Appearing with Christ in Glory

A brother has asked for our view of Col 3:4. Paul told the Colossians, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” This brother wants to know how this statement affects our interpretation of 1 John 3:2 (here).

He makes several valid points. Paul’s “when” (Gk. hotan) differs from John’s “when” (Gk. ean).¹ John may have meant “if,” but Paul means “as soon as.”² Our brother is also right when he says, “the word translated ‘appear’ in both passages is . . . phaneroō.” It means “to make manifest.”

He then says, “I’m unclear as to how this definition fits your explanation of 1Jn 3:2. It seems it would be a stretch to say Jesus appeared this way in AD70.” 

We acknowledge the difficulty. Both John and Paul spoke of Christ’s “appearance.” John linked it to the saints being “like him”—they will have resurrected bodies like Christ’s. But Paul connected the Lord’s “appearance” to the saints’ appearance “with him in glory.”

Is John’s being “like him” (1 John 3:2) the same as Paul’s “appear(ing) with him in glory” (Col 3:4)? If so, inmillennialism has a significant problem.

So, how does Col 3:4 fit within inmillennialism? 

We begin our answer with an observation. Most commentators only think of Paul’s “glory” as a state in our future. They say Paul spoke of “the believer’s future manifestation with Christ in glory.”³ This future state is part of the apostle’s “glory,” but he had a more robust vision of glory in mind.

We continue our answer by noticing some key elements of inmillennialism. Jesus said he would come to judge Jerusalem and destroy the Temple in his generation (Matt 24:1–3, 34). That event would end the Mosaic age (Matt 24:3, 6, 13, 14). It would also complete the transition to the messianic age. Jesus and his disciples called the new age Christ’s parousia—the age of his presence with his churches (Matt 24:3, 27, 37, 39). Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in AD 70.

The apostle John linked Christ’s parousia to his “appearance.” He said, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear (Gk. phaneroō), we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming (Gk. parousia)” (1 John 2:28). So, Christ’s “appearance” would coincide with the Temple’s fall.

Those events would occur in Paul’s near future. Many Scriptures describe the glory associated with them. That glory would be broader than John’s “be(ing) like him.”

This post will show Paul was thinking of the wider “glory” of the messianic age. The prophets had spoken of it. Paul knew the transition to it was occurring in his day.

The Prophets and Kingdom Glory

The prophets often foretold the messianic-age glory. David, for example, said God’s King “shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Psa 72:8). This meant “all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. . . . His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed” (Psa 72:11, 17).

Based on these promises David prayed, “let the whole earth be filled with his glory” (Psa 72:19). 

Habakkuk said God would answer this prayer. He said, “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14; emphasis added). In the messianic age, “the just shall live by his faith” (Hab 2:4). The saints would live in a glory-filled earth.

Psalm 102

The Psalms linked the Lord’s appearance to messianic-age glory. Psalm 102 is an example.

“But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.” (Ps 102:12–18; emphasis added)

John Gill says, 

since Zion was a type of the Gospel church, [Psa 102] may be very well applied to Gospel times; and the rather, since some passages in it are cited by the apostle in Heb. 1:10, 11, 12 as to be understood of Christ; see [Psa 102:25–27]. The Syriac version calls it, “a prophecy concerning the new people, namely, the Gentiles in the faith.”⁴ 

So, the Lord appearing in glory “has its grand fulfilment in the Christian Church.”⁵ 

Inmillennialism says Christ’s appearance in AD 70 ended the Mosaic age. It completed the transition to the messianic age. Now, Christ “appear(s) in his glory” in fulfillment of Psa 102. 

Psalm 145

Several passages in the New Testament associate the Lord’s coming with his kingdom’s glory. We will mention some of them below. Here we wish to show the prophets foretold this connection. David, for example, said, 

All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.” (Psa 145:10–12; emphasis added)

It should not surprise us to see Christ and his apostles speak of glory this way. We believe Paul did so in passages like Col 3:4.⁶

Isaiah 4

Isaiah speaks of messianic-age glory in plain language. He said it would surround and defend God’s kingdom churches.

In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. . . . And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.” (Isa 4:2–5; emphasis added)

According to the prophet, New Testament churches would appear in glory!

Isaiah 60

Some of Isaiah’s prophecies read like an advanced commentary on Paul’s statements. It is hard to resist thinking the apostle had them in mind when he wrote Col 3:4. Here is one such prophecy:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.” (Isa 60:1–4; emphasis added)

Messianic-age saints would appear in God’s glory.

Daniel 7

Daniel connects the ascension of Christ to his kingdom glory. 

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:13–14; emphasis added)

He then says, “the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever” (Dan 7:18).

Jesus spoke to apostate Israel of this kingdom transfer. He said, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt 21:43). As a result, God would leave their house desolate. God’s true saints would possess the kingdom in that generation (Matt 23:36, 38).

God would transfer the kingdom from apostate Israel to the saints. This would happen in Paul’s generation. The saints would then appear in kingdom glory.

Jesus and Kingdom Glory

Jesus emphasized messianic-age glory on other occasions. He said that glory was close at hand. Consider the following examples. We list them in Scriptural order, not in their historical sequence.

Matthew 16

Jesus taught his apostles about the messianic-age glory. He said, 

The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Matt 16:27–28)

Kingdom glory would come within the lifetime of some who heard Jesus speak. We take this to be the same kingdom and glory of which the prophets had spoken.

Matthew 24

The Lord also linked the coming glory to the Temple’s destruction. He said, 

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. . . . Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” (Matt 24:30, 34; emphasis added)

The gospel of the kingdom (Matt 24:14) announced this glory. It would coincide with the Lord’s “coming” (Gk. erchomai; Matt 24:30) and be part of his parousia (Matt 24:3, 27, 37, 39). It would be connected to the Temple’s destruction (Matt 24:1–3)

Luke 24

After his resurrection, the Lord talked to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26).⁷

The disciples then understood the prophets’ messianic-age glory. “They said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). 

We can imagine the same fire in Paul’s heart as he wrote Col 3:4.

John 12

Jesus affirmed Isaiah spoke of the messianic-age glory. The coming of that glory included the hardening of apostate Israel. Jesus said, “Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (John 12:39–41).

Jesus said the unbelieving Jews could not see the coming kingdom glory. His disciples, however, could see it. Jesus said unto them, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Luke 10:23–24). 

They were seeing the transition to messianic-age glory.

Paul and Kingdom Glory

It does not surprise us to learn Paul adopted this orientation toward kingdom glory. He said, “I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18, YLT).⁸

Paul was not speaking of the glory of the bodily resurrection. That was not in his near future. He was referring to the messianic-age glory of which the prophets and Jesus had spoken.

We see the apostle’s perspective in his comparison of Mosaic-age glory to that of the messianic age. Writing to the church in Corinth, he said:

Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. (2 Cor 3:5–11, NKJV; emphasis added)

Paul knew Mosaic-age glory was “passing away” as he wrote. The greater glory of the messianic age would “remain.” The things that could be shaken would be removed. The kingdom that cannot be moved—and its glory—would remain (cp. Heb 12:26–29).

What event completed the “passing away” of Mosaic-age glory? The “appearance” of Christ that destroyed the Temple in AD 70.

That event established the greater glory of the messianic age.

Conclusion

In Col 3:4, Paul was contemplating the glory of which the prophets had spoken. Jesus had said it would appear in his generation. 

The glory of the Mosaic age would end. Messianic-age glory would remain. The saints would soon appear with Christ in that glory.

This agrees with our interpretation of 1 John 3:2. A paraphrase of both passages shows this agreement: 

1 John 3:2—if (Gk. ean) Jesus appears to destroy the Temple and end the Mosaic age, then (logical, not temporal) we will be like him in the resurrection at the end of the messianic age.⁹

Col 3:4—when (Gk. hotan) Jesus appears to destroy the Temple and end the Mosaic age, at that time (temporal) we will appear with him in messianic-age glory.

The transition to the new age is in our past. God’s people now appear in glory (Isa 60:2). The Lord has glorified them (Isa 60:9; cp. Rom 8:30). Glory now defends their assemblies (Isa 4:5). 

True, much glory awaits them in the resurrection. That will come at the end of the messianic age, but Paul had a broader view of glory in Col 3:4. 

1. We refer to the “when” found in most translations. The ASV’s “if” is more accurate in our opinion.
2. He is quoting James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995), s.v. ὅταν (hotan).
3. Curtis Vaughan, “Colossians,” in vol. 11 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J.D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 210.
4. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments in The Baptist Commentary Series (Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989), 4:126. References modernized.
5. James G. Murphy, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1977), 529.
6. See also Psa 24:7–10 where the King of glory enters the everlasting doors. John Gill says this refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. — Gill, “Exposition,” 3:631.
7. The image in this post is The Resurrection of Christ by Giovanni da Asola. This file (here) is in the public domain (PD-US).
8. This translation recognizes a Greek word most versions omit. Our post on About to Be (mellō) contains a discussion of that word.
9. John 12:32 provides another example of this construction. Jesus would draw men as a logical consequence of his crucifixion, not when it occurred.