Message from Scripture: 1/21/2021

Our message from Scripture today is 1 John 3:2-3. “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

No one enjoys having to deal with the problems sin brings to life. Such is not a new experience to life, but one that began when sin was introduced in the Garden of Eden. It is a false hope to think a world filled with sin will resolve itself into one filled with hope, peace and love. Such qualities are virtues that proceed from God, and only a relationship with Him through Christ can help us know the “peace that passes understanding” (Phil. 4:7).

A relationship with God effects the world as it effects people’s lives to seek His righteousness, rather than sin. Sin only brings confusion and every evil thing (Jas. 3:16). Expectations in the world of what we may hope for or desire may evaporate, but hope and trust in God last a lifetime and beyond. This is our hope, our confidence, our source of joy and endurance.

In our Scripture today, John reminds us if we want to have a real hope for eternity, it must be accompanied by purification of sin. Earlier John would say, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:5-6). To say we have a real relationship with Jesus, we must seek to live for Him, to be like Him, now. With a Christlike life, our hope is real; without it, it’s just an illusion. Where is your hope today? Who do you hope in? We can know by looking at how we live compared to God’s word, by seeing if the life of Christ is alive in us. This is where real hope lives. God bless.

Robert