FIRST JOHN

The Return of Christ

1 John 3:1-6

INTRODUCTION

Starting in 1 John 2:18, John has been focusing on the second coming of Christ. He claimed that the end was near because antichrists had emerged. He goes on then to describe the major characteristic of the antichrists--they deny the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. So often this is where we stop when we study the second coming of Christ: we focus only on the antichrist and the 7 years of tribulation in which he brings great havoc upon the world.

Yet there is so much more to the second coming than just the study of this sinister figure and whom he persecutes at the end of human history. The second coming has important ramifications not only for our future AFTER Christ returns but also for our present BEFORE Christ returns.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD (3:1-2)

According to John God loves us so much that He has called us what (3:1)?

Now it would be easy to claim that in reality we are NOT truly sons and daughters of God but that we are just "called" sons and daughters of God. What though IS true about us (3:2)?

How can we who are mere mortals ever hope to be sons and daughters of God? Both John and Paul address this in other passages. According to John, what happens to the person who believes in Jesus (Gospel of John 3:3, 5)?

According to Paul what happens to a person which makes him God's son (Rom. 8:15, 16)?

Now the world (the world of mankind apart from God and His Son) does not recognize us as sons and daughters of God. John says that this should not surprise us. Why shouldn't we be surprised when the world does not recognize us as His sons and daughters (3:1)?

At the present time we don't "appear" to be sons and daughters of God. What is going to happen when Christ returns which will show everyone that we are indeed children of God (3:2)?

Why will we be able to see Jesus when He returns (3:2)?

This is part of the great hope of Christ's return. According to Paul what will Christ do to us when He does return (Phil. 3:21)?

Jesus gives us a faint description of what we will be like when He changes us. How does He describe the way we will appear in the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:43)?

In The Weight of Glory C. S. Lewis describes this as luminosity. You see these old Walt Disney animated films in which a fairy godmother or divine being shows up and light emanates from their bodies. Their clothes shimmer as they walk. This gives us a faint idea of what awaits God's sons and daughters upon the return of Christ.

The wonderful thing is that Christ will not only transform believers but also somebody/something else? Who or what waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God, that is, who or what is waiting until Christ changes us so that everybody will truly know that we are sons and daughters of God (Rom. 8:19)?

Why is it waiting eagerly for our revelation, for our transformation (8:21)?

We can easily understand why WE are going to be transformed when Christ returns. He became a man just like you and me; so therefore, He will naturally change all mankind. HOWEVER, Jesus didn't simply become a Man. He became a part of creation itself. As a result, creation too will be swept up in the great transformation Christ is bringing. It will become a suitable dwelling place not only for the transformed sons and daughters of God; it will also become an appropriate dwelling place for God the Father Himself (Rev. 21-22).

HOW THIS SHOULD AFFECT US TODAY (3:2-6)

All this talk about the future, what does it have to do with me today? Plenty. In fact we would be wise, very wise to let it have something to do with us today. Do you believe that one day you will live in a place where only righteousness abounds? Then I would advise that you attempt to live a righteous life right now. Do you believe that heaven is going to be a place of peace and racial integration? Then I would suggest you promote peace and racial integration. Do you believe that heaven will be a place of radical love? Then I would urge you and me to live lives of radical love here on earth. How about radical purity? Then maybe we need to screen what comes into our minds right now.

According to John everyone who has fixed his hope upon the return of Christ does what (1 John 3:3)?

The question becomes: "Why do we want to go to heaven if we are not living the life of heaven right now?" Many of us reduce heaven to being just a better location: streets of gold, eternal day. It's far more than that. It is the place where the life of God is lived to the fullest. It's the place where God dwells. If you don't like God in your life right now, what makes you think you're going to like it after you die? If you don't love radical purity and love now, what makes you think you are going to love it when you get to heaven? Changing from a sorry location to a splendid location doesn't change anything. You would think that living in the Swiss Alps would make you the happiest person in the world. Zurich which is located in the heart of the Alps has been flooded with drug abusers, some of the most miserable people on God's planet.

Why did Christ appear (3:5)?

What is true about the person who abides in Christ, lives in a positive relationship with Christ (3:6)?

What is true about the person who persists or continues in sin [(this is the force of the present tense of the word "sins") 3:6]?

If you are not practicing these things in your life right now, what makes you think you will enjoy them when you go to heaven. Regardless of what some think, heaven is not simply a change of location. If you are miserable here, what makes you think living in the Swiss Alps will make you happy? It is incredible but also sad to note that there is a huge number of drug addicts who live in cities surrounded by the Swiss Alps. In the last book of The Chronicles of Narnia Lewis tells the story of the dwarves who enter into Narnia. They complained while they lived on earth, and nothing has changed them when they went to the new Narnia (heaven). The result was that when they got to the new Narnia (heaven), they are as miserable there as they were on earth.