Transformed To Be Like Jesus

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Matthew 17:1-2 (KJV)

There is much symbolic meaning to this passage. Six days speaks of the 6,000 year earth lease to man. Man was created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31). A day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day (II Peter 3:8). The disciples represent the church, the believers in Christ. Jesus brought them up to a high mountain, which refers to Jesus taking up His bride with Him at the rapture.

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Revelation 4:1-2 (KJV)

Here, John is a type of the church. John heard a trumpet and was caught up to Heaven through an open door. This is like the Apostle Paul’s account of the rapture in I Thessalonians.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. I Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJV)

Like John, the church will hear a trumpet, and she will be caught up to Jesus to be taken to Heaven.

In Matthew 17, in the account of the transfiguration of Jesus, they were on a high mountain apart. This speaks of an elevated place with Jesus. We will someday be in an elevated place with Jesus, the high place, the mountain of God, when we are caught up in the rapture.

The disciples with Jesus saw Him transfigured, showing forth the glory He had when He was with the Father. This will be manifested before our eyes when we see Jesus at the rapture. We will see Him in His glory. We’ll see Him as He really is.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I John 3:1-3 (KJV)

As the sons of God, we can be assured that what Jesus began with us at the new birth, He will finish at the rapture. We will see Him as He is, and we will be transformed to be like Him. The disciples got a glimpse of who Jesus really is.

As Jesus was changed on the mountain, we too will be changed at the rapture. Our mortal bodies will put off mortality and we will be clothed with immortality. Matthew 17: 1-2 is a prophetic picture of the believers in Christ being raptured at the end of the earth lease and becoming the glorified ones, like Jesus. We will see Him as He is, and we will be transformed to be as He is.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30 (KJV)