This is beginning to become a habit I rather enjoy.
Meditation: 1 John 3:2-3 — Hope that Purifies
“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.” (1 John 3:2-3)
Observation
John has spent a few verses explaining why we are children of God, and he will do so in more detail in chapter 4. But until then, he says that “the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” (2:23b) So we are children of God, but he’s not sure exactly what our destiny is in detail in terms of what we will really become (3:2a), but he knows that we will be like Jesus because “we will see Him just as He is.” (3:2b)
He says that dwelling on that hope is essential. To what end? “Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure.” (3:3) It seems like John is saying that seeing Christ as He is is either equated (the same thing as) or equals (results in) being like Him. Whatever the case, suffice it say that seeing Christ as He is and dwelling on Christ as He is is a tremendous foundation for purifying yourself.
Interpretation
Of course, we know that living a purified life is not an end in itself, but a sign of something more important. “For His name’s sake.” (2:12) If living a purified life were an end in itself, then the Mormons and other groups with high moral standards would be doing great. But a purified life that is the result of faith… that is crucial. That is what separates the child of God from all the children of the world. “And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith.” (5:4)
Living a purified life is an ultimate end of a believer, but not the chief end. In The End for which God Created the World, Jonathan Edwards explains that a chief end is an ultimate end, but not all ultimate ends are chief ends. I’ll paraphrase him.
A person may get in his car, fuel up with gas, head down I-35, arrive in a city, stay with his friends, and thus be satisfied with their fellowship. Filling up a car with gas is not a pleasant experience for someone to do unless it results in something greater. In this case, the person is undertaking a great many sequence of events (“subordinate ends,” he calls them) to achieve an end (ultimate), namely in this example, the satisfaction of fellowship. It is this goal that is pleasing in itself to the person, as all the others are merely means to this end. This is what Edwards would call an ultimate end: Something that is pleasing in and of itself. There are many ultimate ends a person desires, and there is a hierarchy of importance of these ends.
Among ultimate ends, there is one chief end. This is the highest ultimate end. This is the foundation that makes all the other ultimate ends enjoyable.
Tying all this philosophical meanderings together, we must fix our eyes on the prospect of knowing [i.e., delighting in] Christ. As the song says, “Knowing You, Jesus, Knowing You; there is no greater thing.” That is our chief end, through which all our ultimate ends ought to be in harmony. Because when we know Christ, we will become like Him, pure, holy, righteous. And in that satisfaction in Christ, God is equally glorified. Our chief end and His chief end are in perfect sync.
And this is God’s chief end in creation:
“God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they should only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might be received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his idea of God’s glory doesn’t glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation [An expression of warm approval] of it and his delight in it.” (Jonathan Edwards)
Conclusion — Why This All Matters
Have your hope fixed on Jesus. Literally, every day, spend some time consciously thinking about your future prospect of enjoying Christ with no inhibitions. He is infinitely lovely, so much more than the most lovely person you know. And in placing your hope in Him, you will live a life that is both pleasing to Him, and pleased in Him. This is why I say that faith is not mere agreement of the truth of Christ’s identity, but an embracing of the spiritual beauty of Christ. All of God’s promises to us to do us good and not evil are made good in Christ. Two verses drive this home:
“For as many are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
“Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Fixed on the hope of Christ,
Rob
Leave a comment