Children of God (1 John 3:1-3)
3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
Let us consider the three verses individually.
(Verse 1) See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
God’s love is agape love. This is the highest form of love because it is not based on self interest but strictly on the well being of another. In The Father’s case, He demonstrated his love for us by sending His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners and unworthy of love. (Romans 5:6-11) This agape love demonstrated by the Father will be celebrated for eternity future by God’s children. (Ephesians 2:7)
Only those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour are God’s true children. (Romans 10:10) This may seem exclusive to people of other religions or agnostics who have not yet made a decision for Christ one way or another. God is Father in the universal sense in that He created the human race (Genesis 1:27) but only those who have personally received the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are truly children of God. (John 1:12)
God calls us into intimacy with Him through the reconciliation made possible through the Son. (2 Corinthians 5:19) The greatest love God could offer us is to call us His children. One could aspire to be a mere servant in heaven in order to get in (psalm 84:10) but God lavishes us with the title of Child of God! This means we are co-heirs with Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 2:11-12)
The great mystery to the unsaved world is that Christians appear no more special that anyone else in the world. To the unconverted, Christians do not have halos (figuratively speaking) above their heads and are not viewed with any more importance or significance as other people in the world. 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a chosen people or a “peculiar people”. This means we are God’s special people, distinguished from the world by the light of Christ which dwells in our hearts. The problem is that those who dwell in the world have a darkened understanding of spiritual life and cannot therefore properly appraise who the true children of God are. (Ephesians 4:18, 1 Corinthians 2:15) non-Christians see followers of Christ as deluded individuals who follow foolish ideas. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
(Verse 2) 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
God desires for his children to know that they are eternally safe and secure. (1 John 5:13) The fear that Christian salvation is a kind of Russian Roulette where you may or may not see eternal life is an obscuring of the plain text of scripture. (1 John 5:12) As the hymn writer wrote:
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” (1 John 1:7)
The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for us brothers and sisters so that we would know with certainty that God the Father has forgiven our sins and adopted us as his children, never to be rejected. (Hebrews 9:15) Fear of losing our salvation is doubting God’s lavish provision for sinners who call upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13) for pardon of sin, based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ that purified us and made us whole. (Isaiah 53:5) We are already Gods children… but there’s more!
Our future glory is still a mystery! We only have a foretaste of our glorious inheritance. (1 Corinthians 13:12) Our future glory hasn’t happened yet nor has God revealed it to us so our limited understanding clouds our future anticipation as genuine children of God! Many in recent years have reported unfathomable dreams and visons of having traveled to heaven and given detailed accounts of what they have experienced there. As a minister of God’s word, I would warn such individuals not to go beyond the revealed word of God. (1 Corinthians 4:6) Instead of rushing into speculation, we should instead refocus our attention to the promises of God which are always yes and amen! (2 Corinthians 1:20) God has given us all things pertaining to godliness through the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3) and the word of God which is able to transform our minds by patterning it after God’s own righteousness. (Romans 12:2)
Jesus Christ is the prototype for our future glorification and much teaching has been made of his resurrection body which I will not endeavour to go into great detail here. (John 21:25) Suffice it to say, the Bible tells us that we will be made like him when he appears. (1 Corinthians 15:52) The promise of God is that when he returns, we will be made like him, that is, we will have a body that is perfectly suited for heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50) Then, in a kind of revelatory experience, we will be able to know the God Man even more intimately.
Verse 3
3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
Longing is in the heart of mankind. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) One of the traits of being created in the image of God is the ability to plan for the future. A redeemed, lovely, human creature thinks about their future glory and how wonderful it will be to not be ensnared by sin and its ill effects. How wonderful it will be for children of God to perfectly commune with the Father, even being made to share in the very glory of God! (Romans 8:17-19)
Such a thought is praiseworthy and excellent if there ever was such a thing as praiseworthy and excellent. (Philippians 4:8) The children’s bread is therefore to make faith manifest by trying to live a holy life, on this side of heaven.
The church (the bride of Christ) aught to purify herself in anticipation to being presented to Jesus Christ (the bridegroom) upon his return. Spiritual purity is often portrayed in the Bible as chastity and we are to keep ourselves chaste until we are united with the lover of our soul. (Song of Solomon 8:4) Jesus loves us with perfect love. (1 John 4:8) A wedding day is meant to culminate mutual love, desire, and affection for one another. Let us purify ourselves for our bridegroom is coming. (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)
Romans 5:6-11
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Ephesians 2:7
7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
Romans 10:10
10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Genesis 1:27
27 So
God created human beings[a] in
his own image.
In the image of God he
created them;
male and female he created
them.
John 1:12
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
Psalm
84:10
10 A
single day in your courts
is better than
a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the
house of my God
than live the good life
in the homes of the wicked.
Hebrews 2:11-12
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.[a] 12 For he said to God,
“I
will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I
will praise you among your assembled people.”[b]
Ephesians 4:18
18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.
1 Corinthians 2:15
15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
1 Corinthians 2:14
14 But people who aren’t spiritual[a] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
1 John 5:13
13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.
1 John 5:12
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
1 John 1:7
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews 9:15
15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.
Romans 10:13
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[a]
Isaiah 53:5
5 But
he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed
for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He
was whipped so we could be healed.
1 Corinthians 13:12
12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[a] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
1
Corinthians 4:6
6 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures,[b] you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another.
2 Corinthians 1:20
20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
Ephesians 1:3
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
Romans 12:2
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
John 21:25
25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.
1 Corinthians 15:52
52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
1 Corinthians 15:45-50
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Romans 8:17-19
17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Philippians 4:8
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Song of Solomon 8:4
4 Promise
me, O women of Jerusalem,
not to awaken
love until the time is right.[a]
1 John 4:8
8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
10 My
lover said to me,
“Rise up, my
darling!
Come away with me, my fair
one!
11 Look,
the winter is past,
and the rains are
over and gone.
12 The
flowers are springing up,
the season of
singing birds[a] has
come,
and the cooing of turtledoves
fills the air.
13 The
fig trees are forming young fruit,
and
the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.
Rise up, my
darling!
Come away with me, my fair
one!”
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