Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:49
Adam and Eve were created in His image physically in the beginning (Genesis 1:27). Presumably, this could mean they were created in the physical form that God knew He would assume when, in the fullness of time, He would become man Himself, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. However, that image was marred when Adam (and, in Adam, all men) sinned.
Nevertheless, it can be restored spiritually when we receive Christ and “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:10).
But this is not all. As our verse reveals, we who have been made in God’s earthly image, both physically and spiritually (“just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,”) will also, in due time, receive His heavenly image (“we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven”). This will take place when Christ returns. At that time, “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye . . . and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
In what way shall we be changed? The Lord Jesus Himself “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21), His body, after His resurrection, was still His physical body, but it was no longer subject to pain or death and was able to transcend earthly boundaries. That is “the image of the heavenly body” to which we shall be conformed someday soon! Not only shall we transformed in terms of physical body, but also be perfected and cleansed spiritually. For “we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2).
This is our eternal hope and assurance that God has a perfect plan for all who are saved. To grow and increase in the knowledge of His truth and daily slowly but surely be transformed to His divine image. We grow from glory to glory and as we age, and we should mature and be more gracious in all our ways as we become more Christlike.
