About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

–Luke 9:28-36 (TNIV)

I can relate well with Peter in this story. If I had been there, I probably would have passed out from fear! But what a glorious story we have here. We get a foretaste of the New Creation in which our mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal, resurrected ones, never again subject to decay, deformity, sickness, or infirmity.

The story of the Transfiguration reminds us that Jesus is who he said he is–the Lord, the promised Messiah through whom salvation will be offered to the entire world. His transfigured body is a preview of coming attractions for us because we remember the gracious promise contained in 1 John 3:2:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (TNIV)

This is our hope of glory as Christians. This is our destiny with Christ! It is not ours because of who we are or because we deserve it. No, it is ours because of who God is and because he wants us to have life with him forever. That is why he created us in the first place.

We don’t know what the New Creation or our resurrection bodies will look like, but if the Transfiguration is any indication, it will be glorious. Too often we Christians fail to embrace our hope and instead let the cares and anxieties of this world beat us down. Don’t be one of those folks. Embrace the hope of glory that is yours in Christ and give thanks everyday that you have it awaiting you!

And while you are doing so, remember that the hope of New Creation reminds us that God’s current creation here on earth is also worth redeeming. Get on your knees in prayer, ask the Lord what he wants you to do with the gifts he has given you, and then use those gifts to help him in his redemptive work here on earth. After all, if we have the hope of the New Creation awaiting us, it means that God thinks his old, fallen creation is worth redeeming and we have a glorious invitation to help him in his redemptive work. Cool.