1jo 04v17 As He Is So Are We In This World

 

"AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD."              I John 4:17

            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. I say, brethren, Behold the Christ of God in all the fulness of his glory - "As he is, so are we in this world"'

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".