1 John 3: We Shall Be Like Him

Today’s reading is 1 John 3.

Like father, like son. So they say. And John carries his statement about being children of God to the next level. As children of God, we are becoming like our Father. As another saying goes, we become what we worship. John says “what we will be” has not appeared or been revealed. That is, what we will be like as our maturing in and walking with Christ comes to its completion has not been made known to us or to John. It has not appeared to us, not been revealed to us, not been made manifest to us. However, we do know this. We will be like Him. Praise God!

Don’t miss this. John doesn’t emphasize WHERE we will be in the end, but WHO we will be in the end. In other words, the goal of our discipleship is not to get to heaven, but to be like God. I want to be like God in any way I can. Don’t you?

Though a couple of other options exist grammatically and contextually, when 1 John 3:2 says, “when he appears,” we naturally conclude John is saying, “When Jesus appears, we’ll be like Him.” That is, we’ll be like Jesus. Fine. But who is Jesus? He is the Son of the Father. He is the Son of God. He is God the Son. Sure, we can get bogged down in discussions of trinity, but the point is we’ll be like God. After all, if we’ve known the Son, we’ve known the Father (John 14:7). If we’ve seen the Son, we’ve seen the Father (John 14:9). The reason we know we’ll be like Him (whether Father or Son or both) is because we’ll see Him as He is. Right now, we walk by faith, not by sight. We can’t see God. We can’t see the spiritual realm at all. But a time is coming when our eyes will be transformed, along with our bodies into heavenly bodies which will see the heavenly realities (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-49). We will see the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers in the heavenly places. We will see the angels. And, most importantly, we will see God. We will see Father, Son, Spirit.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God in its fullness. But we are looking forward to something better than flesh and blood. We are looking forward to imperishable, immortal, spiritual bodies with which we will gaze upon the full glory of God. We are looking forward to being like God.

I, for one, can’t wait.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is 1 John 3.

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John 21: His Testimony is True

Today’s reading is John 21.

John already gave us one concluding statement.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:30-31 (ESV)

But then he provided an epilogue. And what an epilogue it has been. How could John have known we would need Peter’s story? And oh, how we need it–not because we desperately need to know Peter was restored, but because we desperately need to know Jesus restores even the Peters.

However this leads John to another concluding statement. And do you notice what he does not say? He doesn’t say, “The Word of the Lord came to me, saying…” He doesn’t say, “As God revealed to me, I have written to you…” He doesn’t say, “By secret revelation, the Lord has made known to me these things…” He says:

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

John 21:24 (ESV)

John doesn’t say we should believe these things because they are inspired by God. He doesn’t say we should believe these things because he received special revelation from God. He offers them to us to believe because he saw them. He experienced them. This is his testimony to us.

That is how we should begin with these gospel accounts. These are testimonies. They are testimonies of eye-witnesses (John and Matthew), they are reports from one who recorded eye-witness testimony (historically, the ancient Christians declared Mark reported Peter’s version of the gospel), they are researched historical accounts (Luke). None of the gospel writers tell us we should believe them because they are simply giving us the words of God and we have to. They are giving testimony. Testimony to be reasonably considered.

You’ve now read John’s testimony. What do you think? Is it to be believed? Is it insane? Is it malevolent? The apostles believed it so much, they (except Judas) suffered for it tremendously. They did not gain amazing followings, become rich, have numerous wives, develop fame and popularity. Even John, our author, ultimately was exiled to the island of Patmos for maintaining his faith in this story.

I can’t make you believe it. John can’t make you believe it. But understand what is going on here. It is a story that has impacted the world, at least the western world, more than any other. You can’t simply dismiss it. If it didn’t happen the way these witnesses said, you need to come up with an explanation of what did happen that actually makes sense and is believable. I’ve yet to hear one.

As we close our look at John’s record of Jesus, the New Moses, the New David, the True Prophet, the Messiah, the Word of God, the Lamb of God, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God, God Incarnate, I’d like to leave with you one of the most astounding statements I’ve ever read by a historian in the modern day. To my knowledge this historian did not believe in Jesus. But when he read the gospels, though he didn’t bow before them (as you will see in the first paragraph), he was forced to make an incredible admission. I’ll leave it with you to consider as you consider the testimony of John and his friends and fellow workers.

In summary, it is clear that there are many contradictions between one gospel and another, many dubious statements of history, many suspicious resemblances to the legends told of pagan gods, many incidents apparently designed to prove the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, many passages possibly aiming to establish a historical basis for some later doctrine or ritual of the Church. The evangelists shared with Cicero, Sallust, and Tacitus the conception of history as a vehicle for moral ideas. And presumably the conversations and speeches reported in the Gospels were subject to the frailties of illiterate memories, and the errors or emendations of copyists.

All this granted, much remains. The contradictions are of minutiae, not substance; in essentials the synoptic gospels agree remarkably well, and form a consistent portrait of Christ. In the enthusiasm of its discoveries the Higher Criticism has applied to the New Testament tests of authenticity so severe that by them a hundred ancient worthies–e.g. Hammurabi, David, Socrates–would fade into legend. Despite prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, they record many incidents that mere inventors would have concealed–the competition of the apostles for high places in the Kingdom, their flight after Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, the failure of Christ to work miracles in Galilee, the references of some auditors to his possible insanity, his early uncertainty as to his mission, his confessions of ignorance as to the future, his moments of bitterness, his despairing cry on the cross; no one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them. That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels. After two centuries of Higher Criticism the outlines of the life, character, and teaching of Christ remain reasonably clear, and constitute the most fascinating feature in the history of Western man.

Will Durant, “Caesar and Christ,” Simon and Schuster, New York, 1972, p. 557

If we can help you submit to Jesus and Messiah, Christ, Lord, King, let us know in the comments.

Next week’s reading is 1 John 1.

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John 20: I Am Sending You

Today’s reading is John 20.

I admit, I’m glad for Matthew 28:18-20. The clear expression of what we call The Great Commission is helpful. I further admit, John’s inclusion of The Great Commission is not quite as clear, but it is there. Tucked into Jesus’s first appearance to the apostles, Jesus says:

Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.

John 20:21 (ESV).

The Father sent Jesus into the world, according to the prayer in John 17:3-4, to glorify the Father by accomplishing the Father’s work. Jesus prayed at that time, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18, ESV). Jesus tacitly explains why He sent them in John 17:20-21: “I do not ask for these (the apostles) only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe you have sent me” (ESV).

What a great commission! Jesus led the apostles to His Father. He declared the name of the Father, the Word of the Father, the glory of the Father to these men. And now, having died and been resurrected, He was sending these men into the world to accomplish the same thing He came into the world to accomplish. They were to take the Word of God to all the World and make believers out of them. They were to accomplish the work of God and bring the inhabitants of the world into unity under the kingship of Jesus Christ. But wait! Did you catch who that prayer includes? How have we believed on Jesus? Is it not through the words of the apostles? What then are we supposed to be? United under the kingship of Jesus Christ.

Sadly, as time has gone on, men have gotten our hands on the word of God and the kingdom of Christ and twisted it every which way. Instead of being one in Christ as the Father and the Son are one, the supposedly “Christian” landscape is speckled and spotted with division of every kind. Creed books, church councils, and denominational division is so rampant and expected, people hardly even question it. Let us question it. Let us challenge it. Let us get back to the purpose for which Jesus sent out His apostles, to bring unity. It won’t be easy. It never has been. But let us not tacitly accept the division. Let us fight against it and call for unity–not a fake unity that declares unity in division. Rather, let us gather around God’s word and submit to it and it alone.

Are you willing to abandon the division of denominationalism and just be a disciple? Just be a Christian? If we can invite you and help you, let us know in the comments below.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 20.

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John 13: The Heel Lifted Against Him

Today’s reading is John 13.

As Jesus explains the meaning behind His servile display of foot washing, He drops a revelation bomb: “I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me'” (John 13:17-18, ESV). He goes on with more clarity, “One of you will betray me” (John 13:21, ESV). But you already know the story, don’t you? You knew this was coming. It’s not really a mic drop moment for us, is it?

Except, have you ever thought about why Jesus used Psalm 41:9 in this moment? What had Jesus just done to the heel about to be lifted against Him? He washed it.

Jesus knew what was in Judas’s heart. Jesus knew what Judas would do with that heel. Yet, grimy and unclean as it was in more than one way, Jesus got down on His hands and knees and washed that heel.

Oh, how I wish Judas had remembered Jesus washing that heel when he came to his senses and realized he had betrayed innocent blood. But he didn’t. And that’s the heart of Jesus’s point to Peter which we discussed yesterday. Once Judas realized he had betrayed innocent blood, he could remember the lesson of his washed heel. He could recall the humble service of his Master, Teacher, and Lord. He could realize Jesus would cleanse him. He had washed Judas’s heel even though He knew it was going to kick Him in the face. But Judas didn’t learn the lesson. He didn’t recall Jesus’s humility, service, and love. Rather than humbly accepting the Lord’s sacrifice and service, rather than allowing the Lord’s death to stand in place of his own, he killed himself.

I don’t know what you’ve done. I don’t know how you have kicked Jesus with your heels. But I know Jesus washes the heels lifted against Him. Don’t punish yourself. Turn to Jesus for washing and salvation.

If we can help you, let us know by commenting below.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 13.

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John 12: Not to Judge, but to Save

Today’s reading is John 12.

Jesus is the light of the world. But we must understand, Jesus turned on the light not to uncover the evil of men so they could be condemned. He turned on the light so people could see the pathway of righteousness and get on it. How silly it is for us to walk in the shadows where we will get lost because we cannot see the path and stumble because we cannot see the obstacles in front of us. Instead, let us come to the light, walking on the path illuminated by Jesus’s own footsteps.

With that in mind, we grasp Jesus’s teaching about salvation and judgment. Jesus didn’t come into the world to bring judgment. He didn’t come into the world to cause us to lose our way or stumble over obstacles. He could have. He could have come to wage war on every sinner on the face of the earth. But that was not why He came. He came to save the world. He came to show the way. He came to offer the sacrifice. He came to defeat the real enemy who wants to have us condemned.

Of course, He explains, if we do not walk in His light and listen to His direction, we will be judged. Judgment is coming. Jesus warns us judgment is coming. When Jesus warns of the coming judgment, He does not do so because He delights in the coming judgment, but because He wants us to know what is at stake. He wants to save us from that coming judgment. And if we are judged, it will not be because Jesus wanted to judge us. That wasn’t His goal. It will be because we refused the salvation He offered.

Here we are drowning in our sin and Jesus tosses the life preserver. He warns us, “Grab hold and hang on. Don’t let go or you’ll drown.” And we get mad that He is judging us for not hanging on to the life line instead of grabbing hold and praising Him for making and showing the way.

At the same time, let us understand our own place in this. Sadly, it seems to me too many of us take delight in expressing the coming judgment on some. We too often and too easily want others to see our superiority. Instead, we should be like Jesus. Our goal is not to condemn. Our goal is to save. Certainly, those who refuse will be condemned, and they will be without excuse because they did hear the truth about the consequences. However, this outcome saddens us because we don’t want sinners condemned, not even the ones who sinned against us, we want them saved because Jesus wants them saved. Rather than proclaiming their condemnation, let us make sure we are showing the way to salvation.

How badly does Jesus want salvation instead of condemnation for the whole world? He wants it so badly, He went to the cross to make atonement. Will you accept His sacrifice? Will you take hold of the salvation He offers? Or will you push back and walk headlong into judgment and condemnation? The choice is yours.

If we can help you choose salvation, let us know in the comments.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 12.

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John 9: Who Opens Eyes?

Today’s reading is John 9.

The Jews were upset about another healing miracle on the Sabbath. Clearly, though Jesus had given them lawful authority for doing so, they hadn’t accepted His arguments. They kept asking the blind man how it happened. He told them the same story every time. Finally, he said this, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” The Pharisees had no argument against that, so they made an ad hominem attack: “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” Instead of considering the weight of his argument, they dismissed him so they could dismiss his argument.

But let’s think about that argument for a moment. What is John, the author, drawing to our attention by letting us hear this statement from the healed man? Jesus did something even Moses never did. He did something no other prophet did. Jesus didn’t just perform signs like Moses and the prophets, He went a step beyond.

However, now that we’ve considered the Law and the Prophets and looked for someone who opened the eyes of the blind, we start to notice something. We never see anyone do what Jesus did. But we do read statements about who could do what Jesus did.

Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Exodus 4:11 (ESV)

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.

Psalm 146:8

Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

Isaiah 42:5-8 (ESV)

The LORD is the one who gives sight to the blind. Additionally, the LORD will give His glory to no other. Do we really expect God to take this sign so clearly marked as His and His alone and give it to a false prophet?

Who is Jesus? He is the Prophet. He is the Messiah. More than that, He is the LORD.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is John 9.

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John 9: Jesus Did the Work

Today’s reading is John 9.

Yesterday, we claimed the man had to do something to get healed. He had to do what Jesus said. He had to go wash. Then we pointed out that was the same with salvation. We have to do what Jesus says and be washed in baptism if we want our sins removed and our souls made whole. But someone will say, “Wait a minute! Your making salvation about my work. And I know we can’t work for salvation.”

Perhaps. But let’s look a bit closer out this account. Do you recall in this account what got the Pharisees so upset about this healing? It happened on the Sabbath. What do we know about the Sabbath law? No working on the Sabbath.

I ask you to read the chapter again. Look carefully. Who is accused of working on the Sabbath? The healed man who washed in the pool of Siloam? Nope. Jesus. In other words, even though the healed man did something, everyone knew who did the healing work: Jesus. Jesus did the work. The healed man didn’t work. Yes, he acted. Yes, he did something. Sure, by some definitions we can even apply the word “work” to what he did. But no one in this story thought the healed man did the work. They all knew who worked. Jesus did.

Read Colossians 2:11-12 and ask this question as you do. When we are baptized, who does the healing, saving work?

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead (ESV).

Did you catch it? When someone is baptized in water for the remission of their sins, who does the saving work? The person being baptized? Of course not. God does the saving work. In fact, just look at the form of baptism. The person being baptized isn’t even doing anything when he or she is baptized. Somebody is doing something to them. The very act of baptism demonstrates not the person working, but being worked on. Of course, the true work is not the person who dunks them under the water, but God who raised them out of that water healed, whole, saved, sinless.

Praise God! He has made me whole!

Has He made you whole? Have you been baptized? Have you been raised to walk in the newness of life by the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead? Can we help you with that? If so, let us know in the comments.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 9.

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John 9: He Went and Washed and Came Back Healed

Today’s reading is John 9.

Almost all miracle accounts are salvation stories. That is, almost all accounts of Jesus miraculously making someone biologically whole provide insight to how Jesus makes someone spiritually whole. The account of the blind man in John 9 certainly does.

Notice quite simply Jesus commanded the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did what Jesus said. He was made whole. He wasn’t made whole merely because he believed Jesus could heal him. He wasn’t made whole the moment he turned and left for the pool of Siloam. Had the man left, got distracted, never made it to the pool of Siloam, it wouldn’t matter what the man believed would have happened at the pool, he wouldn’t have been healed. When was the man healed? When he did what Jesus said.

In Acts 2, Peter preached the complete kingdom gospel for the first time. When the people asked how they could respond to this message, Peter declared by inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38, ESV). When are we made spiritually whole? When we do what Jesus said (through Peter). When we repent and are baptized by the authority of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins.

Have you done what Jesus said? If not, let me say to you what Ananias said to Saul who became the apostle Paul, “Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16, ESV).

Can we help you with that? Let us know in the comments.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 9.

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John 9: That the Works of God May be Seen

Today’s reading is John 9.

How old was the blind man in this account? I don’t know. How long had he been blind? His whole life, certainly. But I don’t know the number of years. However many there were, everyone of them had been spent blind.

I can hardly imagine the struggles the man had been through. Not to mention, we can see in this story everyone around him looked at him side-eyed, thinking he must have somehow committed tremendous sins if he was born blind. Who knows how that affected the way people treated him.

I wonder how often he prayed God give him his sight. I wonder how many times he got upset at some suffering and wondered why God had done this to him. I wonder if he was like Job when he heard people asking about his possible sin: “But I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Then Jesus says, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Suddenly, all that suffering is different. This man had been specially set apart to be evidence of the magnificent glory of God. His suffering had purpose. No, that didn’t make the suffering any easier. But it gave His suffering meaning.

What have you suffered? What are you suffering right now? How often have you prayed about it? How often have you wondered why God is letting you/making you go through it? When will it stop? I cannot remotely suggest you just need to wait for your miracle. No miracle may come. Many people have spent their entire lives blind. However, may I point out your suffering can have just as much meaning as the blind man’s? Not because a miracle is on its way, but because you can display the works of God as surely as Jesus’s miracle with the blind man did.

Do you recall from John 6:29 what is the main work of God which all of us can do? “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (ESV). You can display the works of God in your suffering. Hang on to Jesus. Put your faith in Him. Believe in Him and live like Him no matter what you suffer. Don’t abandon God because you are suffering. Don’t listen to the devil’s whispers that God doesn’t love you and doesn’t have a reward waiting for you. Believe that God is faithful to His promises. You may be wandering in a wilderness of suffering now, but the Promised Land is coming. Then the world will see your hope is different. Then the world will see the glory of God in you.

I don’t know what you’re suffering. But if you want your suffering to mean anything, hang on to Jesus. Let your suffering display the works of God. Let your suffering display true faith in God.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 9.

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John 5: An Exception that Proves the Ruler

Today’s reading is John 5.

I believe I am on record as saying, “Every healing miracle in the New Testament is a picture of salvation grace…well, maybe I should say almost every miracle.” Stories like this one of the invalid in John 5 keep me from being able to make the completely blanket statement.

Most of the healing stories demonstrate faith and faith-filled responses to Jesus or the apostles. Most of them parallel people responding to Jesus’s offer of salvation. But this one doesn’t. The invalid doesn’t have faith in Jesus. He doesn’t even know who Jesus is. He didn’t even respond to Jesus’s question about wanting to be healed. He simply made excuses. The invalid is not committed to Jesus. He turns Jesus in after he finds out who Jesus is.

But this exception proves the rule, or perhaps I should say it proves the Ruler. That is, while generally Jesus responds to faith, devotion, submission, in this story Jesus demonstrates His complete control of healing. He has authority over sickness and disease. He has authority over this man’s lameness. Jesus gets to heal whomever He wants. He has the power to heal whomever He wants. He can heal however He wants. Why? Because Jesus is King.

I can’t really comment on this guy’s eternal destiny. When we read about the blind man healed in John 9, I’m pretty convinced he is healed medically and spiritually. I’m not convinced about this guy. This guy is a foil for the blind man in John 9 not a parallel to him. He really does seem to be an exception. But notice this. He’s an exception because the Ruler made and stated an exception. That’s what a Ruler gets to do. He establishes the rules and He allows the exceptions. The man is surrounded by “a multitude of invalids.” But Jesus only told this man he could take up his bed and walk. Nobody else, seeing this man walking, was able to just get up and walk without a faith-filled response to Jesus.

So, perhaps we do see some parallel to salvation in this miracle. Jesus gets to save whomever He wants. He has the power to save whomever He wants. He can save however He wants. Allow me to be perfectly clear regarding the point I’m making. Jesus can save anyone He wants without the waters of baptism. It may be that one of those exceptional circumstances people bring up really works. It may be the person who dies in a car crash on the way to the baptistry will still be welcomed into Christ and saved in eternity. It may be the guy in the desert who comes to faith in Jesus but can’t find water in which to be baptized before he dehydrates is welcomed into Christ and saved in eternity. It may be the prisoner on death row who wants to be baptized but isn’t allowed is still welcomed into Christ and saved in eternity. Maybe. Jesus can do what He wants in each situation and will do what is right in every situation. However, even if Jesus makes an exception in each of these situations, Jesus is still making exceptions. Exceptions may prove rules, but exceptions don’t become rules.

Here’s the point. If Jesus, as He did with the thief on the cross, tells you you are saved and are going to be in paradise with Him without being baptized in water for the remission of your sins, then revel in the exception He has made for you. After all, this man was able to take up his bed and walk even though he didn’t even know Jesus’s name because it was Jesus who told him to. He can rejoice in his ability to walk even if he is not giving his allegiance to Jesus. But unless Jesus Himself is the one telling you He has saved you without being baptized, I highly advise you to act based on the general rule Jesus and His apostles gave: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, ESV).

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Tomorrow’s reading is John 5.

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Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

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How does John 5 admonish you?