Opening Prayer
Lord, open our eyes. Amen.
Text: First John 3:1–6
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 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. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Devotion
“This is the strongest and warmest love that burns like a fiery furnace: that Christ loved us even unto death on the cross and was obedient to His Father when He gave Him to us as Savior. And it is not enough that we become God’s children, but we should also be called and be known by this name before the face of God and His angels.” When missionary Ziegenbalg in Tankebar (India) was translating the New Testament and came to this passage: “We should be called the children of God,” his Malabaric helpers would not write it, but instead put: “God gives us the promise that we may kiss His feet.” But God Himself wrote the words and they remain: “We shall be called children of God.” He has chosen us in Christ and given us special adoption. He has begotten us anew, given us His Spirit, and imparted to us of His divine nature, so that our heart belongs to Him in childlike faith and respect! What glory this should be, when we are perfected and receive our inheritance to enjoy it completely, so that even John cannot describe it – not even John. “But we know,” he says, “that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” And Paul writes about it: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1Co 13:12). Here on earth everything is still dark and love is suppressed by the flesh. The clearest spirits and noblest hearts long inwardly for more light and deliverance from this body of death. It shall come. We shall receive full understanding and become like God in pure love. To “see Him” is salvation itself. “In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psa 16:11).
But “everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” If someone hopes for salvation, but does not cleanse himself from sin, his hope is in vain. Whoever is in Christ does not tolerate sin’s uncleanness, but strives for perfect holiness. If we were not saved from sin, then we would have to live in it, and could not cleanse ourselves. But if we were already free from sin, then there would be no reason to talk about cleansing oneself. The world knows neither us nor our cleansing fountain, for it knows neither the Father nor the Son. But let us by a holy life show the world that we really are saved from sin and indeed have a living hope! “If one is to know the Father from the children, if our walk is in the light, O how love’s light must then burn, capable of supernatural things, praising the virtues of the Father in our works, when we show our good deeds to our enemies.”
Closing Prayer
Thanks for Your great, great love, heavenly Father. We confess from the heart that we are unworthy of it. Enlighten us by Your Spirit, so that with our whole heart we may believe in You and Your Son, our Lord Jesus, hold fast to the hope of the beatific vision, and prepare ourselves for it by cleansing ourselves from all sin. O that we may become more like You every day and soon stand face to face before You in heaven! Amen.
Hymn
In heav’n above, in heav’n above,
Where God, our Father, dwells;
How boundless there the blessedness!
No tongue its greatness tells:
There face to face, and full and free,
The everliving God we see,
Our God, the Lord of hosts!
In heav’n above, in heav’n above,
What glory deep and bright!
The splendor of the noonday sun
Grows pale before its light:
The mighty sun that goes not down,
Before whose face clouds never frown,
Is God, the Lord of hosts.
Laurinus: L 238:1-2 ELH 542:1-2 tr. W. Maccall;
tune: I Himmelen