1 John 3:2 ²Beloved, now we are God’s children, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  

This verse indicates the now and not yet theme common in the New Testament—known as “realized eschatology.” Adoption into the family of God brings many benefits. The greatest promise that inspires us to walk in the light is eternal life. John gives one of the most significant clues in verse 2 of what eternity will be like: we shall be like him. God is light, and those who walk in the light will one day see the light in its fullness. One interpretive challenge of this verse is the subject of the second verb for revealed (phanerōthē). Who or what will be revealed? The clue comes in the masculine pronoun him (auton). The clear option from the context indicates that we become like God. However, in the wider context, the Son, Jesus Christ, has been the central topic. Theologically, to become like Jesus means becoming like God because Jesus is the perfect human representation of the image of God in which humans are created.

People have distorted the idea of becoming like God, thinking that we become “gods” when we die. John was a good biblical theologian and did not distort the clear message of the Old  Testament. He knew his Bible. He knew that God created the human race in God’s image (Genesis 1:27-28). There is something special and unique about humans, but something happened when sin entered the human experience. Sin distorts God’s plan for us and mars God’s likeness of love and holiness that existed in creation. Sin must be confessed, forgiven, cleansed, and avoided (1 John 1:9). God adopts us at the same moment. Our openness before God allows God to begin the recreating process “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

John also knew what Jesus taught and how he lived. John also knew that students become like their teachers, and disciples become like the one they follow. Jesus, as the perfect image of God and the second Adam, is the solution to the problem of sin. When he comes again, we will see the perfect image of God. John writes about his vision of this in Revelation 4-5. The blindness and deceit of this world and our imperfect vision and understanding will be removed. We will see as God meant for us to see, like Adam and Eve walking with God in the cool of the evening in the Garden of Eden. This is the promise of God, and God is able to do it. John lays out the crucial conditions for this experience in his letter. Sadly, most of the world chooses to reject these conditions and remain in darkness.