"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3.2).

If in this present time we are already possessing the high honour of Divine sonship; if we are already sons of God, then what can be the superlative honour that awaits us beyond the Vail? Some such question as that seems to be in John's mind. Now are we the sons of God ‑ then ‑ imagination refuses to picture that which is to be ours then. That is truly so. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit" (1 Cor.2.9). There is a spiritual understanding which assures us of the reality of those things that are within the Vail, and a witness of the Spirit assuring us that we shall indeed inherit those things if we abide faithful. Even so we do not and cannot visualise in our minds the nature and appearance of those who are its citizens. The spiritual understanding of future things is ours, but not the ability to picture them or see them as we shall see them when we have experienced our "change". "It doth not yet appear" what we shall be, but we do know that the life beyond is one of superlative happiness and glory. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col.3. 4).

There is a "present inheritance" of the New Creation as well as a future inheritance. The rewards of consecration are not all deferred until death, just as the obligations of consecration affect this present life no less than the future one. The old theological idea that the whole aim and purpose of this life is to get through it as quickly and easily as possible in order to inherit the life to come at the earliest practicable moment has no support in Scripture. God has work for all His servants to do before they depart this life, and a great many purposes to be worked out in and through and by those who are devoted to Him. Therefore the Apostle exhorts "Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Rom.12.2). There is a work of transformation to be carried out within us as we pursue the consecrated life, a work that is going to show fruitage, visible fruitage, and produce works, real works, even in this day, and in so doing will both reveal and accomplish God's purpose. And that work of transformation is only possible because we have become, in John's own words here, sons of God. The great Husbandman is able to accomplish His work only because the subjects of His skill have become plants in His garden, ready to be planted and watered and pruned and trained as His Wisdom shall direct. It is only possible because those who are being led to glory have already become citizens of that country toward which they journey and have already turned away in their hearts from the world in which they were first born. The power of the Kingdom of God has already invaded the world of men. There are isolated outposts of the new Kingdom in the heart of the enemy's country. Therefore, those who have been "translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son" can look upon themselves as defending one or another of those isolated outposts and as being "in the Kingdom" even though surrounded by all the visible trappings and powers of the kingdoms of this world.

That is why Jesus said that except a man be born again, or born from above, he could not see the Kingdom of God. Entrance into that Kingdom is not secured by a simple passage through the gates of death, out of this life and into the next. True, there must be that "change" in order that this mortal may put on immortality (1 Cor.15), but unless the would-be entrant has already, while yet he lives in this world, experienced the new birth, he will never join the saints in light. We do not become sons of God at death; we are sons of God now. We have been from the time of our consecration of life to God, from the time that we were buried with Christ by baptism into His death, and rose to walk with Him in newness of life. Our being "born again" is not at the time of our entrance into the celestial realm, when our "earthly house of this tabernacle" has been dissolved (2 Cor.5.1), but at the time we become dead to earthly things and alive to heavenly things. It may be true ‑ and it is true ‑ that we "know not what we shall be", but it is also and undeniably true that we are now, at this present time, sons of God, and that high honour no man can take from us.

Having thus firmly established ourselves in our present inheritance, the privileged standing of the sons of God now, today, we can with confidence and joyful hope look forward to the greater glories yet to be revealed. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be" says John "but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (3.2). This word translated "appear" ‑ ' phaineroo' ‑ means the making manifest or evident or visible something that has hitherto been obscure or unknown or hidden. John reminds us here of the promises that connect our glorification and entry into the Father's presence with the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Without that Coming there can be no "presentation before the presence of the Father with exceeding joy". Jesus told His disciples "If I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also". There can be no whittling down or minimising the importance of those words. Many Christians today doubt or deny that Christ will come again. Has the Christian hope any value unless it incorporates a firm and steadfast belief in His Second Coming? Without that Second Coming the Plan of God ceases to have any significance and the prospect for the future of humanity is bleak and hopeless. He comes to save the world, and without His coming there will never be any salvation. John stirs up the minds of his readers and brings fresh inspiration to us as once again we are reminded of the indissoluble bond that links the fruition of our own personal hopes for the future with the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven.

This is one of the most definite and clearly spoken promises of the future state of the Church that the New Testament contains. It defines the 'shape of things to come' in terms as comprehensible as can be attained when talking about the spiritual world. We can understand in what way we are sons of God now, in the flesh; we know that the glory that lies beyond the Vail is greater by far than the glory that we have now; but we cannot visualise it. The only man who ever glimpsed the lineaments of scenes in the sphere that lies beyond human sense was Paul, and he found it impossible to express in man-made language what he had seen and heard. John strongly emphasises just how infinitely to be preferred is that condition of life beyond the Vail to this which we now know and appreciate, glorious though this "life in Christ" may be to us at this time. So he says we shall be like Him; we shall see Him as He is. Nothing more; but then surely nothing more is needed. "I shall be satisfied" sang the Psalmist "when I awake, with thy likeness" (Psa. 17. 15). That is the goal and hope of every true follower of the Lord Jesus. To be made like Him, to know Him as He knows us, to live in the sunshine of His presence forever. The words of old take on a new ring when we think like this. "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore". We know that our exaltation to that place of privilege is going to mean incessant and continuous work for God in the conversion and reconciliation of His erring children upon earth. It is true that we shall rest, but from labours which involve weariness and fatigue and suffering. Our works will continue, works that will still involve sowing, and watering, and tending, and pruning, before the desired harvest can be reaped. As we look now toward the bright prospect, we are thinking, as was John, of the moment of union, of the gathering together of all the saints into one great General Assembly, the Church of the First Born, whose names are written in heaven. Like Paul, we realise that although now we are seeing as through a glass, darkly, it will then be face to face. Though we know only in part, then we shall know even as we are known (1 Cor.13.12). That knowledge and hope gives us strength and confidence.

John's phrase fixes two most important matters together in time. The point to which he looks is "His appearing" and it is then that we shall be "like Him" ‑ beyond the Vail. This appearing is the revelation of Christ, with His Church, to the world. It is the grand pivotal point around which all the aspects and phases of the Second Advent are arranged. We have our differences of thought on the earlier phases of our Lord's Coming, as to whether he has already come and is invisibly present, or has not yet come and will shortly be revealed in some way not as yet understood. Such differences are inevitable so long as Christ's disciples exercise their God-given right of private judgment; but there is no room for difference of thought on this central theme of our common expectation. There is to be a day, yet future ‑ obviously still future ‑ when the Church complete, gathered from death and from life, not one missing, shall "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13. 43). They will be manifested to all mankind in association with the Lord Jesus, manifest in similar fashion, as the world's deliverers. The Lord and His Church will be manifested together. That is the commencement of the Millennial reign, the fulfilment of the vision seen by John on Patmos when he "saw thrones, and they (that) sat on them . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Rev. 20.4). When John tells us that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, he is talking about that event and that day. So our great hope is centred upon the point of time at which our Master Jesus is revealed to the world. Whatever our own agreements and disagreements, we must, if we would not be found wanting at the last, keep our eyes and hopes fixed together upon that one supreme moment. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2. 13).

"And every man that hath this hope in him" John concludes "purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (v.3). Sacred, clean, chaste, undefiled ‑ the word means all these things. The sincere reception of such a hope must surely inspire its possessor with an earnest desire to fulfil all the Master's commandments in order that the realisation of the hope may be made sure. Says the writer to the Hebrews "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12.1). Our hope is the great inspiration that enables us to count all things but loss and dross if so be that we win Christ and be found in Him. Recognising that fact, Peter declares that it is even by these promises and the consequent hope to which they give rise that we become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet.1.4). "Exceeding great and precious promises" Peter calls them. How exceeding great and precious they must be if they can be made to lead to so glorious a destiny. And there is no doubt about it. "If ye do these things ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ".

Well, there are the promises. It is for us to believe them, and take hold of them, and claim them for ourselves, and make use of them, and allow them to work out their beneficent effect in our hearts and lives. Our Father has done all that He can do; the remainder rests with us. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself. So shall we be His disciples!

AOH