In This World We Are Like Jesus

1 John 4:17
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

This is a difficult text to interpret. Particularly those last words after the full colon. In this world, we are like Jesus. What? Yes, that is what Apostle John has been inspired to tell the church that time and us today. In this world, we are like Jesus.

Let’s be clear so that we do not introduce a foreign meaning to the text, which is a common mistake interpreters make. Apostle John is not saying we will be like Jesus. That is what he said in 1 John 3:2. But that is not what he is saying now. He is not speaking about us in the future but what we are today and now. In this world, we are like Jesus.

According to Apostle John, being like Jesus is not what we strive to attain but what we already are. Yet in 1 John 3:2, he said it is what we hope to be. Now he says, it is what we are. What is the difference?

1 John 3:1-2 tells us we are already children of God. Then it tells us that at the end of time, we who are children of God now will meet Jesus physically. When we meet Jesus physically at the end of time, we look forward to having a body and nature like His. We shall be like Him. When we physically meet Jesus on that day!

On the other hand 1John 4 is addressing the need to love one another. Love is from God. Those who love are born of God. Those who can’t love are not children of God. We are now children of God. The difference between us children of God and the world is that we love God and we love one another. Therefore, we are ready for final judgment, because unlike the world we have love. We have become so distinct from the world, that it is correct to say, we are like Jesus!

We who are children of God now are so loving that it can only be concluded that we are like Jesus. We who look forward to transformed bodies like that of Jesus, currently have transformed lives evidenced by love. We are so loving that the best description is that we are like Jesus. We love God like Jesus loved and loves God the Father. We love each other like Jesus loved and still loves us. In this world, we are like Jesus!

Apostle John compares us not just to the historical Jesus, but to the current Jesus who is in heaven praying for us. That is the Jesus that we are like. A transformed Jesus. A glorified Jesus. A Jesus who triumphed over death. This is the Jesus we are like. A Jesus who has authority and power and lives forever. In this world, we are like Jesus!

In this world, means if we are compared to the world there is no similarity. We are so distinct and different. The closest association is that we are like Jesus. In this world, we can’t be compared to other men and women. In this world, we are like Jesus!

In this world of pursuing money and livelihood, we can’t be compared to other employees and business people. In this world, we are like Jesus. In this world of relationships, marriage, and parenting, we have no comparison. In this world, we are like Jesus. In this world of pursuing studies, we can’t be compared to other students. In this world, we are like Jesus.

Our lives have been transformed and what we have become can only be compared to Jesus. Are you like Jesus among your neighbors? Do your relatives and family think that you are like Jesus? Do your colleagues at work, your seniors, and juniors acknowledge that you are like Jesus?

Apostle John tells the church that we know we are ready for judgment because in this world we are like Jesus. Unless you are like Jesus now, you are not ready for judgment. Unless you are different from other men and women and only like Jesus, Judgement should scare you. In this world, we are like Jesus!

This is what being a Christian child of God means, to be like Jesus. Do you forgive like Jesus? Do you treat everyone equally like Jesus? Do you serve God like Jesus? Do you handle your enemies like Jesus? In this world, we are like Jesus!

“Lord, I want to be more like Jesus in my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more like Jesus in my heart, in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more like Jesus in my heart, in my heart.”

Dear God, this standard is too high. I am ashamed I am nowhere near being like Jesus, yet this is what I am supposed to be now or else I am getting late for eternal things. Make me like Jesus. On my own, I can’t make it. May I be like Jesus to all those around me and wherever I go. In Jesus’s name, Amen!

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