1. Introduction - Images of the Invisible God

Orthodox Christianity maintains that Christians will truly be like Jesus. But what does this mean based on the Bible? How is being like Christ possible if he is God? 1 John 3:2–3 says,

The word “like” is homoioi in Greek, from homoios, meaning “like, similar to, resembling.” John’s language therefore describes a genuine likeness between Christians and Jesus—not merely admiration of him from a distance (Strong’s Greek: 3664. Homoios – Like, Resembling, the Same as, 2024).

Given John’s remarkably direct statement that “we shall be like him,” how is this likeness possible if Jesus is God? How will any Christian ever really be like a divine “King of kings” and “Lord of lords”? How could Christians ever truly be like Jesus if he possesses an eternally divine nature that we will never possess?

Interestingly, the verses say we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is—we will see him more clearly. The emphasis is not on us being very different, though of course important differences will remain. So, based on this verse, we will not be like him because we will be "God-men" and "God-women" like Jesus, if Jesus is God. We will be like him because we shall see him as he is.

Of course, Christians traditionally understand this likeness in terms of holiness, glory, resurrection life, and moral conformity to Christ. I agree that those things are included. But I think the wording raises a deeper question: why does seeing Jesus “as he is” result in us becoming like him?

We will not become God-men and God-women if Jesus is God, as Christians will never be God. So what exactly is John saying we will discover about Jesus when we finally see him as he truly is?

Could part of that revelation be that Jesus is far more genuinely like us than traditional theology has allowed—that he is not God, but a human Son of God with a genuinely human history involving real moral development? Scripture says that Jesus learned obedience through suffering, was made perfect, and ultimately offered himself to God “without blemish” through the eternal Spirit. Those are extraordinarily strong statements, but they do not require us to conclude that Jesus thereby became metaphysically incapable of making a wrong choice. See this article in particular for the biblical argument for that, which is first in a three-part series: 12. Was Jesus Morally Perfect from Birth? Part 1: The Biblical Case for Moral Development.

If Jesus actually is God in the flesh, what could 1 John 3:1–3 mean? Why does seeing Jesus “as he is” connect with Christians being like him? Wouldn’t seeing him “as God,” as Christians currently think he is, simply highlight the great difference between Christ and Christians? If Jesus possesses an eternally divine nature that no Christian can ever share: why does seeing Jesus “as he is” emphasize our likeness to him rather than the infinite ontological difference between him and us, if he actually is God?

I believe 1 John 3:1–3 fits best in the framework that Jesus is not God, but a genuinely human Son of God who learned obedience through suffering, was made perfect, and ultimately offered himself to God “without blemish.” If that is true, becoming like Jesus is genuinely possible in a way I do not think it is if Jesus is actually God in the flesh. This section analyzes this even further. The many, many similarities between Jesus and Christians at the end of time, alongside the important differences in their roles, make a further case for the biblical coherence of understanding Jesus not as God but as our brother, human King, and human Lord—the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.