1 John 3:1-3

A. John here proclaims the love of God in our adoption and the effects of that adoption. B. John sets forth the manner of God’s love. 1. 2. 3. 4. C. We are 1. 2. 3. 4. God did not simply offer His love to us; He rather bestowed it upon us! bestow upon: To confer as a gift, present, give (a person). This bestowed love constitutes us the sons of God. If God loves you, you will be called a son of God. the sons of God by adoption. EPH 1:5. adoption: The action of voluntarily taking into any relation; esp. of taking into sonship. Our relationship to God as His sons was predestinated. This relationship is brought about by Jesus Christ. This relationship is according to the good pleasure of God’s will. a. Hence, it is a voluntary act of God: it is of God’s free will! b. JOH 1:12-13 ties our sonship to the will of God. c. The receiving of Christ is the effect of having been given the power to become the 1 John 3:1-3 sons of God. Therefore, God’s love for us is linked to His predestination. 5. D. The redemptive work of Jesus Christ was to the end that we might receive the adoption of sons. GAL 4:4-5. 1. The redemptive work of Christ is the manifestation of God’s love toward us. 1JO 4:9. 2. This is the manner of love that makes us God’s sons. E. An effect of being the sons of God is that the world knows us not. 1. Being sons of God, we have the nature of Christ. 2. Therefore, since the world did not know Christ, they do not know us. JOH 1:10; 17:14. F. We are NOW the sons of God though it does not yet appear what we shall be. G. The full benefits of our sonship are reserved unto that time when Christ shall appear. 1. appear: To come forth into view, as from a place or state of concealment, or from a distance; to become visible. 2. This will not be a secret rapture, but an appearing which will be visible by definition. MAT 24:26-27, 30-31. 3. This is the second appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. HEB 9:28. 4. Christ appeared the first time to put away our sin that God laid upon Him. ISA 53:6; HEB 9:26; 1JO 3:5. a. Having put our sin away, He will appear the second time without it. HEB 9:28. b. Those who with hope look for His appearing have this promise. H. When Christ shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. COL 3:4. 1. This is the hope of glory that we have because the love of God has been bestowed upon us. ROM 5:2, 5; 2TH 2:16-17. 2. The blessed hope is His glorious appearing. TIT 2:13. I. When Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him. 1. This is something that we KNOW. 2. At the appearing of Christ, our vile bodies shall be changed and fashioned like unto His gloriousbody. PHIL3:21. a. Our bodies will be raised in incorruption, glory, and power. 1CO 15:42-43. b. They will be spiritual bodies. 1CO 15:44. c. Like the glorified body of Christ, they will shine as the sun. REV 1:16; MAT 13:43. d. Like Christ’s glorified body, our bodies will be given perpetual youth. 1 John 3:1-3 8-11-19 Page 1 of 2 PSA 110:3; 103:4-5. e. Christ’s resurrected body was not subject to the confinements of our natural bodies. LUK 24:31; JOH 20:19; ACT 1:9-10. f. They shall be bodies without sin. 3. We shall then be fully conformed to the image of God’s Son which is the end to which we were predestinated. ROM 8:29. 4. This is the moment of our glorification which completes the chain of events set in motion by God’s predestination. ROM 8:30. 5. The glorification of our bodies at Christ’s appearing is the manifestation of the sons of God. ROM 8:19-23. a. This is the manifestation of what we are now. b. It is the ultimate effect of being sons of God. J. At the appearing of Christ, we shall be satisfied. PSA 17:15. K. There is a connection between being like Christ and seeing Him as He is. 1. David said he would behold His face in righteousness; that is, in His likeness. PSA 17:15. 2. Job connected the resurrection of his body with seeing God. JOB 19:25-27. 3. The glorified saints who occupy the new earth shall see God’s face. REV 22:3-4. 4. We must be like Him to thus see Him. MAT 5:8. L. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself. 1. This is the hope of our calling as God’s sons. EPH 1:18. 2. The hope is IN us as a result of the new birth. 1PE 1:3. 3. Those who truly yearn to be like Christ at His appearing will strive to be like Him now. PHIL 3:8-14. 4. He has no right to claim this hope who does not strive to purify Himself after the pattern of Christ. 1 John 3:1-3 8-11-19 Page 2 of 2