We conclude this series with one of my most beloved passages of the New Testament:
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
– 1 John 3:1-3 NASB
As believers, notice all the things we can “know” from this passage.
• We know both the Father and His love for us
• We know the world does not know us
• We know the Lord will appear on that day
• We know we don’t know what we will be
• We know that whatever we will be, we will be like Him
And we know the hope to see Him on that day inspires us to purify ourselves today.
Here is the paradox: to see Him visibly on that day requires us to see Him invisibly today. That is the difference between the apostles of old and the “sent ones” today. They visibly saw Jesus ascend into heaven and then looked for his return by faith; thus, their sight then moved to faith. However, we, by faith, look for his return in order to witness Him by sight.
The contingency for our witness is purity,
“And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
– 1 John 3:3 NASB
To say it again, to see Him on that day necessitates our being like Him today—in purity.
It’s a purity that begins invisibly (and continually) at salvation by His work in our hearts, which, in turn, allows us to see Him visibly (and finally) through our obedience to His work.
The Hebrew writer nailed it down succinctly,
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
– Hebrews 12:14 KJV
But then, this understanding, the need to be holy as He is holy in order to see Him, is nothing new. Jesus laid that foundation in His extensive sermon on the side of a mount:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
– Matthew 5:8 NASB
