Scripture Daily

Context No. 4139 of 4322 · 1 John

Context · Reflection

1 John 3:1-6: in context

1See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 4Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him. 6Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.

John pauses to marvel at the love of God: see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. It is a wonder worth stopping over, that God, in his love, has made us his own children, not servants only, but sons and daughters.

And John points to a glorious future: beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. Two truths shine here. Our present identity: we are, right now, children of God, loved by the Father, given a new belonging. And our future destiny: we shall be like Christ, transformed into his likeness when we see him face to face. And John adds a practical effect of this hope: everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, as he is pure. The hope of being made like Christ is not passive; it stirs us to pursue purity now.

Do I marvel that I am now a child of God, destined to be made like Christ when I see him, and does that hope stir me to purify my life, longing to become like the One I love and will one day fully resemble?

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