1 John 3:1-7 (NRSV)
Read 1 John 3:1-7 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 3See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Verse 2Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. Verse 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Verse 4Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. Verse 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Verse 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Verse 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Devotion
In the afterglow of Easter, a lovely image is presented to readers in this late New Testament letter. “We are children of God." It's a claim on us, the gift of a new identity, a departure from that in the world which opposes the good in God, a move from darkness into the light. We are children of God.
A critical word for us here is "we." As a person who loves working with words, I say we are "Christians in community." If we say we are a Christian community, it implies an unhelpful set-apartness where exclusion is part of our self-understanding. However, as children of God we are called into the world, to be Christians in community, on the one hand experiencing the dynamic closeness of a common Spirit, and on the other called to be a band of gospel-tellers who are thrust into a world that doesn't know the depth of its own desperation.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, bind us to one another and to the world, and let us recognize your presence in every step along the way. Amen.