1 John 3:1-3
1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Everything about your relationship with God is anchored in His love for you. It is so great that in love He declares you to be His child. That distinguishing mark of ownership means the world rejects you because it rejected Him. Do you like that?
I don’t really like being rejected by anyone, but my first and strongest loyalty is to Jesus, so I certainly have no need to fraternize with people who hate Him. Attached to being a child of God is the promise that though we are children of God, we don’t yet know what we will be like when He comes, but one thing we know is that we will be like Him – we will see Him just as He is.
John concludes that if we are living with that expectation we will purify ourselves just as He is pure. Relationship with God is very purposeful – He wants you to know, love, and serve Him. Is there something about knowing Him that draws you closer to Him?
Are you more hopeful every day that this might be the day that you’ll first see Him? It seems that day is nearer by the moment with all the crazy stuff going on in the world (the Broncos beat Dallas today).
Comments