1 John 3:1-3

1 John 3:1-3

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: in order that we should be called the sons of God – and we are.  Because of this the world does not know us: that it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God and what we will be is not yet being revealed.  We have known that when it should be revealed we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope upon Him purifies himself, just as that one is pure.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

One of the most direct teachings that comes out of this section of verses is that we are the sons of God.  It’s not that we will be.  We are the sons of God now.  John makes this point twice in these three verses, once in the middle of verse 1 and once at the beginning of verse 2.  We are the sons of God now.  We do not need to wait to be called the sons of God.  Through Christ we can know what it is to be the son of God and we can know that promise in our current reality.  We have been grafted into His family now.

Do you know that you are the son (or daughter) of God?  How do you know?  How does this impact your life currently?

Second Thought:

John then talks about our relationship to the world.  The world does not know us.  Don’t get me wrong.  The world can see us, can interact with us, and can try to understand us who follow God.  But they do not know us.  They cannot know us truly because in order to know us they must know God as it is God’s Spirit that lives in us.  All of this being said, it should not surprise us, either.  The world did not know Jesus when He came.  Jesus was largely rejected.  He was largely ignored.  He was considered misguided.  Sure, a few people listed to Him but the majority of people shouted for His crucifixion.  If Jesus was treated that way by the world, we who have His Spirit within us should expect that the world won’t understand and know us, either.

How does it feel to know that the world will not know you if you follow God?  Is this reality worth it?  What makes it difficult to live in the world but not be known by it?

Third Thought:

John also gives us a great hope for the future.  We are the sons and daughters of God.  That is our current reality.  But when Christ returns, we shall be like Him!  We will cast off this sinful nature for good.  This leads us naturally into verse 3, which says that those who have this hope purify themselves.  John isn’t saying that we make ourselves clean and he especially isn’t saying that we save ourselves.  What John is saying is that we who have the hope of God are actively living in God’s ways.  We are looking to obey.  We are looking for ways to follow.  We are looking to submit to God and listen to His calling.  We purify ourselves in the present because we anticipate the time in the future when our nature will be like that of Christ.

How do you purify yourself?  How do you obey God?  How do you follow God humbly?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 3:4-6