As we shall clearly see from Scripture, the Son of God became a true Man with a body, soul, and spirit in order to take man’s place in death and judgment on the cross. He was buried, rose from the death, and ascended to heaven IN THE FLESH. We shall see that when He returns believers will indeed see Him IN THE FLESH and we shall be like Him, morally (without sin) and physically (with new glorified bodies). We will now trace these truths through the scriptures and may the Spirit of God bless us as we meditate upon them.

1) The Son of God BECAME FLESH. In John 1:1 & 14 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word BECAME FLESH and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Here we learn that the eternal Word, the Son of God, “became flesh and dwelt among us.” We call this the miracle of the INCARNATION (see Luke 1:26-35). From that point on He was “God manifest IN THE FLESH” (1st Timothy 3:16).

2) He BECAME FLESH TO DIE FOR SINNERS. Hebrews 2:9 declares this amazing truth: “But we see Jesus, who was MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, for the suffering of death…that He, by the grace of God, might TASTE DEATH FOR EVERYONE.” Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, even the death of the cross.” As God, He could not die, but by becoming a Man, He could take man’s place in death (and judgment) on the cross. In doing so, God can offer salvation to all mankind, as we see in 1ST Timothy 2: 3-5, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

3) He was RAISED BODILY from the grave. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He ROSE AGAIN the third day according to the Scriptures” (1st Corinthians 15:3-4).  Some teach that He did NOT rise “in the flesh” but was “a spirit.” His own disciples were thinking this when He appeared to them after His resurrection, but let’s see what Jesus told them. “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” (Luke 24:39).

4) He ASCENDED BODILY to heaven. We see this in Luke 24:50 and Acts 1:9: “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up HIS HANDS and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and CARRIED UP INTO HEAVEN…Now when He had spoken these things, while they watch, He was TAKEN UP, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” His disciples watched Him and were in awe and then we read that two angels stood by them in white apparel and 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” (verse 11). These words are crystal-clear, teaching us that Jesus will return as a Man IN THE FLESH!

5) He will return IN THE FLESH for all believers. Jesus promised believers He would come again in John 14:2-3, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE YOU TO MYSELF; that where I am, there you may be also.” The Apostle Paul elaborated on this in 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Finally, the Apostle John added this wonderful truth: “Beloved, now we are the 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.” As we said at the outset, when we do see Him, we will be like Him morally and PHYSICALLY. We shall receive glorified BODIES just like Him, as we see in Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will TRANSFORM OUR LOWLY BODY THAT IT MAY BE CONFORMED TO HIS GLORIOUS BODY.”

I trust these scriptures which we have looked at prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that all believers in Jesus Christ will indeed “see Jesus IN THE FLESH.” In fact, the whole world will see Him in the flesh when He comes to earth to judge the world. This truth is seen in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Unbelievers will be filled with dread when they see Him because He will judge them; believers on earth at that time will welcome Him as the “King of kings, and Lord of lords” who is coming to establish His kingdom. See Revelation 19:11-20:6 with Matthew 24:29-31; 25:31-34, 41.  (DO)  (546.1)