What we are and what we will be

We Shall Be Like Him

1 John 2:28-3:10

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1Jn 3:2)

Good morning! Most of you know that I am now a missionary to Taiwan, and that I have been visiting here for the past two weeks. In coming home, I fell like I have never been away. It seems so natural to give a Sunday message here that I do not feel like a guest messenger at all. I want to thank all of you for the many ways that you have served and welcomed my family during our stay.

Since we had our Summer Bible Conference last week, let’s get our mind back into the book of 1 John. Remember that this book emphasizes God’s love – and so does today’s passage. But 1 John was also written to counteract the Gnostic heresy, so it has many warnings about how to be a Christian – and so does today’s passage.

Part 1 What we are and what we will be (2:28-3:2)

Verses 2:28-3:2 are full of praise and wonder. John marvels at what we are and at what we will become.

First, what we are. Do you know what we are? It is said three times in these four verses. What are we? Children. We are children. A child is in between a baby and an adult. A child has been born, but has not finished growing. You see, you are born, then you grow to maturity. Similarly, verse 2:29 says that we have been “born of him” and verse 2:28 encourages us to continue in him – which can be thought of as how a child grows to maturity. We are children.

Growth for children is natural. Not growing is abnormal. Have you ever seen a 20 year-old baby? Maybe you have seen a 20 year old acting like a baby – but I am sure that he was not the size of a baby. How do babies grow? Little Nathanael Brown has already about doubled his size. His mom used to call him “peanut”, but she had to change his name to “watermelon”. How did this happen. Did he try real hard to grow? No he just ate his milk and he naturally grew. So also, Christians must grow by continuing in Christ to the end, so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming, because we have matured into righteous people.

So what are we? We are children. And we need to continue in him to grow to maturity. But most of us are adults. What kind of children can we therefore be? Let’s look at verse 1 for the answer. Let’s read verse 1 with feeling. How great is the love the Father has lavished on 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.

Verse 1 has a sense of awe that demands two exclamation points – and you may know that the Bible does not overuse exclamation points. What is all of the excitement about?

Think about it. First, we all have natural parents. When my father calls me son, it seems natural. I do not say, “How great is the love of my father, that I should be called his son!” When my dad calls me his son, he is not expressing his love, but rather he is acknowledging a natural relationship that just is. He did not choose me, I just happened.

But there is another way to get a father. You could be adopted. An adopted child is chosen. He is grateful for being chosen. Every time that his father calls him his son, it reminds him that his father loved him enough to choose him as his son. If we can imagine an orphanage full of prettier, smarter children – how amazed an ordinary boy would be, if he were chosen instead of those who looked better. Then he might marvel at the love of his new father. Then he might even use two exclamation points.

Do you feel like that boy? I do. I think back to who I was. I was a massive hypocrite and a habitual liar and arrogant. Definitely not worthy of love from the Holy God. Or when I think back to my freshman year, my classes were full of students who were superior to me in every way. Seriously. But none of them were invited to Bible study, only me. Why? I do not know why. It is a marvel.

Peter describes his wonder in this way: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1Pe 2:9-10)

Look at verse 1 again. How great is the love the Father has lavished on 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.

The world does not know us. Children of God do not get the “star treatment.” We are not escorted to the front of the line. Paris Hilton never did anything, but she never needs a reservation. I would think that the children of God should be more important, but no – the world does not know us. Yet we have a far greater privilege – not recognition by the world, but recognition by God. I asked myself, where would I be today if I had not been chosen? Maybe silicon valley. I was ambitious, so who knows, I might be rich today. But what would my life be like if God had not called me his child? I see that it is really special to have the love of God, you cannot buy it. The world can keep its recognition for nobodies, I want to be accepted by the eternal God. And that is what we are. John puts this proclamation, “and that is what we are!” as a counterpoint to the world’s disdain. Because it does not matter what the world says, that is what we are. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

God’s love is described here as “lavish” – it is almost excessive. It is too much, more than we could expect. Like the prodigal son, we should take a servants place, but instead the father puts the signet ring on our finger. He welcomes us as his children, and we can cry out to him, “Abba, Father.”

So verse 1 tells us what we are – children of God. But verse 2 tells us what we will become – and it turns out to be even greater. Let’s read verse 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 he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Right now, we are children of God, but we shall become something greater – we will become like him. I do not say that we will become God, but we will become like him in some mysterious way that we don’t understand – it has not yet been made known. I think its not known because its unknowable, because it is entirely different and cannot be compared to anything that we know, so it cannot be understood.

This refers to our resurrection. Paul once considered this question. He supposed, “But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised, with what kind of body will they come?’” So Paul explained the resurrection body in analogy to plants. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed. By just looking at the seed, you cannot tell what kind of plant it will grow into, unless you have seen the plant before. But if there is a seed, there is a plant.

Every Easter we try to memorize 1 Corinthians 15. This chapter focuses on our resurrection hope. So it is the same idea as 1Jn 3:2. We memorize it because it is very important to accept. We need to have this resurrection hope. What we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We do not know what our bodies will look like but 1 Corinthians 15 does describe them. Recite these verses with me, if you can: So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. And a few verses later: And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

Our bodies now are perishable, dishonorable, and weak. But our resurrection bodies are imperishable, strong, and glorious. Most importantly, we will be like him! Now, when we think of this, we can find longing for God’s kingdom. But is that all that we should learn here? Is this passage just a pump-you-up, feel-good passage? We are children of God and one day we will be like him! There is more to this passage than that. In the next verses, we find that our identity as children of God and our hope of resurrection must practically affect how we live.

Part 2. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself (3:3-10)

In this passage John challenges us to live as children of God. He affirms what the Bible always teaches: that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. But there have always been people who promised shortcuts into heaven. So John warned in verse 7, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” Heretics were leading people astray by redefining righteousness. A Gnostic might say, it is not those who do right that are righteous, but it is those with secret knowledge that are righteous. Does this make sense? Can we just redefine words like this? Isn’t it those that study that are “studious?” And those with those with anxiety who are anxious? It makes sense that those who do what is right are righteous. Not some other definition. The Bible gives the definition.

And yet this heresy remains very popular even today. This heresy says that, somehow, we can be wicked and still go to heaven. Millions of people believe this. They say, “Once saved, always saved! I confessed Jesus when I was 11. So now I can be as bad as I want to be!” Or they can sound more theological: “Romans 1:17 describes a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Since my efforts don’t save me, I can be as bad as I want to be!” We know this is ridiculous. But what if we change it and say, “Since my efforts don’t save me, I can be a little bit bad. I can compromise and enjoy a fun life.” Now we are more tempted. But if we would be righteous we must do what is right.

This point is emphasized throughout the passage, but let’s focus on 2 verses. Verse 3: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” And verse 9: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”

These verses are absolute. Verse 3 does not say “most people.” Verse 9 does not say “few people.” Instead, these verses say “everyone” and “no one”. I wonder if we know what these words mean. Of course we know what the word everyone means – and yet many people actually think that it means “everyone else.”

So let’s think about what these words mean. I’m looking for a show of hands. Now I started coming to church before I was Christian, and if that is your situation today, I’m glad you came. But for those who are Christian, who has the hope to be like Jesus in his heavenly kingdom? Hands? Don’t be shy. Now for those whose hands are up, these are the people who are making a public confession that they have a hope in the future kingdom of God. Verse 3 calls you “Everyone who has this hope.” Keep your hands up. Now, verse 3 says, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” So I want you to put your hand down if you think that you don’t need to purify yourself. You see that no hands went down. That is what “everyone means.” It is non-optional.

Now I will teach you what no one means. Verse 9 says “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” Please, raise your hand if you are born of God, but think that you can go on sinning. There are now hands. You see, that is what no one means.

So, with your hands you have acknowledged that these verses are talking about you and you accepted that you must do what they say.

When we first read these verses, we are probably all challenged, and a little confused. Is John saying that true Christians never sin? If so, then am I a Christian? But we should remember that only two chapters earlier, John wrote, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1Jn 1:8) So then what is he saying? We should note the verbs. In verse 3, he says that “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

He does not say that we are pure and blameless but that we purify ourselves. This suggests a process, like sanctification. It also makes sense, because, since Jesus is pure, and since we will one day be like him, then we should get ready for that day by becoming like him even now. We do not stay like we are and then suddenly become like Jesus. No, such people will be ashamed when he appears. Rather, we prepare ourselves by purifying ourselves. Ephesians 4 describes this process: “put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

So also note the verbs in verse 9: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”. These verbs also do not suggest that Christians are perfect, but that they have a righteous lifestyle. They might sin, but they cannot go on sinning. In my group Bible study, Allison put it this way, “When we were unbelievers, we felt bad when we sinned. But the more we sinned, the more comfortable we became, until it seemed OK. But when we became Christian, the more we sinned, the more uncomfortable we become.” This was also my experience. My blockage to accepting Christ was mental. Some people are blocked by sin – they cannot accept because they do not want to give up their sin. But for me it was an intellectual block – I thought the world was the result of random chance. So when I became Christian, the big change was mental. Suddenly, when I read the Bible it did not sound like a myth, but the truth. I do not remember my sinful habits being changed. Later however, these sins became so burdensome to me that I had to give them up.

So I think that, if we are children of God, growth is natural. If we have this hope, purification is natural. It is because God’s seed remains in us whatever we do. In Mark 4, the Word of God is compared to a seed. In the parable of the growing seed, we see that the word of God has a power in itself to grow, whatever we do. So, if God’s seed remains in us, it may be small, but it will grow. In time it will fill the heart.

But at the same time, if you do not feel any need to fix your sin problems then you should restudy this passage. Because this passage describes such people as those who are not born of God. Verse 10 provides a test: “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

In the concluding verses of this passage, the world is presented as being divided into two camps: the children of God and the children of the devil. No middle-ground is allowed, everyone must choose sides. But we do not choose sides with words but with actions. In John 8:49, there were some Jews who said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father.” But Jesus disagreed, saying, “If you were Abraham's children, then you would do the things Abraham did.” Jesus went on to tell them that they were actually the devil’s children, because they did the devil’s work. They were insulted. But, in truth, you can tell whose children we are based on what we do, because children copy their parents. Children of God must learn from their Father, obeying and imitating him.

The battle line is drawn. Verse 8 says, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” If we do the work of Satan, then we are his foot soldiers. If we do the work of God, we are his children. Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work. So we also join in the struggle against the spiritual forces of evil. (Ep 6:12) But we know that the Son of Man came to destroy the devil’s work. In his obedience to death on the cross, Jesus crushed Satan’s head, even as Satan bit his heel. Then he rose victorious from the grave, promising that we too shall rise. We take heart that Satan is, in some sense, defeated already. And we look forward to Jesus return when he will bring his children home. May we live as children ought, purifying ourselves so that we may be confident at his coming.