Jesus said many radical things. And the apostles spoke many unbelievable words and walked in a reality that seems far different from what most Christians live today. One of the things that the apostles seemed to grasp as they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit is the identity of Christ and who they were in Him.
John wrote about the followers of Jesus being called out of darkness into a marvelous light. Christ gave those who believe on Him the power to become sons of God. This is a reality that John grasped. But it can be hard for us to see today. While we may nod when we hear those words spoken in church, for many of us it is hard to believe that we are sons of God as we go through daily life. It can be so easy to see how we fall and what is not happening in our lives than what God is doing. Masterpieces take time to create. And the people of God take a long time to shape and cure.
In I John 3:1-3, the apostle wrote that the Father (God) has lavished great love upon the Church. John even called us sons of God. He warns that the world will not accept this just like they rejected the true identity of Jesus. But that does not change the facts.
The destiny of God's people to be His family and to have authority over the evil forces and spirits at work in the world is a present reality not some pipe dream for the future. The apostle John said that "now we are the sons of God." Not tomorrow, not at the end of the age. No, he was talking about now, today.
Wow! What would happen if many in the church, including myself, get hold of that revelation and live it out? John also warns that we may not see this because the fullness of the reality of being a son of God will not be revealed until Christ returns. Then we will see Christ as He is and will be like Him.
So what do we do now? Everyone who has the hope that I described above is called to believe and life a life of purity as enabled by the Holy Spirit. We are called to live as sons of God here and now. We are called to help reclaim back things from the decay of sin. We are to exercise dominion over evil powers and spirits.
Sometimes God's greatest work in us is not apparent at the time of God doing it.
