“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” (1 John 3:2).

Over the years, I’ve heard many people speculate about heaven. What will it be like? In this post, I want to suggest that the main thing about heaven we ought to look forward to is the perfection of our character more than the pleasantness of our circumstances. In the text above, John wrote that “when he appears we shall be like him.” There are no doubt many things about our heavenly likeness to Jesus that I do not yet understand, but here are at least three ways I look forward to being like my Lord, not just partially but completely.

Free of sin. John said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). The truth is, we struggle. As long as we live in this broken world, we will never be free from the painful process of grieving our sins in a godly way, repenting of them, and seeking God’s forgiveness. Won’t it be wonderful when we graduate from this remedial school and live in God’s realm where the battle against sin in our hearts is completely behind us?

Forever faithful. The struggle against sin is essentially a struggle to remain true and loyal to our Father. When we realize what we’ve done, it breaks our hearts to know we’ve committed treachery against a God who has never betrayed us even once. Jesus never betrayed His Father. He was always faithful. And the day is coming, for those who have been redeemed and reconciled to God, when we will be just as perfectly faithful to the Father as He is. I long for that day with all my heart.

Full of joy. Joy comes not from being patted on the head and told how wonderful we are. It comes from doing what is right — i.e., it is a by-product of purity in our character and faithfulness to God. Let no one tell you that joy has nothing to do with your character or your conduct. What we look forward to in heaven is the perfect restoration of our character to God’s holiness. When that goal is reached, we will be as full of joy as Jesus is. And that is something to look forward to!

At present, we are “works in progress” as far as our Christlikeness is concerned. In an important sense, growth in the resemblance of our character to that of Christ is what being a Christian is mainly about. By our Father’s grace and with His help, we are “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). It is the hope of being like Jesus in eternity that moves us to make progress toward that goal right now. So after saying “we shall be like him,” John says that “everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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