Tara-Leigh Cobble

He says, "'What we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him.'"

There's a new body coming for all of God's kids.

And when Jesus shows back up on the scene, we will be transformed.

We will be like him and our bodies will be like his resurrection body in some sense.

When he returns to earth to reign here, we won't be disembodied spirits like the people who are currently in heaven.

When it's all made new again, heaven and earth, we'll live there in our new bodies.

We won't be floating on a cloud somewhere in the spirit realm.

We'll talk more about this in Revelation.

Because all of this awaits us, God's kids aim to walk in purity now.

Because it's not just about getting a pass to live with him in eternity.

It's actually about living with him now, abiding with him now, walking in righteousness now.

That's what God's kids do.

Whereas Satan's kids are the ones who condone sin.

Knowing God isn't about grabbing what you can get.

Love is a major marker of God's kids.

It's another way we demonstrate Jesus and his kingdom to the world around us.

We share, we sacrifice, we show up when people need us.

John knows that some of his readers will likely feel scared by what he's saying.

Maybe they can think of a time when they've chosen sin over purity, when they've walked in darkness or condoned sin, when they haven't walked in love.

He reassures them in 3, 19-20 when he says, "...by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him.