Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Maundy Thursday
There are 3 days til Easter!
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Devotional: April 24th

Resource Toolbox

1 John 4:17

‘As he is, so are we in this world’

Read 1 John 3:1-17

We all know that believers in this world bear a likeness to our Lord in his humiliation. As he was in this world, so are we in this world. As he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, so are we. As he was the object of the world’s hatred, so are we. As he was tempted by Satan, so are we. As he was despised and forsaken of men, so shall we be. As he went through many sufferings and death to glory, so must we. This is a great blessing of grace and a wondrous condescension of mercy, that we should have such a likeness to our Redeemer.

But our text does not say, ‘as he was’. It says, ‘as he is’. Do you behold the Son of God, our Savior, in glory? There sits God in our nature. And though we are not yet there personally, we are there in our Representative. And being in Christ, we are like Christ. As he is the Son of God, we are the sons of God. As he is loved by God with an everlasting and unchangeable love of complacency and delight, so are we. Yes, God loves us just as he loves his well-beloved Son. As Christ is chosen of God and precious, so are we chosen and precious in his sight. Oh, blessed grace! As our Lord in heaven is perfectly righteous, so are we! He is justified and acquitted from that charge of sin, which he voluntarily took upon himself. And in him we are completely righteous. I wish that we could all grasp this truth Christ is all our righteousness, and we are immaculately righteous in him. ‘With his spotless garments on I am as holy as God’s Son!’ ‘In him is no sin.’ And, if I am in him, I am freed from, justified from and cleansed from all sin in the sight of God.

But John specifically says here that there is a likeness between the nature of God in heaven and his children upon the earth. ‘God is love.’ And the children of God in this world reflect this nature of their Father in heaven. The love of God is patient, kind, faithful, forgiving and sincere. And all of his children reflect this nature of love in this world, for ‘As he is, so are we in this world.’

Subscribe …
Get the latest devotional delivered straight to your inbox every week by signing up for the "Grace for Today" subscription list. Simply provide your email address below, click on "Subscribe!", and you'll receive a confirmation email from us. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your subscription to this list.
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile