See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
"When he appears we will be like him." Jesus Christ will return in full glory. He will raise the dead to life. He will transform them, and they will appear like him. But what does it mean to be like God?
God commanded people to be Holy like the Lord your God is Holy. Jesus Christ is Holy and St John tells us that as Children of God we will be made like him. Well in fact Jesus says that we have become like him. Jesus Christ has made you holy as he is holy. St Paul tells us to cloth ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ.
St John here has reminded us that God the Father has loved us and given us Jesus to die for the forgiveness of our sins. Through Jesus the only Son of God we have been made children of God. Thus, God's children will be like God's Son. You are Holy as the Lord your God is Holy, not because of your deeds or actions, but because of Jesus Christ your Lord. He has purified you.
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