1 John 3:1-3
This morning, the themes we have been speaking about since well before Easter come together in a unique sort of way in today’s second reading from John’s letter to the Church, that we started looking at last week.
That if we wish to ‘see’ Jesus, we need to look upon the cross of Christ as the flashpoint of the light of the world.
And God who is light and in whom there is no darkness, overcomes the darkness of our sin and we, like Jesus, are born into the light of eternal life with a new name; the Children of God.
We are only looking at three verses this morning, 3:1-3.
“1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
What we are, and what we will be.
Well, when we gaze upon the cross, we know exactly who we are, and the minute we recognise and acknowledge our absolute fallenness, we come into light and life. Remember we asked on Good Friday, What staggering love is this?
Well John today confirms what we know; that whoever we were, we now should be called the Children of God. We are now part of the family who runs the whole Kingdom of God, not just anyone either. The very Children of God and co-heirs with the Lord Jesus.
That’s the staggering love God has for us in Christ Jesus.
What kind of love is this? It is a love so amazing, so profound, that God would give his one and only Son for the life of the world. The Father sent his Son into this world to be our brother and be our Savior. Christ Jesus suffered the punishment the law requires for sinners, even though he had not broken the law at all, ever.
He did this for us. For me. For you, when he suffered and died on the cross. Righteousness fulfilled, and transferred to our account; (in a bookkeeping metaphor from Paul).
This is God’s grace and forgiveness and absolution in action, in the atoning death of Christ. And in Christ’s resurrection, we see the result: sin paid for, death broken and destroyed, eternal life victorious and proclaimed to all the world.
What kind of love the Father has given to us! For the Holy Spirit has called us by the gospel and enlightened us with his gifts. We have been gifted with a living faith in Christ, a faith and a life we were born into in Holy Baptism.
This love of God is literally poured out on us. God’s name is placed on us, and we are made children of God.
Children of God – that is who we are now. And what we will be?
“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (3:2).
This is the church’s great hope, each Christian’s great hope, that is, the return of Christ. This is what we are looking forward to with great joy and anticipation.
“When he appears, we shall be like him,” our text says. How so? In what way?
In two ways, I think. We shall be like him in a resurrected, glorious body. And we shall be like him in a heart and soul unfettered by sin, a heart full of holiness.
We shall be like him in his glorious body. Philippians 3 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” So Christ Jesus will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.
Whether our body lies in dust or whether we will still be alive and walking around on that day; in either case, our dead or dying body will be transformed, and we will be like him in this respect.
That is, we will no longer be subject to death or disease or all the aches and pains of this life. Can you imagine? Whatever sickness, disease, infirmity, every form of sorrow, and anything that ails you. All, good as new, and even better.
Not just better, but a perfect human body in the form that you now are in. “When he appears, we shall be like him.”
That is who we will be.
And then the second way we shall be like him is in purity and holiness. This is going to be as great as, or an even greater makeover than the whole glorified body aspect. We can sort of get our heads around a ‘perfect’ body.
But this makeover of our soul? I’m not sure we have the capacity to get our heads around a sinless life.
Our hearts will only be filled with right desires, and we will rejoice in that. We will be at home in a restored creation where righteousness will be at home.
A great big fellowship of redeemed saints of God, from all times and all places, amidst an utterly transformed and renewed creation (or “nature”).
All joined in love and joy and worship around the throne of God and of the Lamb. We are created to do things and God will give us a new name that is true to the eternal God-given nature we were given before the foundation of the world.
And the music. And the art. And the incredible renewed creation with all the animals and plants and even colours we have never seen before. Come Lord Jesus.
So this is our great hope that we have to look forward to. But this hope does not leave us with our heads in the clouds, drifting along in a dreamy, silly way. No, this hope calls us to holiness of living right now, in the here and now of this life, where we still struggle and where there are people all around us who are struggling, too.
Our passage ends with, “and all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (v.3).
The hope that Christ gives at the same time calls us to holiness of living in this life. For as the children of God, we share in his character. We reflect and radiate the image of Christ to a world that truly needs to know Christ.
Our words and our actions have a purpose in the here and now. This transforms our daily living. This eternity hope gives us true purpose now.
We purify ourselves by picking up our cross each day, that is by becoming more Christlike, and the same power which raised Jesus from the dead creates in us a pure heart.
Just as last week, we said ‘Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.’ So today we rejoice that ‘Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.’
This is the laser heart of God’s light – the purifying of our hearts so we may ‘see’ him. This is what Jesus was telling the Greeks who wanted to ‘see’ him.
God is only seen through the cross of Christ and all that flows from it – who were are, and who we will be. Let me pray ...