Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.Beloved, 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.Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.
10 sermons cite this verse
… the holy brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And God's people said, amen. Amen. Real quick. Almost done. Almost done. Very, very quickly. 1 John chapter 3, verse 2. Beloved, now we are the children of God and has not yet been revealed what we shall be like, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is for everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure. How beautiful is that? Philippians 3, 20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform our lowly body. This is the rapture event. That it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able to even to subdue all things to himself. John 14. Jesus speaking. Jesus introduced the doctrine of the rapture. Here it is. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. …
… Yes, we are. and what we will be is not, has not yet appeared. John was just so conscious of the disconnect between the claims made for our status and what we look like it has not yet appeared who we are but we know that when he appears we will be like him for we will see him as he is so how do you reset your mind with that You meditate on the fact, okay, my people in my church are hidden princes and princesses. I'm hidden. My wife is a fellow heir of the grace of life. I don't treat her that way. I've got to reset my mind with truth. maybe I'll end with these two phrases knowing that we've left a lot undone just because they're all glorious but this one is stunning so the hiddenness here in Romans 8 we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now not only the creation but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly. …
… You see, he understands the apostle John says something similar. He says, we are already the children of God, but it doesn't yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He is." Draw down implication then, he says, everyone who has this hope in himself purifies himself. It's like an intuitive, instinctive fruit of knowing what your final destiny is. It transforms everything. This is why what Paul had written at the beginning of Romans 5 was so astonishing to his contemporaries, that we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and because of that we are able to rejoice in our sufferings. And because we understand what God is doing through our sufferings, he says in Romans 5.11, we rejoice in God Himself. I mean, to the human mind it is incomprehensible. But when you live your life backwards, as it were, when you allow your final destiny, your life is hidden with Christ in God. …
… when we meet him in the air. And this is what John's, put up my verse, it does not yet appear what we, beloved, it has not yet been revealed what we should be when the rapture takes place. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So my last verse is 1 John chapter 3, verse 2 and 3. beloved now we are the children of God and it has not yet been revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him now notice the next verse and everyone who has this hope in him catch this purifies himself if you believe this message, you don't live a loose, lax, moral, wicked evil. You don't let your eyes, your ears, your heart be corrupted by a sinful, ungodly world. You don't go to places. You don't cheat on your wife. You don't live immoral. you purify. This is how you know you have the nature of Christ. Not that you never fall, not that you're never tempted and you fail, but there's a nature in you that says, I don't belong here. It's like a sheep can fall in a mud hole. And if it falls in the mud, it doesn't like it. …
… in the book of 1 John chapter 3, John says, this we know when he is revealed, we shall be like him for we will see him as he is. When he shows up and he reveals himself, when he comes, we're going to be transformed and be just like him for we're going to see him as he is. Then he says this, and everyone who has this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure. It's one of the most purifying ways to live. Jesus can come back at any moment. there's two different ways to view the coming of Christ. You can look at it, or you can look for it. And those are two entirely different ways of viewing the same event. Some people just look at it. They study the text. They're theologically and eschatologically sensitive to what is coming. They are a scriptural observer. of end time events. Oh, they love all the books and the seminars. nothing wrong with that. But not just looking at it, but the best way is to look for it. …
… 10 talks about how we're putting on the image of Christ, the new man, day in and day out. 2 Peter 1, verse 3 and 4 talks about how we are maturing into the image of God. 1 John 3, verse 2 says that one day we will be like him. We will be transformed into his presence. This is the whole agenda, the whole purpose of the Bible. Don't miss it. To show us the glory of Christ and to bring us, transform us into the image of Christ. Now, at this point, I want us to dive a little deeper into our contemporary context and why the Word must be central in worship. The Word's purpose is to show us Christ and to make us look more like Christ. We've got that on the table, right? Now, if that's the Word's purpose, then I want us to think about what is not the Word's purpose. I want you to follow along with me here because some of you might hear me say this and think that I'm heretical. …
I want you to believe it. Listen to 1 John 3 verse 2. This is what your eyes were really made for. This is why you have them. If a kid asks you, why do you have eyes? You could take them to 1 John 3 verse 2. 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. We shall see him as he is. You have eyes so that one day you would get to see God. That's why you have them. I don't even have good eyes. I think I'm legally blind without my glasses. but I have eyes, dysfunctional, blurry eyes, so that one day God could give my blurry eyes, 20-20 vision, and I could see him. Revelation 22, verse four, one of the very last promises in the Bible, they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. …
The world hated me and crucified me, and you're following someone who got crucified. Beloved, he says, now we are children of God. Now we are children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, when his coming comes, because it's coming, time is running out, every sand that drops down the hourglass of time brings us closer to it. But when he is revealed, when that last sand drops, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone, someone say everyone, who has this hope? Because Not everybody has this hope, but everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as capital H, he is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. …
… you're blessed One of my favorite scriptures, Pastor Pope, is now are we the sons of God. Now are we the daughters of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. The late Gardner C. Taylor says we get stuck on that it doth not yet appear. He says I'm becoming something but I'm already something. He said now are we. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. The sons and daughters of God. I know it doth not yet appear but right now I'm God. Let's go. before David was a king he was a shepherd and he had to do some work in his shepherd season that was going to prepare him for his king season but if you can't be faithful right now in your pasture you don't deserve palace privileges what are you doing right now with the blessings that are already on you Teach sharp, I'm trying. Say it again because it sounds so sweet. Tell somebody, be faithful in your pasture so you can qualify for your palace. …
… Beloved, behold what manner of love is this, that we should be called the children of God. And we know not yet what we shall be, but what do we know? We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And I talked about the relationship between looking at Christ and at God, and the prerequisite for that being purity. No man shall see God in this world. Why? Why? Because God is so pure He can't even look at our sin. But we are promised the beatific vision. We are promised the ultimate glory of looking at God face to face, seeing Him as He is. And isn't it interesting that that experience of the fulfillment of glory for us is linked to a moment of purification? And I'm not sure about the chicken and the egg here. whether our glorification is accomplished by God so that then we are able to look into His face, and that seems to be the pattern that we find there, or is it somehow that when we see Him, the very purity of the sight of Him will be that final dose of sanctification, just being there basking in the glory of Christ and of God will do the final cleansing of our souls. …