Beloved, now are we the sons of God
By adoption, secretly in God's predestination, and in the
covenant of grace; and openly in regeneration, through faith in
Christ, and by the testimony of the Spirit:
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be;
though they are sons, they do not appear now as such, as they
will do, when they shall be introduced into their Father's house,
and into the many mansions there prepared for them; when Christ
shall publicly own them as the children given unto him, and when
they shall be put into the possession of the inheritance they are
heirs of; besides, they will appear then not only to be kings'
sons, but kings themselves, as they now are; they will then
inherit the kingdom prepared for them, and will sit down on a
throne of glory, and have a crown of righteousness, life, and
glory, put upon them; and will appear not only perfectly
justified, their sins being not to be found; and the sentence of
justification afresh pronounced, and they placed out of the reach
of all condemnation; but they will be perfectly holy and free
from all sin, and perfectly knowing and glorious; they have a
right to glory now, and glory is preparing for them, and they for
that: and they are now representatively glorified in Christ, but
then they will be personally glorified: now, though all this
shall certainly be, yet it does not now manifestly appear; it
appears to God, who calls things that are not as though they were
and to Christ, whose delights were with the sons men, these
children of God, before the world was, and saw them in all the
glory they were to be brought to; but not even to angels, until
they are owned and confessed before them; much less to the world,
who do not know what they are now, and still less what they will
be, seeing them now in poverty, meanness, under many reproaches,
afflictions, and persecutions; and even this does not appear to
the saints themselves, whose life is a hidden life; and that by
reason of darkness, desertion, and diffidence, for want of more
knowledge, and from the nature of the happiness itself, which is
at present unseen:
but we know that when he shall appear;
that is, Jesus Christ, who is now in heaven, and out of sight,
but will appear a second time: the time when is not known, but
the thing itself is certain:
we shall be like him;
in body, fashioned like to his glorious body, in immortality and
incorruption, in power, in glory, and spirituality, in a freedom
from all imperfections, sorrows, afflictions, and death; and in
soul, which likeness will lie in perfect knowledge of divine
things, and in complete holiness;
for we shall see him as he is;
in his human nature, with the eyes of the body, and in his
glorious person, with the eyes of the understanding; not by
faith, as now, but by sight; not through ordinances, as in the
present state, but through those beams of light and glory darting
from him, with which the saints will be irradiated; and this
sight, as it is now exceeding desirable, will be unspeakably
glorious, delightful, and ravishing, soul satisfying, free from
all darkness and error, and interruption; will assimilate and
transform into his image and likeness, and be for ever. Philo the
Jew observes F11, that Israel may be interpreted one
that sees God; but adds, (ouc oiov
estin o yeov) , "not what God is", for this is impossible:
it is indeed impossible to see him essentially as he is, or so as
to comprehend his nature, being, and perfections; but then the
saints in heaven will see God and Christ as they are, and as much
as they are to be seen by creatures; God will be seen as he is in
Christ; and Christ will be seen as he is in himself, both in his
divine and human natures, as much as can be, or can be desired to
be seen and known of him.