“While the gathering of the Body, according to the Revelation, will be the work of a short time, yet we are told that the perfecting of this body, the perfecting of its dominion over the earth, will take a thousand years. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that there is any one now living, even if placed under the most favorable conditions, who could be perfected in the Likeness of God, Yahveh Elohim, in a short period, for all that belongs to attainment, is not only a subjugation and conquest of the body, but it is also a growth of the soul and a growth and a development of the body into perfect harmony with Spirit.
There is however, a most potent factor that will work in this Body, a factor yet unknown to the race, which is this: Every member of the Body, before he can become really one with the Body, must have not only overcome generation, but he must have turned the currents of generation toward the brain and polarized the mind fixedly upon the Spirit. Man in polarizing the mind on the Spirit at once finds himself the focal point of the planet and of its subtle mind-currents and electric forces. In generation he is the head of the planet, leading creation, but when he has taken control of that creative power in himself and has brought it under the absolute control of the mind, he begins to possess dominion over the earth.
The two forces active in creation, the positive and the negative forces, represented and focalized in the man and the woman, produce in them because of the unity of the two in “the regeneration”, a condition almost identical with that seen in the electric arc lamp; and after they have come into order it will not be long before nature’s energies will cause their bodies to become luminous and bright as the body of an angel, “shining as the sun.”
(The mere suggestion of the final unity of man and woman opens the door to temptation and deception. When a man who is trying to live the regenerate life to conquer the sex passions, comes into the presence of a good woman, it seems to stimulate and to strengthen all his powers. He feels assured that she would be a great help to him in the regenerate life, in obtaining these grand ultimates. But we speak from the experience of thousands during the last ten years of our work, when we say that in every case, they find themselves disappointed; they have met the god of generation, face to face, and are enslaved by him, or the two are forced to separate under great difficulty and sorrow.
When one realizes the great truth that there are two factors in the world, creation and re-creation, generation and regeneration, and that generation is the one factor now dominating the whole world, he may perhaps understand that no man in union with woman can meet and conquer it. He must first absolutely conquer it within himself in all its powers. For in the regeneration, man and woman in their unity, must have absolute control of the god of creation – over every creative-power in the world; and not only so, but they must be so strong that they can even take of the life the fires of the Spirit and control them absolutely, which is an achievement as many times greater than anything that we have ever known, as the day is brighter than the night. Because of this, the Lord by the prophet Isaiah said, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”)
This condition of luminosity could not obtain all at once; if it did, it would burn up and destroy the physical body. It will require years for the body to change from what we now know as material substance into the spiritual substance adapted to the fires of the Divine Life. No wonder that God by the prophet asked, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” The condition into which this body enters is a condition that transforms all that belongs to manhood and womanhood, into the Likeness of God.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 