Objective: To exegete 1 John 3:2-3 emphasizing the point that our Savior’s sure and imminent return should motivate the believer to live holy just like our Savior Jesus is holy….
1Jn 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knows us not, because it knew Him not.
1Jn 3:2 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.
Last time we left off in the text where John says:
…we shall be like Him…
This statement has more to do with physical likeness, not spiritual likeness. If you know Jesus Christ as Savior you are already spiritually like the Lord—we call this sanctification. You have been sanctified or set apart to be spiritually like Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
The word sanctification also refers to the present work the Spirit of God is doing in the life of the believer. You are more spiritually like the Lord each day through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 2:11 says, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
But one day we will be ultimately sanctified as we are transformed into the physical likeness of the Lord. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
The word “change/transform” means, “to change the outward expression by assuming one put on from the outside.” In other words, this is not a change from the inside out but a change from the outside in.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” In 2 Timothy 1:10 the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel…”
We shall be like Him! John Gill comments on this saying, “we shall be like him…in body, fashioned like to his glorious body, in immortality and incorruption, in power, in glory, and spirituality, in a freedom from all imperfections, sorrows, afflictions, and death; and in soul, which likeness will lie in perfect knowledge of divine things, and in complete holiness…”
Have you ever had that feeling after a hard day of work where you couldn’t wait to get home so you could throw off your work clothes and get into something more comfortable? Well, one day God will strip off the believer the mortal and put on the immortality; He will strip off the corruptible and put on the incorruptible.
* Obesity will be no more!
* Hypertension will be no more!
* Diabetes will be a thing of the past!
* Heart disease will be history!
* Cerebral Palsy and MS will be done away with!
* Gout, arthritis, osteoporosis and hardening of the arteries will be annihilated.
* Alzheimer won’t be remembered!
John writes, “When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
When some think of Jesus, the picture that naturally comes to their mind is an image of a man with long hair on a painting or an actor playing the role of Jesus in a movie. But the book of the Revelation describes our Savior very differently.
As you listen to what I’m about to read, please notice that when we try to describe to someone something that is very large we say something like, “It was as big as an elephant.”
John could hardly find the words to describe Jesus in all His glory so he has to associate what he saw with what he was familiar with. Keep this in mind as you hear his description of Jesus:
Rev 1:13 …in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
Rev 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
Rev 1:16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
Rev 1:18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
When John saw Jesus in His glorified state he “fell at his feet as dead.” This ought to give us some idea of what he was feeling being in the presence of the glorified God the Son.
What a day that will be when Jesus calls out to His church from the clouds. We will see Him just as He is. Right now, it’s as Peter says in 1 Peter 1:8, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
Think about it…if you and I can have an “inexpressible and glorious joy” when we haven’t seen Him, just imagine for a moment the joy Christians will experience when we see Him “face to face”.
John tells us at the end of 1 John 3:2 that we will see Jesus “as He is”. John is saying that we will see Him in His glorified state as God the Son.
Now this presents a problem if you are familiar with the conversation that God has with Moses in Exodus 33.
Exo 33:18 Then Moses said, "I pray that you will let me see you in all of your glory."
Exo 33:19 The LORD answered: All right. I am the LORD, and I show mercy and kindness to anyone I choose. I will let you see my glory and hear my holy name,
Exo 33:20 but I won't let you see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die.
Earlier in Exodus chapter twenty we find God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and the children of Israel. Listen to verses 18 and 19:
Exo 20:18 During all this time, the people in the valley heard the thundering and saw the lightning on the mountain. They saw smoke rising from the mountain and heard the sound of the trumpet. They were afraid and shook with fear. They stood away from the mountain and watched.
Exo 20:19 Then the people said to Moses, "If you want to speak to us, then we will listen. But please don't let God speak to us. If this happens, we will die."
In the Old Testament times people who feared the Lord believed that if they just heard His voice (let alone were in His presence) they would die. Couple that thought with what the Book of Hebrews says: our God “is a consuming fire.” (12:29)
This is why we must be changed…inside and outside. And it will be during the Rapture that God will retrofit the Christian’s body, enabling believers to survive in the midst of His holy presence. This is the reason we shall be like Him; for only in that state can we see Him just “as He is.”
Are you looking for Him? Do you want to see Him? Are you one of little “born ones”?
Do you desire to meet the Lord Jesus Christ face to face? A song writer put it this way, “Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face…”
Lastly, in verse three of our text, John writes:
(1 John 3:3 NKJV) And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
What hope is he referring to? This hope we have “in Him.”
* This hope…this expectation of His return to get us;
* This hope…this anticipation of seeing Him;
* This hope…the suspense of being like Him…
But I think it also has to do with everything the Christian believes and cherishes about the Lord Jesus:
* He is Savior. He is Redeemer.
* He is God the Son.
* He is the One who went to the Cross to pay for our sins. He is our Substitute.
* He is the One who loved us while we were yet sinners.
* He is the One who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
* He is the One who “first loved us.”
* He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end!
He is the Desire of all Nations, the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Door; He is Faithful and True, the Unspeakable Gift; He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace.
Our hope is in God the Son who is “all that!”
The Bible has a lot to say about this hope.
In the Old Testament it tells us that this “hope”:
1. Is related to a confidence in the Lord that strengthens your heart and gives you courage (Psalm 31:24)
2. Attracts God’s attentions and draws His eye to those who have it (Psalm 33:18)
3. Acts as a magnet for God’s mercy (Psalm 33:22)
4. Lifts one’s countenance from the pit of despair (Psalm 43:5)
5. Keeps one from fainting (Psalm 119:81)
6. When used in conjunction with the Word of God assures the person that God is their hiding place and shield (Psalm 119:114)
In the New Testament it tells us that this “hope”:
1. Anchors us during difficult times (Hebrews 6:17-20)
2. Makes us not ashamed (Romans 5:5)
3. Gives us joy (Romans 12:12, 15:13)
4. Motivates us in our service to the Lord (1 Corinthians 9:10)
5. Keeps us focused on Christ for our justification (Galatians 5:5)
6. Gives us the courage to honor Christ in our bodies even if we live or die (Philippians 1:20)
7. Motivates pastors never to give up (Colossians 1:5)
8. Encourages the sheep never to give up (Colossians 1:23)
9. Inspires us to focus on the glorious life to come where Christ reigns (Col. 1:27)
10. Gives us the strength to patiently bear up under reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, for the sake of Christ (1 Thess 1:3).
11. Comforts us when we lose a loved one (1 Thess. 4:13)
12. Protects us when battling the world and Satan (1 Thess. 5:8)
13. Encourages us to reach the lost with the Gospel (Titus 1:2)
14. Proves that we are a member of the “household of Christ” (Hebrews 3:6)
15. The “reason for this hope” (i.e., the love, grace, and mercy of God, through Christ, and his person, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and redemption) shines forth from the believer, sometimes catching the attention of some who might have questions about it (1 Peter 3:15).
And back in our text, 1 John 3:3, John tells us that “every one that has this hope set on him keeps himself pure as Jesus is pure.”
If you have this hope, John writes that it should have a purifying effect on you because Jesus, your Savior and King…the One that you claim to follow, is pure.
You should want to keep yourself pure because you know that in order to see Him when He comes you must be like Him. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” This hope should motivate the believer to keep himself pure because His Savior and King, Jesus Christ, is pure.
The word "purify" comes from the Greek word hagnizo, hag-nid'-zo which means to make clean, i.e. (fig.) sanctify (self).
When I was a boy and got home from school, my mother would have a list of things that needed to be done by the time she got home from work. One of the major items on the list was having our room clean. Oftentimes we wouldn't know when she was arriving because she often worked overtime or would stop at the market on the way home. So we made sure we cleaned our room not risking our mother pulling up in the driveway and finding our room dirty.
Is your "room clean"? Is your hope in the imminent return of Christ motivating you to keep yourself pure?
In the last chapter of the last book in the Bible Jesus says three times that He is "coming quickly." In the third occurrence of this promise - Rev 22:20, Jesus says, "Surely, I am coming quickly." Verse 20 also gives the believer's reaction to this promise as, "Do come quickly, Lord Jesus!"
Now if 2000 years ago our Lord said that He was coming soon, this present "soon" is closer than the "soon" that He described 2000 years ago.
How do we “Clean House”?
1. Make sure you have a “hope.”
a. No hope - Some people have no hope. They harbor feelings of hopelessness.
b. Misdirected hope - Many people have hope but it is focused in the wrong direction or on the wrong thing or person (job income, people, retirement). This kind of hope is entitlement-driven and materialistic.
c. Inaccurate hope - Some people misuse the word hope thinking it is “positive or wishful thinking”. This is why gambling is so popular today even though you have better odds getting hit by lightning in a given year (1 in 700,000) then to win a lottery jackpot (1 in 175 million).
d. Misplaced hope - Even some who profess Jesus as their Savior have a misplaced hope because they follow what is called the “prosperity gospel” which teaches that all believers are guaranteed healing and material prosperity in this life.
You clean house by making sure you have a hope…and it’s the right kind of hope and it’s a hope focused in the right direction on the right Person.
This leads us to our second point when it comes to How to Clean House?
2. Make sure your hope is biblical.
There is a marked difference between a worldly hope and a biblical hope.
* Worldly hope – An uncertain expectation or desire for something that we value in this earthly existence.
* Biblical hope – A sure expectation of what God has promised to those who believe and are His children
A biblical hope is the believer’s hope and it, as we have already seen in 1 John 3:3 is the hope of being like Jesus.
In John 14 Jesus tells His disciples, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am.”
The Christian lives for the return of Jesus. The return of Jesus is based on His promise to do so, but it is also based on the promises of God to His people found in the Scriptures.
* It is based on His love for us that doesn’t diminish or grow. God can’t love us anymore than He already does.
* It is based on His calling us His “sons”—legally and intimately (as we saw last time in 1 John 3:1).
It rests in our union with Jesus (John 17:21, 23; Romans 6:5).
It rests in the integrity of God, who cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
Make sure your hope is biblical
Make sure your hope is functional
a. It’s a hope that is not a “say so” hope
b. It’s a hope that is not a static or passive hope
c. It’s a hope that is active—the believer “purifies himself”
I. From open sinning – Hanging out with the wrong crowd, in the wrong places, at the wrong time
II. From secret sinning – An impure mind/heart; gossiping; pornography; literature; media—imaginations
III. From besetting sins – Habitual, plaguing, annoying sins of the temper, lack of self-control, unequally yoked relationships, unclean language, lack of integrity, unfaithfulness to your promises
IV. From social sins – Conflicts with family members, coworkers, church members, neighbors.
4. Make sure your hope is growing
a. It’s a hope that seeks to know God more through His Word
b. It’s a hope that pursues humility
c. It’s a hope that is open to the daily presence of God in your life
d. It’s a hope that is accommodating of Christian accountability
e. It’s a hope that listens for rebukes and takes them to heart
f. It’s a hope that practices self-examination (Psalm 139)
g. It’s a hope that recognizes sin, the world, the flesh and the devil as the enemies of the Christian and fights vehemently against them.
h. It’s a hope that passionately strives to live pure
Once you know you have a hope, one that is biblical, functional and growing, then you can use this hope to keep yourself pure as Jesus is pure.
Now all the theologians might know that the process of sanctification is something that God does in the believer’s life.
* Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
* Paul prays in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely…”
* Hebrews 10:10 says, “… we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
In Romans 8:29, Paul says that God has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son.
These Scriptures are telling us that sanctification is a done deal and clearly, God does it. Yet at the same time, John says that we must purify ourselves.
Paul says (2 Cor. 7:1), “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” He commands Timothy to keep himself pure from sin (1 Tim. 5:22).
James 4:8 commands, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” 1 Peter 1:22 says that believers have purified their souls.
So, there is a definite sense in which we must be active in the process of purifying ourselves from sin. How do we do this? First of all, let me share with you how we don’t do it.
In the Old Testament we are introduced to a man named Lot. You might also know his wife who had somewhat of a “salty personality.” Let me take you back to Lot’s days before Sodom, when he was with his uncle Abraham.
We first met Lot when he left Ur of the Chaldeans and moved to the city of Haran with Abraham. Although he was always subservient to Abraham, it seems very likely that Lot made a genuine response of faith to God on his own. Then, when Abraham came into the land of Canaan, Lot went with him. When Abraham went down to Egypt, Lot went down with him, and they came back wealthy men.
In Genesis chapter 13 we find Lot and Abraham leaving Egypt and returning to the land of Canaan. Upon their arrival, a quarrel ensued between Lot's herdsmen and Abraham's herdsmen over the pasture rights. Though Abraham had the right of first choice as the elder, he gave up his right to Lot. That choice was the beginning of Lot's downfall.
The Bible tells us that Lot looked out (vs. 10) and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well-watered like the "garden of the LORD" and "the land of Egypt". Those two little phrases indicate the nature of Lot's choice. He had just come from Egypt, the place of materialism and commercialism -- easy money…extravagant lifestyle -- and this place reminded him of it. In addition to this, it looked like "garden of the LORD."
Now the phrase "garden of the LORD" should take you back to the time in the book of Genesis where Adam and God walked together in the Garden of Eden. Lot looked at the city of Sodom and the plain and he thought this was the place where he could have both fellowship with God and easy money.
He thought he could make an easy living, advance himself, have all the cultural benefits the city provided and still have fellowship with God. And he wanted it all. So we read at the end of Genesis 13:11, he "chose for himself," i.e., nothing was important about this selection but his own desire. On that basis, he arranged his priorities – both “to obtain wealth” and “to have fellowship with God.”
In doing so, Lot disregarded the principle that we find all through Scripture...the principal that is taught by our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount when He says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," (Matt 6:33a). Jesus says that if we do that, “all these other material things (that Lot coveted) will be added.”
Lot did exactly the opposite, placing materialism first. He coveted the good life; he sought after the pleasures of this world while at the same time making a place in his life for the Lord. Trying to love two sure ain’t easy to do.
Chapter 13 goes on to tell us that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. He was not in the city yet, but he was near it. He was still in his tent; he was a foreigner in the land. But he pitched it just outside the city of Sodom in order to take advantage of all the cultural benefits of the city.
By the time we get to Chapter 14, we read that Lot was living in Sodom. And then, in Chapter 19, we find that he is the mayor of the town. And you know the rest of the story. The city is corrupt. Sexual sin abounded. God judges it by raining fire and brimstone but not before He drags Lot from the city. Lot’s wife dies because she disobeys the command of the angel not to look back. Later, Lot and his daughters are in the cave of a mountain. They get their father drunk and both, the older and on the next night, the younger lay with their father and are with child by their father (vs. 30-38).
You don’t keep yourself pure by doing what Lot did and pitching your tent toward Sodom.
Some Christians do like Lot…try to get as close to the line without going over it. It’s like the Christian brother who thought that he could get away with driving through the Red Light District without actually going into one of the brothels. It wasn’t long before he had to change his name to “John.”
You don’t “purify yourself” by skating close to the line; you purify yourself by doing what Paul he writes in 2 Corinthians 6:17: “Come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.”
Why would you go somewhere where you would be tempted? Why are you going to watch something that will tap into your weakness? Why are you going to hang around that boy or girl that does not share your values concerning sexual purity?
Lot went right to the place where he over time would not change them but they would change him. He went to the place where he thought he could benefit from what the culture had to offer him and at the same time have warm fellowship with God. He found out the hard way that “trying to love two sure ain’t easy to do” and his family was destroyed.
Old Testament Illustrations:
Joseph (not Lot)
We don’t want to be like those John writes of earlier in 1 John 2:28 – “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink back from him in shame at his coming.”
