Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
John is writing to fellow believers — people he clearly loves, which is why he calls them "dear friends." He makes a stunning claim right upfront: we are already, right now, children of God. That's not wishful thinking or a future hope — it's a present reality. But here's the mystery: what that fully looks like hasn't been revealed yet. The one thing John is certain of is this — when Jesus returns in his full glory, those who belong to him will be transformed to reflect that glory. The very act of truly seeing him will remake us into his image.
Father, I don't know what I'm becoming — but you do. Thank you that I don't have to have it all figured out to belong to you. Hold me in the mystery of the "not yet," and remind me today that I am already yours. Amen.
There's a particular kind of ache that comes with loving something you can't yet fully hold — a child you haven't met, a place you've only read about, a version of yourself you sense is possible but can't quite reach. John leans into that ache rather than resolving it. He doesn't pretend to know what you'll become. He says, honestly, "what we will be has not yet been made known." And yet — right in the middle of that not-knowing — he plants a flag: you are already a child of God. Not someday. Now. Whatever weight you're carrying about who you are, whatever shame or confusion or half-formed sense of your own worth — bring it to this verse. The full picture of what you're becoming hasn't been drawn yet, but the Artist is certain. You belong to God today, in the middle of your incomplete story. And when the ending comes, when you finally see him face to face — something in that sight will finish what grace started. You don't have to be fully formed to be fully loved.
What does John mean when he says "what we will be has not yet been made known"? What does that tell you about how much of Christian life involves sitting with genuine uncertainty?
How does knowing you are already a child of God — right now, not someday — actually change the way you think about yourself on an ordinary day?
This verse says that seeing Jesus will transform us to be like him. Does that idea challenge or comfort you — and what does it mean to you personally to become "like him"?
How might treating the people around you as children of God — especially people who frustrate or disappoint you — change the way you relate to them?
Is there an area of your life where you're waiting to feel "complete" or "ready" before you act or rest or believe? What would it look like to live from your identity today rather than keep working toward it?
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Philippians 3:21
For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1 Corinthians 13:12
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:4
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Hosea 1:10
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:29
Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
Psalms 31:19
Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].
AMP
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
ESV
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
NASB
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
NIV
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
NKJV
Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
NLT
But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him.
MSG