that of the Jesus they knew. He could change His appearance.

 

[Luk 24:30 NLT] As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them.

[Luk 24:31 NLT] Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!

Jesus’ appearance suddenly changed to the form they knew. Then He just disappeared. Jesus came into and went from the human, physical world at will.

 

[Luk 24:36 NKJV] Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."

[Luk 24:37 NKJV] But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.

[Luk 24:38 NKJV] And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

[Luk 24:39 NKJV] "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

Jesus just suddenly appeared. He had a body of flesh and bones that could be touched. Resurrected humans will have bodies and can be touched.

[Luk 24:40 NKJV] When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

[Luk 24:41 NKJV] But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"

[Luk 24:43 NKJV] And He took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus ate fish. Resurrected humans will be able to eat.

 

[Mar 16:10 NLT] She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened.

[Mar 16:11 NLT] But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn't believe her.

[Mar 16:12 NLT] Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country.

Jesus could appear indifferent forms. The appearance of resurrected humans apparently can vary.

[Mar 16:13 NLT] They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.

[Mar 16:14 NLT] Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

 

[Act 1:9 NKJV] Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

[Act 1:10 NKJV] And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

[Act 1:11 NKJV] who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

Jesus rose from the ground into a cloud. Earthly environments like gravity apparently do not affect resurrected humans.

Born again, resurrected believers in Yeshua the Messiah will be like this. They will be like Him.

 

The apostle Paul directly addressed this question.

[1Co 15:35 ESV] But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"

[1Co 15:36 ESV] You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

[1Co 15:37 ESV] And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

[1Co 15:38 ESV] But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

[1Co 15:39 ESV] For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

[1Co 15:40 ESV] There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

[1Co 15:41 ESV] There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

[1Co 15:42 ESV] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

[1Co 15:44 ESV] It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

[1Co 15:45 ESV] Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

[1Co 15:46 ESV] But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

[1Co 15:47 ESV] The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

[1Co 15:48 ESV] As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

[1Co 15:49 ESV] Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

[1Co 15:50 ESV] I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

[1Co 15:51 ESV] Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

[1Co 15:52 ESV] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

[1Co 15:53 ESV] For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

[1Co 15:54 ESV] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

[1Co 15:55 ESV] "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

[1Co 15:56 ESV] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

[1Co 15:57 ESV] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[1Co 15:58 ESV] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

To all those who know, love, and have made Yeshua [Jesus] their Lord and Savior, this is our destiny!  

[1Jo 3:2 NKJV] 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.