5. Final Conclusion on Christians being like Christ

1. Believers will truly be like Christ as fellow children of God, specifically as believers will become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). However, each believer has a different role in the body of Christ, and no one will share Christ’s unique role as:

• the Head/Lord/King of kings/Leader and Savior of the Church

• Judge: Christ uniquely judges believers, while Christ and the Church together will judge more generally.

2. Psalm 139:13–15 says,

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.”

Each person is fearfully and wonderfully made—wonderful! God intricately wove each of us. All Christians are destined to be conformed to the image of God, just like Christ, based on the Scriptures above. How amazing that in the new heaven and new earth, when everything is made right, each person will image the invisible God in an awe-inspiring way. How amazing the grace of God that we will be like Christ—imaging God—forever, in our own unique way as image bearers of God! There is no one like Jesus. And there is no one like any one of God’s children.

3. In summary, according to the Bible, Christians will reign with Christ forever, are children of God, are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, will be glorified with Christ if they suffer with him, are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, obtain the glory of Jesus, are part of Christ’s body and one with him, play a unique and vital role in the Church, will be resurrected, will do miracles like Christ and even greater ones, are anointed with the Holy Spirit, are filled with the Spirit, have a close and personal relationship with God given that they are now reconciled with Him, will be fully mature in Christ and attain the stature of the fullness of Christ, will be filled with all the fullness of God, have God as the source of their everything just as Jesus does, will be brought to perfection and maturity, will be righteous and purified, are partakers of the divine nature, will judge the world with Christ, are human, need God, depend on God, pray to God, and call God the only true God. And all Christians who overcome have the right to sit with Jesus on his throne.

Jesus also needed a Savior—God—and depended upon God to save him from death (Hebrews 5:7). I believe his human history included real sin. Scripture says that Jesus learned obedience through suffering, was made perfect, and ultimately offered himself to God “without blemish” through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 5:8–9; 9:14). God therefore remains Jesus’ Savior and the ultimate Savior of everyone, while Jesus is the unique human mediator through whom God reconciles the world. See my two-part series, starting with this article, for the full biblical explanation of this: 12. Jesus’ Moral Development: What Does It Mean That He Was “Made Perfect”?

According to the Bible, we are co-heirs with Christ, while Jesus retains the unique roles God has specifically given him: only Jesus is King of kings, Head of the Church, Savior, Judge of Christians, and Lord.

4. Different roles do not mean that some members of God’s family are less valuable than others. First Corinthians 12 emphasizes that the members of the body need one another and that no member can say to another, “I have no need of you.” Jesus has a unique role within God’s kingdom, while every child of God is deeply loved, necessary, and given a unique and needed place within the body.

5. Jesus learned obedience through suffering, was made perfect, and ultimately offered himself to God “without blemish” through the eternal Spirit in profound obedience and love. Anyone can truly be like Christ. God can restore any person, no matter how broken they are or what sins they have committed. We will be like Jesus. He is our example to follow—we also need to overcome sin, grow toward righteousness and maturity, and bear suffering so that we will be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). He is firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Romans 8:29).

Let's embrace Jesus as our brother, not our God, and worship, in Jesus' words, the “one true God” (John 17:3) with him.

Therefore, I believe all Christians will truly be like Jesus according to the Bible as fellow sons and daughters of God for all eternity. Jesus will retain his unique role as our King, Lord, Savior, and firstborn brother, while we are fully conformed to his image and share with him in the glorious life God intends for His children.