Preface
I met an elderly brother in Christ once in the grocery store and, as it happens, Jesus came up in the conversation. I’m not sure how we got to the subject but I mentioned the disciples not recognizing Jesus immediately upon his resurrection, and this brother replied, “That’s because he was in his glorified body!” I shot him a look that said, “Are you serious? You believe that?”
If that was Jesus’ glorified body, a body that Mary mistook for a gardener (John 20:15) and the disciples just thought was a stranger (Luke 24), that’s not a body to get too excited about. No, that was not Jesus’ glorified body. The reason they didn’t recognize Jesus when he arose was because he purposefully ‘blinded’ them to the truth of his identity (Luke 24:16). Jesus did the same thing, before his death, in Luke 4:29, when he was about to be thrown down a cliff. He can do that, he’s God.
So what is Jesus’ glorified body? Does the bible tell us? Yes. It does. quite clearly, actually, but only if you study (2 Tim. 2:15).
And it’s quite an interesting study because it takes us all through the bible, from the very begging to the very end. And if we’re to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8.29), it should be of some interest to you.
In the Beginning
In Genesis 1:26, God created man in own image. Adam. Adam is God’s son (Luke 3:38).
Whilst Adam is God’s son, he’s not God’s only BEGOTTEN son. That title goes to Jesus (John 3:16).
These are the ONLY two men ever written of as being created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, 2 Corinthians 4:4).
**Some may argue that Eve was also written of as being created in God’s image, however, in God’s eyes they were BOTH Adam. They were both one flesh (Gen 1:26 (“them”), Gen 2:23)). It was ADAM that named Eve “Eve” (after they fell (3:20)), not God.
**Many say that we, today, are created in the image of God, but that’s not true. As stated above, ONLY Adam and Jesus are ever written of as being created in the image of God. WE are created in the image of FALLEN Adam (Gen. 5:3).
Those aren’t the only similarities Adam and Jesus have. In fact, Jesus is even referred to as the “Last Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:45. Nearly all of Romans 5 compares the two men, as well as Hebrews 2.
So, both Jesus and Adam are Son’s of God (by birth, not adoption). Both are made in the image of God. Both don’t have earthly fathers. Both are “crowned in glory and honor,” (Hebrews 2:7,9).
Crowned in glory and honor. Glory. This is our first clue.
Crowned in Glory
The scripture, in Hebrews 2, says both Jesus and Adam were crowned in glory. But, when was Adam and Jesus ever crowned in glory? Let’s start with Jesus, and then work our way back to Adam.
On the mount of transfiguration, as witnessed by the apostles Peter, James and John, the scripture says, “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.” -Luke 9:32
Notice the word “glory.” Would this be a good indication of the passage in Hebrews that says Jesus was crowned in glory? I’d say so. But what did this glory look like?
“And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” -Matthew 17:2
Both the passages in Matthew and Luke describe the event. One describes it as Jesus’ glory, whilst the other describes that glory as being akin to “light.” But is this enough to connect the two? Notice the passage in Matthew reads, “and his face did shine as the sun.” Isn’t there another event in the bible where the two are connected?
**”in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” -Matthew 18:16b
Back in Exodus, when Moses was leading the Jewish people out of Egypt, God’s glory appeared at the top of mount Sinai: “And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” -Exodus 24:17
If you read on, only Moses went into the “fire” at the top of mount Sinai, into God’s glory… and what happened to him? “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.” -Exodus 34:29
There’s a second witness! A second testimony to connect “glory” to “light” by way of faces shining. This is especially significant of Moses and Jesus in that Jesus is the one spoken of by Moses as the “one to come like unto him,” (Deut. 18:15, Acts 3:22). What a sign to connect the two!
So, if we can accept that the mount of transfiguration is Jesus being crowned in glory, which I certainly do, can we find other examples of glory being referred to as light? Lets take a look at just a few:
Glory and Light
The “Glory of Lord” is described as light in: Exodus 16:10, 24:16-17, 40:34-35, Leviticus 9:23, Numbers 14:10, 16:19, 16:42, 20:6, 2 Chronicles 5:14, 7:1-3, Isaiah 58:8, 60:1, Ezekiel 1:28, Ezekiel 10:4, Luke 2:9.
Don’t feel like looking all those up? Here are a few for you:
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.” -Isaiah 58:8
” Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” -Isaiah 60:1
“Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.” -Ezekiel 10:4
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” -Luke 2:9
Now lets just focus on the word “glory” (not “glory of the Lord) and see if we can get references to light:
“At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.” -Daniel 4:46
“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.” -Isaiah 59:19a
“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” -Isaiah 60:19
“And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.” -Ezekiel 43:2
“And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.” -Acts 22:11
“There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” -1 Corinthians 15:41
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” -2 Corinthians 4:4
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” -2 Corinthians 4:6
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.” -Revelation 18:1
“Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;” -Revelation 21:11
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” -Revelation 21:23
Jesus’ Glorified Body
Do you really need to see more verses to equate glory to light? Clearly the two are correlated and it is my reasoning that our “glorified bodies” (Philippians 3:21), that will be conformed to Jesus’ glorified body (8:29), shine with a bright light. After all, isn’t Jesus the “Bright Morning Star?” (Revelation 22:16)
These are not ordinary bodies that one could mistake for a gardener or a stranger. When you see it, you’ll know it… and John saw it.
“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” -Revelation 1:9-16
THAT is what Jesus looks like now, and that is what Jesus will look like when he returns (Revelation 19). THAT is Jesus’ glorified body. As John saw him. The book of Psalms also confers this:
“Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:” -Psalm 104:2
Back to Adam
So, how does this connect back to Adam? Well, if we can agree than Jesus being “crowned in glory” is a reference to him being crowned in light (and if you need more evidence then I really don’t know what else I can say to convince you), then when Adam was made in the Image of God, BEFORE he fell, also being crowned in glory (Hebrews 2:7), he shone in a glorified body.
That’s why the bible says that before Adam and Eve fell they were naked and NOT ashamed (Genesis 2:25), but when they fell the very FIRST thing they noticed was their nakedness and were ashamed (Genesis 3:7). It’s because AFTER they ate the fruit the light of their glorified bodies faded. That’s why they felt the need to cover themselves.
This can also help explain how, as the bible says in 1 Timothy 2:14, Adam was not deceived into eating the fruit. When he saw Eve approaching him, he could see straight away that her glory had faded from her, and, loving her more than loving God, he willingly chose to eat the fruit.
Through the first Adam, sin entered the world and all mankind has been doomed to die ever since(Romans 5:12), but through the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, all are given everlasting life (Romans 5:15).
And thus, when Satan has been cast into the lake of fire and the Great White Throne of Judgement has passed, and the new heavens and new earth are made, and the people that inhabit that new earth drink from the water of life, they will be made once more into what we were supposed to be from the start. Like unto Adam and Eve. This time with no sin present to corrupt them and with God reigning forever from his throne in New Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Extracurricular
When the Glory of the Lord sat upon the mercy seat of the Ark of the covenant, his light filled the tabernacle (his glory departed in Ezekiel 10:18, which why the tearing of the veil at Christ’s crucifixion was so significant. The public, for the first time, could see into the Holy of Holies and could see that their was no light! The Pharisees had been putting on a show since Israel returned from Babylon’s captivity!).
The Freemasons today twist the holy scriptures, putting themselves up as God. Whilst many/most Freemasons have no idea what their symbols or rituals mean, they either willingly or unwittingly, blaspheme God by them.
One thing you will see all over the place in freemason symbolism are the pillars of Jackin and Boaz that graced the temple of the Lord in Solomon’s temple before the veil that the Ark of the covenant sat behind (1 Kings 7:21). That’s where God’s glory, his light, rested.
Since the Freemasons think themselves to be gods, they take the moment that Adam and Eve fell, and make it a positive. As soon as Adam and Eve fell they made themselves aprons of fig leaves to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7). Then, in Genesis 3:21, God spills the blood of a lamb (that’s how Abel knew to offer a Lamb up to the Lord and is a picture of Christ, our Passover Lamb), and makes Adam and Eve coats of skin.
So what the Freemasons do is combine Gen.3:7 and 3:21 and make for themselves aprons of lambskin. On these aprons they put the two pillars of Jackin and Boaz, making the apron the veil of their most holy of holies, their genitalia. The very thing that caused Adam and Eve embarrassment, they rise to the level of holy. They believe their seed is what will birth a glorified humanity. What a joke.