“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called CHILDREN OF GOD…Beloved, 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, WE SHALL BE 1LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this 2HOPE IN HIM 3PURIFIES HIMSELF, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3) 1homoios: the same as. 2tiqvah: joyful, confident expectation of eternal salvation. 3hagnizō: to make clean, to sanctify.
The true hope of Christ’s coming is a PURIFYING HOPE. We are expected to purify ourselves (become sanctified) by “…being set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, where we have our fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22)
Possibly one of the greatest weaknesses we have is realizing WHAT WE ARE and WHO WE ARE. The more I study the Bible, the more I become impressed by the fact that every plea for our conduct, good living and behavior is always made in terms of our life in Christ. Godly conduct rests on our understanding of our true position as children of God.
“Set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For we died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.
WHEN CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE APPEARS, THEN WE ALSO WILL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY…(Colossians 3:2-4)
-Bill Stockham