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. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
I heard the story of an old farmer who loaded his wife and son in the truck and went to the big city. Now this old farmer had never seen an elevator. When he went to the hotel to check in, he left his wife in the truck and he and his son walked into the lobby. Across from the registration desk, he caught his first glimpse of a modern elevator, although he did not know what it was. There were two beautiful shiny brass doors that he watched open. He saw an elderly gentleman get into the tiny room and the doors closed. He saw the lights above the elevator light up one after the other and then a few minutes later the doors opened again. Out stepped a young handsome man. This time an old elderly lady stepped in and the doors closed behind her. Again the lights above the elevator lit up one at a time and finally the doors opened again. This time, out stepped a beautiful young woman. At this the old farmer turned to his son and said, "Son, go get Mama."
There are times that all of would like a change for the better. All of us would like to use that elevator for ourselves at times. None of us have arrived at the place where we want to be. We are all still on the journey.
But while we are not what we want to ultimately be, we are not what we were either. We are on the way. We have made some progress. We are not what we were. And this should give us great hope. We are being transformed more and more each day as we follow Christ. This is the power of the Christian life. This is the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ working within our lives. Christianity is all about transformation. Christianity is all about change. If we are not changing then we are not living.
Thank God we are not what we were and thank God that we will ultimately be even more transformed before we finish the journey. I once saw a bumper sticker on a car which read, "PBPWMGIFWMY." Those letter stood for "Please Be Patient With Me — God Isn’t Finished With Me Yet." It’s true. We are still a work in progress. God has begun a great work in our lives, and He will continue to carry on that work until completion. And the Bible teaches that one day we will ultimately be forever transformed as we enter eternity. There is a sign placed beside us which reads, "God At Work." And one day God will bring His work to fulfillment in our lives as we see Him face to face.
This is the blessed hope for the Christian. We look toward that great day of Christ’s return. We look toward that event in history which will bring history to a close. It will inaugurate a new era – an era of God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom will come in its fullness and our lives will be forever transformed. As a matter of fact, there is an inscription in the Dome of our Capitol in Washington which says, "One far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." It’s referring to the coming of Christ. Undoubtedly, when the Dome of our Capitol was erected, some God fearing official ordered that inscription to be etched in the Dome of the seat of our government, believing that its truth was vital to the concern of our nation.
Our text today tells us about this blessed hope. It records for us the truth that there is a great day in which God’s purposes for our lives will be fulfilled. It will be a day of great transformation for us. Then we will step out of the elevator with a new spiritual body and a brand new existence will begin.
Before we talk about the ultimate change that will take place, let’s first remember that the change has already begun. We have been changed. Our text says, "Dear friends, now we are children of God." Whatever change we may look forward to, we must remember that there has already been a radical transforming change in our lives. We have been made children of God. We are children of God now.
This is very significant. It is significant because we were not always children of God. The Bible nowhere teaches that every human being is a child of God. In fact, it teaches quite the opposite. It teaches that we come into this world alienated from God. If we follow our natural inclination to sin, we reveal that we are, in fact, children of the Devil. You may think that this is a strong statement. You are right. But it is not my judgement; it is Christ’s judgement. Jesus, speaking to certain religious leaders of His day, told them that God was not their father. He said in John 8:44, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire." The Bible teaches that it is a mistake to assume that we are in the family of God because we have been born into the family of man.
In fact, the Bible teaches that we are children of darkness. But when we come to Christ all that changes. We become children of light. In Ephesians 5:8 we read, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light."
So we see that a great transformation has already taken place in our lives. Coming to Christ has altered the very core of our being. We have been made God’s children. And our text emphasizes the present reality of this fact. Great emphasis is placed on the word now. Our text says that "now we are children of God." We are God’s children now. We are forgiven now. We are born-again now. We have the very life of Jesus Christ now. Certainly a great change has taken place in our lives as a result of our coming to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
But, as I said before, we are still a work in progress. God is not finished with us yet. Indeed, salvation itself is a process. It begins in regeneration, continues in sanctification, and ultimately results in glorification. That is the process. When we are born-again, we experience regeneration. In other words, we are made alive by the Spirit of Christ. We become a new creation in Christ. We are born from above. And now we are in the process of sanctification. This means that we are being changed on a daily basis by the power of the Spirit of Christ working in us. This process never ends in this life. We are all constantly and continually being sanctified. In other words, we are becoming more and more like Christ. And of course our ultimate goal is glorification. This is what will happen when Christ returns. Our bodies will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and we will enter into the fullness of what God has for us.
Right now, however, the focus of our lives is on this process of sanctification. Sanctification simply means that we are being changed more into the image of Jesus Christ. This is His goal for every believer. It is clearly stated in Romans 8:29: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son." Becoming more and more like Christ is the goal of sanctification. This is the work the Spirit is performing in our lives each day. So we see that we have been changed and are continually being changed into the image of Jesus Christ.
While we must remember that we have been changed, there is a parallel truth that we will be changed. The process of salvation will be completed at His return. When Jesus comes again, the Bible teaches that we will be glorified with Him. We will receive a new spiritual body. And we will go to join the Lord and be with Him forever.
Our text today teaches us that there are certain things we can count on. One of those things is that Jesus will come again. Our text talks about the time when He appears. It doesn’t say if He appears, it says when He appears. It is certain. There is no doubt that Jesus is going to appear. He told us so. He said that He was going away to prepare a place for us and that He would come again and receive us to Himself.
Sometimes I try to think what God has in store for us when He returns. I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe that we will spend eternity in some sort of glorified retirement colony. We will not be sitting on clouds in glorified bathrobes playing harps for eternity. I do not believe that eternity will be boring at all. I believe God has quite a great adventure in store for us. It is interesting that the Bible never tells us exactly what eternity will be like. It gives us some clues. One of the clues that is the most interesting to me is when the Bible tells us that we will rule and reign with Christ. Think about it. How are we going to do that? Over what will we rule and over whom will we reign? I don’t know. But I do know that God can do anything He wants to. Perhaps He will create worlds for us to rule. Who knows what adventures await us in eternity. All I know is that our God is a creative God and that a great deal more awaits us than we can ever imagine.
Indeed, even our own exact state is uncertain at this point. Our text tells us that what we will be has not yet been made known. But while we do not know the exact particulars, we do know that it will be fantastic. Jesus is coming again and He is going to complete His total transformation of our lives.
Our text also says that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We have already discussed how the goal for every Christian is conformity to the image of Christ. What is in view here is the ultimate conformity that we will experience. The process has already begun. We are being changed. And one day that process of change will be completed. We shall be like Him.
But what does it mean when it says, "for we shall see Him as He is. It seems to suggest that when we behold our Lord in all of His glory that this process of change and transformation into the image of Christ will be complete. Remember, we are now being changed into that image. And that change comes even though we do not see our Lord in all of His glory. But even the glory we do behold is enough to change us into that image. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."
One day we will see the Lord in all of His glory. And those of us who have been changed to be like Him will enter into deep abiding fellowship with Him for eternity. We shall be forever united with Him in glory – ultimate glory. This is what we have to look forward to.
Now if this is our hope, then how should we live? Verse 3 gives us the answer. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. In other words, if we are trusting in Jesus and in the future hope of glory, then we will live lives of surrender to Him. We will live our lives in preparation for that great day to come. We will live in eager anticipation that Jesus will return. And when He returns we want to be found faithful.
How about you? Are you living a life of surrender to the Lord? If He would return today, would you be ready?
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