I have a deep cry in my heart that yearns to see a transformation and removal of my adamic nature. I know the ability to change only comes from God through His grace, but there needs to be a human hunger and pursuit of it as well. In reading the Beatitudes, one verse struck me as the Lord spoke to my heart: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).[1] As I continued to pray about this, I realized that there is an experience of mourning that is not a human emotion. It happens as we behold Christ through a revelation of Him at His coming. This guttural cry is a mourning experience for those who have prepared their hearts for His appearing. Further, I believe this will be an end-time experience for the Body of Christ.
“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen” (Revelation 1:7).
Not all mourning, however, brings the comfort that we are looking for. Some people, in their refusal of God and their refusal of Christ, will try to escape as they “say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ And to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’” (Hosea 10:8). But I want to run into the Lord’s arms and embrace Him. I want to love His appearing because then I will be changed into His likeness. Isaiah describes two reactions people will have: some will experience “the terror of the LORD” and others will behold “the splendor of His majesty” (Isaiah 2:19). At the revelation of Christ’s appearing there will be this dichotomy. Those who are given to wickedness and rebellion will reject Him. Others will be awed by the splendor of His majesty as He appears.
It has been two millennia since people have seen the glory and majesty of Christ appear in the earth, but we will see it again and I want to be prepared. By His grace, I want to behold Yeshua (Jesus) as He is and be changed into His image so that when the Son of Man appears with power and great glory, I will be drawn to Him. There will still be a deep mourning, but it will bring release and comfort to those who are prepared. Christ will be unveiled in all His glory, and God will send His angels to “GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31).
When Yeshua appears, we will mourn because we will see Him as He is and recognize by comparison what we are in our human form and nature. But that mourning will be transformative. Job says, “He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety” (Job 5:11). Get that idea—they are lifted up to safety. Yeshua said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). We have been imprisoned in our humanity, but Christ comes “to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; … to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2). As Messiah draws us into His arms, we will see Him as He really is and be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).