1 John 2:28-3:3
"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..."
(1 JOHN 3:2)
A child is born, and what does everybody start asking? "Who does he/she look like?" Daddy? Big sister? Grandpa? It's an irresistible game, part of the joy that everyone shares (except for the jaded fellow who said, "Face it. All babies look like Winston Churchill.").
The apostle John writes repeatedly about our new, spiritual birth. In the middle of his first letter, he suddenly breaks into an expression of wonder: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" It's as joyful as anything uttered by a physical parent, a truth almost too good for words.
Then he tells us more about being a child of God. We are growing in resemblance to Christ. We won't physically look like Jesus; we'll resemble Him spiritually. We are being renewed, healed, and eventually perfected to have the moral excellence of the Son of God. He is coming back for us, says John, and when He returns, we will be able to look at Him, unashamed, because "we shall be like Him."
INSIGHT
"THOSE WHO LOOK TO HIM ARE RADIANT; THEIR FACES ARE NEVER COVERED WITH SHAME." (PSALM 34:5)
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Lamentations 4-5
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 12
1 John 2:28-3:3
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Children and Sin
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
3 See what great 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. 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,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Footnotes:
a. 1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln is one of America's most beloved leaders, but did he know the Lord Jesus Christ? The topic has been hotly debated, but the best answer is found in his own words at the end of his life.
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