Condemned - April 28th, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

“Please don't call me judgmental. I am merely an ambassador. On behalf of God I call people to holiness and righteousness. As I said in one of my letters to the church in Corinth, "We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'” (2 Corinthians 5:20). As His ambassador I call people to submit to God's standard of holiness in all areas of their life. I do not judge. That right belongs to God alone. I speak what He has already declared. But, I do take my responsibility as His ambassador seriously. The Church dare not remain silent on matters of holiness and righteousness. God has not given us that option.”

Okay, I didn’t write a letter to the Corinthian Church, but Paul did. But I can almost hear the Apostle Paul speaking those words as he traveled throughout the empire calling people to submit to God. You need to know that Jesus didn’t merely said “God loves you”. And neither did Paul simply walk from city to city telling people that God loved them. He said it plain and simply that we humans are a wicked bunch. And by our conduct we confirm that we have turned our back to God. And because of this, we, anyone, everyone stands condemned before God. But the question that is often asked is “who is condemned”. Of course the answer is everyone, unless, of course, they have fallen to their knees, confessed they are a sinner, and repented of their sin. Then they become a believer. But, if a believer recommits one of these sins, are they re-condemned for their actions? Where does grace enter into the picture? What of God’s love? Does it not extend to those who sin? Tough questions which, I believe can be answered by a single word found in today’s text: Practice.

¹ Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:1-4 NASB).

As I stated last week, the list that Paul gives in Romans 1:18-31 is given so an individual might read this, be convicted of their sinfulness, and turn to God. For example, reading over this list, a person learns that envy is an attitude opposed to the very nature of God. Hopefully, that person will become convicted by this revelation, realize they are indeed a sinner, confess their sinfulness to Jesus, repent of their sin, and find Salvation. Conviction leads to confession which leads to repentance which grants Salvation in the name of Jesus. This is why Paul begins with sin. Without realizing they are sinners, a person will not know they need a Savior.

One of the problems in Paul’s time and our time today is that we have a tendency to categorize these sins. Our culture today is even trying to remove certain sins from this list, giving an individual an excuse for the way they live. But Paul warns us that we are without excuse. As I stated last week, these sins are the symptoms of a heart that has rejected God. So if the Deceitful person condemns the Murderer, they are, in effect, condemning themselves because Deceitfulness is one of the symptoms seen in a heart that has exchanged the glory of God for the corruption of humanity. No one can say “I have no need for a Savior because I’ve never murdered anyone”. And the excuse that “I’ve been a good person” doesn’t work either. That’s because the “Good Person” may not have committed murder, but sure might be quite greedy or selfish. Paul says that when someone condemns the sinful behavior in others, they are condemning themselves; not because they practice the same sin, but because they practice any sin.

The hope is that a person reads this list and realizes that they have no excuse. As they examine their own life they will see the sin within themselves. And realizing this, they are convicted, which leads to repentance, which leads to Salvation. But the person who reads this list excluding themselves by categorizing certain sins, they will remain un-convicted by their seemingly “less offensive” sins and continue to practice these sins. And by continuing to practice these sins, this person indicates that their heart is still turned against God. And if they are still living a worldly life un-convicted of sin there can be no salvation; for salvation begins with a heart that is first convicted. And so, the person who hears that they are a sinner yet refuses to admit they are a sinner remains a sinner. They are still condemned.

But what of the believer who sometimes commits one of these sins. Will they find themselves re-condemned? The answer is found in one simple word that Paul uses frequently in this section; Practice. To practice these sins is to feel no guilt or remorse even though they have learned the truth. However, the Believer who sometimes stumbles and falls back in their old sins does not practice these things. The Believer sins and is convicted. The Christian who commits one of these sins hopefully feels convicted by that sin and turns to Jesus for forgiveness.

The point here is that the Christian who sins needs forgiveness, not Salvation. They don’t need to come to Jesus for Salvation all over again. Jesus has already dealt with this. But the one who continues to practice these sins is the one who needs Salvation. The difference here is that the Believer sins and is convicted while the non-believer sins, is un-convicted, and continues to practice these things.

Actually the true Believer is in total agreement with Paul. When they see one of these worldly traits within themselves they admit that it is wrong. But the person who is only deceiving themselves will not admit this. They fight tooth and nail to keep from being convicted at all. That person, who refuses to be convicted, cannot truly be saved; for Salvation comes when we are first convicted by sin.

Salvation comes by what? By Faith. But faith in what? Faith that the death of Jesus has paid the penalty for our . . . our what? Our sins. But what sin? The sin that we have exchanged the righteousness of God for the corruption of humanity as seen by this list of sins mentioned by Paul. I cannot stress this enough. Salvation comes when a person first admits they need a Savior, not simply by repeating some prayer. And unless a person admits they are a sinner, they are not going to admit they need a Savior.

What about Grace, some have asked. Where does grace enter into all of this? What we need to keep in mind is that the Word of God speaks of Truth and Grace, not Grace or Truth. Unfortunately the Church has presented one or the other. Those who proclaim Truth alone leave people without hope, condemned in their sinfulness. Those who preach Grace alone leave a person in their sin. Truth is the goal God has place before us. Grace is what He grants us as we strive to get there.

And now to the questions:

1. When I read over that list I became concerned that I might be gossiping. Could you please define what gossiping is?

a. Answer: Reading over Paul’s list could and should cause us to examine our lives and question our behaviors. This is what it is intended to do. So if you feel a twinge of guilt about something, by all means spend some time examining your heart and your motives. However, Gossip is one of those sins that can be easily overlooked, much like pride or selfishness. Gossip is best described as (1) an intention to tear down or criticize someone behind their back, (2) sharing information about someone that should be held in confidence (or sharing information about someone without their permission), (3) making broad unfounded assumptions about an individual or a situation without knowing the facts and then spreading our perceptions or assumptions as facts. A good litmus test to determine if you are gossiping is to ask yourself if you would be willing to say these words while the person was listening. If you are concerned who might overhear what you are about to say, then it is probably gossip. Never say something about someone behind their back that you wouldn’t be willing to say in front of them. Let me finish by offering this advice. If someone comes up to you either in the church or out in the community and says “did you hear about the Jones”, the proper thing to do is reply “no I didn’t, and are you sure you have permission to share this? If not, what you are doing is gossip, and it is a sin”. Truthfully, there is no harm in asking someone if you may share their information. It is wrong to share it without their permission.

Revealed - April 21st, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

I begin this morning by reading from 2 Deceptions 9:7-12; the Law concerning dessert: “For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.”

Okay, as funny as this is, some people think this is how strict the Bible really is. They think the Bible is nothing but a long list of “thou shalt not’s”. Yes, there are a lot of commands found in the Bible, but it is important for the Christian to understand WHY God gave these commands in the first place. God gave the Old Testament Laws because He wanted His followers to be set apart and separate from the world. In effect, God was pointing to the world and telling His people “do not act like that”. “Instead”, says God, “this is how I want you to live”. In other words, God desires that we act and live according to His standards. This is what is called holiness; living a life that is different from the people of the world.

With that in mind, let’s read over what Paul has to say about worldly conduct in Romans 1:18-32. “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. ¹⁹ They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. ²⁰ For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. ²¹ Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. ²² Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. ²³ And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. ²⁵ They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. ²⁶ That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. ²⁷ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. ²⁸ Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. ²⁹ Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. ³⁰ They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. ³¹ They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. ³² They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

Paul paints an image of what humanity looks like when it turns its back to God. God did not make the people behave like this. These people made a choice, and their choice was to reject God and instead follow their own basic human nature. Paul has given us a snapshot of what humanity looks like when it refuses to be influenced by God; a humanity that has exchanged (see 1:25) the glorious life of righteousness for a life defined by wickedness. In other words, our true human nature is revealed by our sin.

Remember how I said Paul takes his readers from sin to salvation? Well, this is the sin part. It is necessary to paint this image of a life separated from God in order to demonstrate that a person needs God. Paul mentions these things so a person might fully realize that they are indeed separated by God when they observe any of these behaviors in their life. That’s why it’s important we don’t take one of these sinful behaviors and separate it from the rest. We dare not single out homosexuality from this list, nor should we remove it. It needs to be included, as does Pride, Gossip, Greed, Murder, or Idol Worship (now there’s a wake-up call for some Christians. Paul has included the Gossip in the same category as the Murderer or the Homosexual). But what Paul is trying to point out here is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He is attempting to get his readers to examine their own life and confess their sin. He is attempting to bring a person to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Paul is answering the question “Who needs God”. And the answer is, “Anyone who practices these things”. Of course, these sins are symptoms, not the disease. The disease is a heart turned against God. Paul is not asking the person who practices these things to stop doing them, although a Christian should. Paul is asking the person who practices these things to examine their heart. And if they would be honest with themselves they will probably find that they really don’t take God seriously, nor do they have a desire to live obedient to His commands. And for those who are tempted to believe there are grand sins and trivial sins, Paul points out that when the Gossip passes judgment against the Homosexual, the Gossip, in reality, is condemning their self; admitting that there is a certain way of living that leads to death, but a transformational way of living that leads to life.

Although it is not a popular subject today, there is a way of living that will cause a person to face God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment; His fierce wrath. But because of His kindness, God has provided a way to escape this. And that is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul is not holding up a window through which we can judge the world. He is holding up a mirror so that we might examine our own heart. And if we happen to see within ourselves any one of these traits, we need to admit that we are indeed filled with sin and have rejected God. This list is designed to convict us. And there is nothing wrong with that because salvation will not happen without a person first feeling convicted about their sin and then recognize that they are indeed living separated from God. Only then can a person confess, repent, believe, and be saved.

Here are the questions I was asked at the end of the Message:

1. How can Christians skim over verse 26-27.? Do they pick and choose what to believe?

Answer: Modern theologians do not skip over these vesres, they reinterpret its meaning using modern understanding. Take Walter Wink, for example. He is professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary. He has a long list of credentials. His view on this test is stated in a booklet entitles Homosexuality and the Bible. He says on pages 3 & 4 that Paul wrote these words not knowing what science knows today; that some individuals are born with this natural tendency. Paul felt that everyone was “straight”. So his words are to be taken in that context. The problem here is that should we interpret the Bible through a cultural lens, or as the eternal Truth that applies to all people for all time. And what really stands out to me is that when Paul wrote these words, the Roman culture actually promoted and accepted the practice of an older man taking a young boy under his wing and train him in all areas sexually. But, as I said in the sermon, we should not single out just one of these sins because that misses Paul’s point. All of the sins listed here indicate that there is a deep problem in a person’s life. And the problem is that they have exchanged the glory of God for the dark and dirty things of the flesh. We can attempt to explain away homosexual behavior, but we cannot remove the stain of sin.

2. What role can the church play in confronting and combating this wickedness?

Answer: For those who claim they were born this way, I suggest the church agree. We should be agreeing that a person is born a sinner. We all have been born into sin. I will not argue with the person who says they were born with a same sex attraction. I will not, however, agree when they say “God made me this way”. That statement is not true. Sin made you that way, just as sin made me the way I am. We all have been born with a natural way of behaving that is contrary to God’s way of righteousness. So the church should not single out one certain behavior as the only indication that a person is living apart from God. What we should do is have a person look over this list and allow the Spirit to do His work of convicting. Instead of trying to get a person to clean up their life before coming to Christ, the church should lead them to Christ, and then the Spirit can do His work in their heart.

3. Is believing that God exists enough?

Answer: unfortunately, no. Salvation begins when a person admits they are a sinner, confesses that they are a sinner, sees their need for a Savior, and turns to Jesus in faith. We are Saved by Faith, not by belief.

Good News! - April 7, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

Back in the mid 70's the youth group in my home church sang a cantata called "Make It Clear". It was a musical presentation of the Gospel message as told by the Apostle Paul. Now mind you, we sang this 35 years ago, yet I still sing certain passages of scripture instead of merely reading them (don't worry, I'll sing them to myself). Now I tell you this because as I look back at that group of young people, many of them are still deeply committed followers of Christ. Three of them are pastors; one is about to become licensed. And somehow I can't help but wonder if our lives were deeply impacted for Christ because of the time we spent singing the words of scripture. Take Romans 1:16, for example. Every time I read “I am not ashamed of the gospel” I can still hear my dear friend Pastor Bill Wenger singing these words.

This is the power found within the Word of God. It has the ability to change the lives of people and nations. This is the Power of God at work within people’s lives. The Apostle Paul describes this “Power” as the “Good News”; the message of salvation, which he delivers so clearly and logically in his letter to the Christians living in Rome. I wonder if Paul knew that the words he would write in the winter of 57 AD would be changing lives all around the world even today. I suspect these words will be changing lives until the Lord returns, maybe even after He returns.

This is the Good News that Paul proclaims; the message of Salvation. Make it clear, make it plain, make it easy to be understood; which is exactly what Paul does. He walks us through a logical presentation of God’s plan of salvation for humanity. “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (Romans 1:1-7).

The reason this letter is addressed to the Christians in Rome and not the Roman Church, is because by the time Paul wrote these words, none of the Apostles had yet visited Rome. Many Bible scholars feel that there were Christians in Rome because there were Jews in Jerusalem during the crucifixion of Christ and for the day the Spirit was poured out upon the believers (Acts 2:10). So these people could have possibly witnessed the death of Jesus, heard the whispering of His resurrection, and seen the effects of the Spirit. Hearing Peter’s sermon, perhaps some Jews from Rome were counted among the 3,000 saved (Acts 2:41). Now although they were saved, I suspect many wondered just what salvation meant. Their minds would have been filled with the same questions people still ask today.

So in Rome you had believers by faith in Christ, but believers that probably didn’t fully understand what Salvation truly meant. Their minds were probably filled with all sorts of questions. “I’m saved, but what does that mean? What about my past? Will God still hold that against me? What happens when I sin today or tomorrow? How does that affect my relationship with God? So in response, Paul pens a letter for believers that answers questions like these that would be on the mind of any new believer; both the Gentile and the Jew; the educated and the uneducated. This is what Salvation means. This is the Good News that Paul was not ashamed to share.

Romans is a beautiful summary of God’s plan of Salvation for all of humanity. From Sin to Salvation, Paul teaches that anyone who places their faith In Jesus is no longer condemned, and that all who believe share in God’s great promises. This is the Good News. And this Good News displays God’s power. “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. ¹⁷ This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (Romans 1:16-17). The Good News is that through our faith in Christ God displays His great power by undoing the effects of sin. Righteousness is bestowed upon us not because we worked to earn it, but because we have placed our faith in Jesus. Because we stand with Jesus in faith, God stands with us, not against us. And no power above the earth, on the earth, or beneath the earth will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is found through faith in Jesus the Christ. This is the Good News.

Why would anyone be ashamed to proclaim this? Why does it seem that the Church today has become so timid in announcing this? Maybe it’s because we don’t fully comprehend the height and depth and majesty of all that God has promised for those who simply place their faith in Jesus. That’s why I think a thorough reading of Romans will help. If we better understand what God has accomplished for us, maybe we will stop being ashamed of this Good News which proclaims “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

I don’t normally give homework assignments, but for this topic I think reading the book of Romans will be helpful. So I want you to take the next two weeks and read all 16 chapters of Romans. I want you to look for specific themes that address condemnation, conviction, repentance, faith, justification, and righteousness. Read this letter closely and prayerfully, and see if it doesn’t change your life as well.

The Promise of the Resurrection

By Pastor Greg

When God created the dog, He said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.  For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking.  How about only ten years and I'll give you back the rest?" So God agreed. When God created the monkey, He said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh.  For this, I'll give you a life span of twenty years." The monkey said, "Perform ricks for twenty years?  That's a pretty long time.  How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed. When God created the cow, He said, "You must labor in the field all day long and suffer under the sun. You must have calves and give milk to support the Man for sixty years." The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life.  How about twenty years, and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again. When God created man, He said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life.  For this, I'll give you twenty years." But man said: "Only twenty years?  Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Alright," said God. “If that’s what you want”. So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.  For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.  For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.  And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Now although that story makes us chuckle, it misses one very important point; our years are not 70, or if due to strength, 80 (Psalm 90:10). If the promise of Jesus is true, there is no number to describe our years. This is what the word eternal means: unending. But, what will that unending life be like? What kind of experience will we have? Will we let loose of all that is physical and exist for eternity as only something spiritual? Not so, says Jesus. He says that not only will we have eternal life, but that there will be a resurrection as well.

Last week we took a look at the promise of Eternal Life. Jesus promised that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life. But there is another promise Jesus made; the promise of a resurrection, which He confirmed with the empty tomb. Although, where Eternal life speaks of stepping out of darkness and into the light, the Resurrection of the dead speaks of awakening from a slumber.

Toward the end of His earthly life, Jesus has a conversation with a group of Sadducees about the resurrection. Luke says this religious group did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, which is why they were sad, you see. Oh, the idea of the resurrection was commonly accepted by most Jews, but this group wanted to disprove it through a clever argument. However, Jesus makes it pretty clear that they had no idea just what the resurrection would be like (read Luke 20:27-38).

Jesus takes these doubters back to the encounter Moses had with God at the Burning Bush. Jesus asks these enlightened men to consider what God said to Moses. God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6), not “I was”. Apparently these Sadducees decided the resurrection was not true because they could not conceive how it would happen or what it would be like; something that has been plaguing our world for nearly two thousand years.

The enlightened people in Corinth had a difficult time imagining the resurrection of the dead as well, which is why Paul speaks so strongly in trying to clear up their misconception (turn to 1 Corinthians 15). In 1 Corinthians 15 he says that after Jesus ends the rule of Satan in this world, even death will be abolished (verse 54). And those who are asleep will be raised (verse 20). He says that in Christ all shall be made alive (verse 22). But if those who are in Christ already have eternal life today, what does he mean by saying they will be made alive again after death has been defeated? Paul is talking about the physical resurrection of all who have died believing in Jesus. It is the promise of a new body which is similar, but not the same as what we had while we lived here on earth. The old body that has died will be awakened and raised as one that is imperishable – one that will not die.

This idea of a resurrection can be seen when Job declares “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). And Paul echoes this in 2 Corinthians 5:1. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands”. In Heaven, bodies will not be reproduced, but recreated in glory by God Himself. And they will be an eternal body, which explains why Jesus corrected these Sadducees. Those who have been resurrected will not need to marry because life will be eternal.

The hope of Christianity hinges upon the Resurrection of Christ, says Paul. If Christ did not rise from the dead then we are still dead in our sins. Death has not been conquered, and those who have already died are permanently gone. If there is no resurrection, then why live a righteous, holy life in the first place? We might as well live like the rest of the world because if Christ did not rise again, there is nothing beyond the grave. And if that is true, then we are really left without any hope. If death still claims us captive, then the poison of sin still remains.

The Good News is that the tomb is empty. The grave could not hold our Savior. Even those opposed to Christ admitted that the tomb was empty. And just what does this mean for you and me? It means that those who believe in God’s only begotten Son will not just step out of the darkness and into the light, but they will awaken from a slumber one day when God calls humanity out of the grave as well. The righteous will be called to a resurrection of life, but the unrighteous will be called to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).

We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this Easter morning because it testifies that the words of the Messiah are faithful and true. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). But it also testifies that the grave will not be able to hold us as well. Oh, you and I might spend 80 years on this earth, perhaps 100, and although our bodies will die, we will not die. This is what the promise of Eternal Life means. We will not be left naked, existing for the rest of eternity as a disembodied spirit floating on some cloud in the sky. The promise of the resurrection means that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are preparing for us a new body; a glorified body which will never die.

”Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2)