Everyone Who Has This Hope

This post concludes the chapters of the book Christ in You - The Hope of Glory. The entire book can be read online at the Heart4God website. (See link at bottom of Blog.)

Everyone Who Has This Hope

I John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Consider the magnificent message in John’s words. The world did not recognize that Yahshua was the Son of God. In the same way the world does not recognize that there are sons of God walking around among mortal men in this hour. There are those who have been born of holy seed dwelling among those who have known only the birth of the corrupt seed of the first Adam. The Scriptures relate the story of Yahshua being born of a virgin as the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. Mary conceived a son of holy seed.

Luke 1:35
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.”

The same Holy Spirit now moves upon Adamic men and causes offspring to come forth in the likeness of God. The Holy Spirit moves upon mankind and a holy seed immediately begins to grow into the same image as the firstborn Son of God.

I Peter 1:23
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

I John 3:9
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The same holy seed has been placed in those born again of the Spirit that was placed in Mary. It is the seed of God. God does not have many kinds of seed. He has only one type of seed, and that is seed that contains all the genetic information to form a being fully and completely after His own image and likeness. Yahshua became the full expression of God in man. This same seed has been placed in you (if you have been born again) that you too might become the full and complete expression of God.

Ephesians 4:13
Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.

Yahweh has the heart of a father, and as a father He longs to have many sons after His own image. The destiny of these sons in the ages to come is glorious. What Yahweh has prepared for His sons is beyond our present capacity to comprehend. We shall be like the firstborn Son of God in His glory. After stating these awesome truths, John declares:

I John 3:3
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

If you truly have a vision of all that the Father has determined for His sons in the ages to come, then you will purify yourself. Does not the current impure condition of the church reveal that there is no such vision? Many are living as beasts, focused on consumption, living to satisfy their bellies. Christians are seeking things of a fallen world, a world that is passing away and whose glory is fading. They do not discern the high calling of God in Christ Yahshua. They do not see that they have an inheritance which is “imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away” (I Peter 1:4).

Certainly a lack of vision impacts Christian’s lives negatively today. Low living is the fruit of low thinking. King Solomon understood the relationship between vision and actions.

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish...
Amplified Bible

The word for perish is the Hebrew ‘para’ and it comes from a root word meaning ‘to loosen.’ It is often translated as ‘uncovered,’ or ‘naked.’ Solomon understood that when the people have no mental sight, dream, or revelation, they begin to act in a loose manner that is akin to being naked. Such imagery is repeated in the New Testament.

Revelation 3:17
"Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...”

Revelation 16:15
"Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame."

When men and women do not have a vision of the hope that is set before them, when they become focused on this present world and the pursuit of it, then they begin to uncover themselves. They expose their flesh rather than putting it to death. Because they have no vision of the glory before them, and they do not see that they risk forfeiting an inheritance of surpassing value, they walk carelessly and are led into many sins and numerous transgressions of the will of God.

The overcomers in Christ demonstrate a different attitude. Paul spoke to the saints in this way:

II Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, since these great promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring our consecration to completeness in the reverential fear of God.
Amplified Bible

What are the great promises to which Paul is referring? The previous verse tells us.

II Corinthians 6:18
And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Yes, we have a future before us to walk as the sons and daughters of the almighty God! We will share His glory! We will walk in great authority! We will be as gods, being the sons and daughters of Yahweh! We will have access into His presence, and we will be partakers of His most holy things! If we have a vision of what awaits us then we will “cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit.” We will seek to be completely consecrated to God.

During this brief period of our life on earth, it is not readily apparent what we shall be. Yet all throughout the Scriptures our Father has given us indications of the glorious future that lies ahead for the sons of God. We are told that “for a little while” it is man’s lot to be lower than the angels.

Hebrews 2:6-7
But one has testified somewhere, saying, "What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him? Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels...”

The day is coming, however, when men will judge angels.

I Corinthians 6:3
Do you not know that we shall judge angels?

What kind of people should we now be? Should we walk as beasts; coveting, lusting, fighting, seeking temporal pleasures and possessions? If your life is focused upon the temporal pursuits of this life, then you have far too narrow a view of your life and future destiny. Look up! Raise your eyes! Observe what great things the Father has planned for His sons! And seeing all these things, purify yourself! Walk as one who is called to the image and likeness of God with a destiny to share His glory.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

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