"In this has been perfected the love with us, in order that boldness we may be having in the day of judgment, that just as that One is, also we ourselves are in this world."
-Like Him. He made us in His image, right? And He, this God Who is love, wants us to be more like Him. That also happens to be the gold standard, the prerequisite for gaining entrance into heaven. So John is painting this picture of a wondrous dance of faith, of God living and abiding in us, transforming us, His love abiding in us and us abiding in His love, His love flowing out from us to and throughout our assembly. And when we have this, he says, this abiding love in our hearts and lives, he says love has been perfected with us. Completed action in the past, with continuing results in the present. We may not be perfect yet, and we won’t be this side of heaven, but the heavenly seed has taken root and begun to sprout, budding out with life and love all over the place. This germination has already taken place at some point in this life. And if that hasn’t happened by the end of this life, then it’s too late.
-Because we want to have boldness, confidence in the day of judgment. John doesn’t mention this anywhere else in this letter. A day is indeed coming, a great and fateful day, when all who have ever lived will stand (or rather kneel) before the great throne of heaven, the dead will be raised and the books will be opened and all will be called to account for how they have lived. A fateful day of reckoning. And as we stand and kneel before the King of heaven, we will be called to account for whether or not we have received Him as such, and for whether or not we have taken our stand in these twin truths, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God is love. Our hearts and minds and lives will need to have taken up residence in these truths, residing and abiding in them if we would stand confindently before God’s throne on that day. It may be relatively easy to not think about such a day in the here and now, that day semeingly so far off in the distant future. We can kick the can down the road and tell ourselves that we’ll get around to doing business with God at a more convenient time, just not now. But what are we waiting for? Today matters. Today counts for eternity. And let us make no mistake, there will be two postures on that day when we come face to face with the God with Whom we have to do. Some will have this boldness, great confidence that they are fully forgiven, faultless before the throne. The heavenly seed of God’s love was deposited into their life in this life. And others, far too many, will not. They will avert their eyes, look down in discomfort, filled with shame and guilt as they become aware of the full weight and gravity of the situation, of their transgressions and how far short they actually do fall from the manifold perfections of this glorious God. For in that day, we will all see Him as He truly is - except that for far too many they will only just then be realizing the truth of the matter. But today matters. It counts for eternity. Eternity can begin today. Today is the day when I or you or anyone can come home to Him in our hearts, receive His offer of love, have this seed of love planted in our hearts and begin this journey of faith, of walking with Him and of becoming more like Him, the God Who is love.
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