How to
Get Ready for His Return
1 John
3:1-3:3
We have all been stunned by
the pictures we have seen of the devastation in
The events this week
reminded me of a story I read about another earthquake a few years ago. In
1989, a terrible earthquake in
The consistent theme of
the NT is that Jesus is returning for God’s children. He said in Jn.14:3,
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Until then,
like Armon, we are to watch, wait and tell others about our Father.
Armon didn’t know when his
dad would come, he simply had complete confidence that he would come. We don’t
know when Jesus will come, so we must be ready. In the Olivet Discourse in
Mat.24-25, Jesus taught this in The Parable of the Talents. He said in
25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in
which the Son of Man is coming."
We already saw last week
that John told us it is the last hour (1 John 2:18) and he reminded us in 2:28
to “abide in Him, that when He appears,
we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” Jesus
will appear. He is coming again. 1 John 3:2 uses the phrase, “when He is revealed,“ or as the KJV
says, “when he shall appear.” These
verses are written to challenge us to be ready for the return of Christ by
reminding us of what we are, what we will be, and what we should be.
I. What
We Are: Children of God. (3:1)
John wrote in the last
verse of chapter 2, "If you know that He is righteous, you know that
everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1 John 2:29). A
child shares in his parent’s nature. If we have been born again by the
righteous God, we will characteristically practice "righteousness."
A genuine believer is marked by what he does, not just what he knows.
John uses this expression
“born” of God several times 1 John:
I am sure John is remembering that statement that
Jesus made to Nicodemus. John recorded it in his gospel, John 3:3, Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born again, he cannot see the
The word “Behold,” means, “To see and know.” The word is like a flashing neon sign calling us
to pay special attention. J. Dwight Pentecost says this word is like a flashing
light on a highway designed to get our attention. It calls for us to stop, to
ponder, to consider the truth of what is being said.
It is a word that is
telling us not to rush or casually pass by what is being said. Sam Gordon
describes the word as saying, “Take a long lingering look until it really
registers, until it clicks.”
And What does he want us
to see?
A. We
are God’s Children because of His Love (v.1a).
This does not just tell us
that God loves us, but how He loves
us. It is a statement of astonishment and surprise. "What manner "
comes from a term that originally meant "of what country".
One language expert says
that a literal translation of this phrase would be, “Behold, what a foreign-kind of
love…” Someone else rendered it
this way: “Behold, what peculiar out-of-this-world kind of love the Father has
bestowed on us…”
God’s love is so great that
John knows it is unearthly. There is no
love like God’s love in this world! God’s love is strange. What makes it strange?
The fact that it makes you and me the children of God.
The Father’s love is so
out-of-this-world because through His love He took rebellious sinners like you
and me and gave us a new birth as His very own children and adopted us into His
family.
When I was in High School
I saw the musical "Annie" on Broadway. I loved it! “The sun’ll come
out, tomorrow!” I remember that all the children in the orphanage hope that
someday, someone will want to take them home and make them their children. But
never in Annie’s wildest dreams did she think someone loving and rich and wonderful
like Daddy Warbucks would choose her to come live with him! Why would anyone
want someone so plain and ordinary like herself? For Annie it was a
"pinch-me-and-tell-me-it’s-real" experience.
So it is with being a
child of God - but in a much, much more dramatic way because it is real. God
loves us that much. The great hymn writer, Charles Wesley wrote:
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
And George Beverly Shea
who sang for years at every Billy Graham crusade loved to sing these words,
There's
the wonder of sunset at evening,
The
wonder as sunrise I see;
But
the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is
the wonder that God loves me.
Refrain
O,
the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just
to think that God loves me.
O,
the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves
me.
The wonder of it all! God
has not merely shown us His love but He has "bestowed" or as
the NIV says He “lavished” it upon
us, more than we can imagine.
We are "called the
children of God." That’s who we are! V.2 says, "Now we are the
children of God." God doesn’t call all men His children, only those
who come to Him through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Gal.3:26 says, "For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."
B. Because
we are God’s Children we don’t belong to the World (v.1b).
I remember when I was
first born-again. I was so excited! I wanted to tell everyone. I remember that
as I began to share my new-found enthusiasm for Jesus with my family and
friends, many of them said, "So what?" They didn’t understand. John
says, "the world does not know us because it did not know Him."
Those in the world can’t
understand what has happened to us. They don’t know us anymore, because God has
changed us. This should not surprise us. John says, they didn’t know Jesus either.
Now think about it. Was Jesus
unclear about who He was? No, His actions and His words proved this. He was
rejected because He looked like God. And those who rejected God rejected Him
also. John tells us that if we "abide"
in Jesus (2:28) and "walk just as He walked" (2:6), the people
of the world will not "know" or understand us either.
Why won’t they understand?
1 Cor.1:18 says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
If you always get along
fine with unbelievers and your lifestyle doesn’t bother them, it may be because
you look more like their father than your Heavenly Father! If people tell you
that you are a religious nut, tell them that’s okay it’s a family tradition! Someone
said, "We’re all nuts, but the difference is, we Christians are screwed onto the
right bolt."
II. What
We Shall Be: Like Jesus. (3:2).
A. God
has not revealed all that We Shall Be.
John says, "Beloved,
NOW we are children of God." "Now" is emphatic. In
the Greek NT it is at the beginning of the sentence, "Now we are the
children of God." We are already God’s children. We don’t wait until
heaven to become his kids. We are fully in the family of God today.
Bill Gaither wrote about
this in a song:
From the door of an
orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a
new song I sing;
From rags unto riches,
from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here,
but PRAISE GOD! I belong!
I'm so glad I'm a part of
the Family of God,
I've been washed in the
fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as
we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the
family,
The Family of God
But John tells us God is
not through with us yet, there’s more in store for us, "It has not yet
been revealed what we shall be." We don’t know the precise nature of
what our future life will be like. We do not know because we could not
comprehend it.
B. Our
Hope is that We will be like Him.
John tells us that “when He is revealed,” two things will
happen at once. We will see Jesus "as He is" and we will be
made "like Him." Jesus said Mt.5:8, "Blessed are the
pure in heart, For they shall see God." Jesus prayed in Jn.17:24,
"…that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved
Me before the foundation of the world." Paul said in 1 Cor.13:12,
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face…"
On that glorious day, our
hope will be reality. We will know the true meaning of being joint-heirs with
Jesus. Heb.2:10 will be fulfilled, "For it was fitting for Him, for
whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory."
Oh what a day when all our
sin, pain and sorrow are removed!
The old gospel song by Jim
Hill says,
What a day that will be
when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by
His grace;
When He takes me by the
hand
And leads me through the
Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Finally
John reminds us how to get ready for Jesus’ return. He reminds us:
III. What
We Should Be: Pure (3:3).
John says, "Everyone
who has this hope purifies himself just as He is pure [without
stain]." All of us who are the Children of God have this hope. Now this
kind of hope that the Bible speaks about is different from the way we often use
the word “hope.” Christians don’t use the word "hope" in a
"hope so" way. Biblical hope is a sure thing that we are waiting for.
It is a certainty to look forward to. It is the earnest expectation that we
will be like Jesus.
What is Jesus like? Back in
2:29 John tells us, “He is righteous.”
So what does that mean that we should be? You got it—righteous! So if that is
what we will be, how should we get ready for it? By purifying ourselves today.
The word “purifies” means “to make
clean” or to “sanctify.” It is closely related to the word “holy.” In Matt. 5:8
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they will see God.”
This hope of tomorrow
drives what we do today. Hope for tomorrow keeps you clean today. If you are
living for today, you don’t care about purity. Only those who are living for
eternity will care about purity. Hope for what God has for us in the future
gets us to living pure and righteous lives today.
Some say that Archie Moore
was the greatest light heavyweight boxing champion ever. He fought many of the
other greats like Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano. Once
Look at where you are in
your walk with Jesus. Are you knocked down by sin? Are you discouraged by the
way you’ve been treated by the world? Are you feeling like a loser because of
failures along the way? Stop right where you are! You don’t belong down there.
You’ve been born again into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And
as you are lying down on the mat with the world gloating over you, God stoops
down and whispers into your heart, “Hey,
you are mine! You’ve been championed by Jesus Christ. He has already won the
victory. So, get up, you don’t belong down there.”
Do you believe Jesus is
coming? Are you ready for His return? For those of us who are children of God
the challenge is clear: Look up! Get up! Get back in the fight!
But you may be here and
you know that you have not been born again. You are not a child a God. You
don’t have that assurance. Right now God is issuing you an invitation to come
back to Him. Accept the Father’s love for you. Trust in Jesus to save you.