The passage of Scripture we will be looking at this morning concerns the return of Christ. John is continuing his overall theme of fellowship and says that if his readers would maintain their fellowship with God, they would enjoy a genuine boldness of speech when they would meet the Lord. Jesus is going to return one day and this gives the Christian a perspective to make moral and spiritual decisions about how to live. 

(1 John 2:28-3:3)

28 So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him. 3:1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him  because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 

I like what pastor John MacArthur has to say about these verse. He says there are five features of a believers hope in the return of Christ. 

The first Feature is that "The hope of Christ's return has a sanctifying effect on a believer's moral behavior." "So that when He appears we may have boldness." The hope of Christ's return produces this effect as this person longs for the future that is prepared for him. (2 Timothy 4:8) Paul called it "loving His appearance." John is commanding that these people abide in Christ. It is a control thing and must be something every Christian pursues (Philippians 2:12). His desire is for all believers to be found doing God's work when Christ returns. Continuing in the faith keeps believers truly ready for His return.

The second Feature is that "The hope of Christ's return makes righteousness a habit in a believer's life." "Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him." John seems to now say that only children of God can live in a way that remaining in Him requires, especially living without sin. God is righteous and His character and ways define what it is to be righteous. We can never evaluate God; God is righteous. 

The third Feature is that "The hope of Christ's return is strengthened by the fact that God initiated his salvation." "Look at how great a love the Father has given us." "God's children" refers to God's spiritual family. You see, the world is alienated from God and God's love creates people who are His children and who become alienated from the world. Because Christians have been born of God, they are no longer of this world. They have a new nature.

This new nature comes from the righteousness of God and not the world. The world doesn’t recognize this because those who don’t know God can't recognize His ways or His character. The fact is that the world can't understand and appreciate Christians because what makes them tick is not of this world. The world didn’t recognize or appreciate Jesus either because He wasn’t what their expectations were for the Messiah (John 1:11). The world is like a parallel universe that John called "darkness." The world does not originate with God and has not been born of God, so it is not in covenant with God and will one day pass away. Only what is of God and is in the light will last forever! 

The fourth Feature is that "When He comes, He will conform every believer to His image; His nature." (Ephesians 1:3-6). "When He appears we shall be like Him." When Christ comes, He will conform every believer to His image or His nature. This does not mean that we will become a deity or God. But it is actually beyond description because even John couldn't explain it. The full benefit of our status can not be imagined in this world (1 Corinthians 2:9). Jesus Apostles couldn't fully understand the truth about Him until after His death and resurrection because they had no categories to comprehend something God had never done before (John 16:12). 

The fifth Feature is that "Living in the reality of Christ's return makes a difference in a Christian's behavior." This is possibly the key verse in this section of Scripture we have looked at today. Look at the phrase "purifies himself just as He is pure." Since we will be like Him one day, a desire should grow within us to be like Him now. This was the Apostle Paul's passion (Philippians 3:12-14). This calls for a purifying of sin that we play a part in (2 Corinthians 7:1). This is an ongoing process that starts a rebirth and continues until Christ returns. The more pure God's people become, the clearer their view of Jesus will be.