A Child of God

John is telling us something profound in 1 John 3:1 when he says,

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God.”

He’s essentially saying, “Wow, we are God’s children!” His point is that this is an amazing reality that’s hard to fully grasp. 

John then goes on to say in verse 2, “We are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.” John is essentially saying that we don’t yet fully know what it means to be God’s children. 

We don’t understand it in its entirety. To be a child of God is still somewhat of a mystery, and this mystery will be revealed when Jesus comes again when we see Him face to face. At that moment, we’ll fully understand what being a child of God means.

Right now, we experience part of it, but we won’t know the full extent until we are in a glorified state, with glorified bodies, standing face to face with Jesus. That’s when the reality of being God’s children will be fully revealed to us.

John says, “What manner of love!” because even though we don’t understand all the details or the mechanics of how this transformation happens, we know that it has happened. 

We just don’t yet grasp the entire significance of it, or what it means for us to be glorified like Christ.

This reality, this full understanding, will only come when we are with Him and see Him face to face.

“We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then we shall see His face” (1 John 3:2, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 22:4).