Although the redemption of the body is clearly a matter of God’s grace, nevertheless, after the Apostle John said that we should be like Him and see Him as He is, he immediately followed by saying: “And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).
Put into its context, this hope refers to the words “be like him.” Purifying in this verse is different from being clean. To be clean means to be without defilement, but purifying means not only to be without defilement, but also to be without mixture. The way to purify ourselves is through the shining of the light of life within us (John 1:4), so that we may know ourselves (Psa. 36:9) and eliminate all that displeases Him.
We are those who have God’s nature; therefore, according to the consciousness which comes from the nature of the life of God, we should deal not only with sin, but with all that is of ourselves and all that is not of God’s will. This is the meaning of purifying ourselves. But there is a purification even deeper than this. A brother who has become learned in the Lord spoke of purification in this way: “The danger of spirituality is to experience victory and sanctification, to be fruitful in our work, to possess spiritual gifts and righteousnesses that are of life....Deeper purification means that even that which comes from God’s revelation, which issues from the resurrection life of Christ, should not be allowed to remain. There is the process of metabolism in the growth of life....this means that anything which comes from the resurrection life will never be lost; it will forever be fresh. However, it must be kept in the newness of the Holy Spirit and not merely remembered in the mind. That which has its source in His resurrection life will not be lost but will remain in us forever; it will become part of our life and be constituted into our being. Whenever that particular thing is required, we need only to take it in the Holy Spirit. Then it will be as fresh and living as if we had just seen it.”
These words are not easily understood, but they do call forth a response in us. Brothers and sisters, if we have such a hope in Him, we will say to ourselves what the Apostle John said, “Everyone that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself”; and then we will rise up and walk according to the shining of the Holy Spirit.
The continual moving of God’s life in us has a great purpose. In the second part of Hebrews 8:10 it says, “I will be God to them, and they shall be a people to Me.” This tells us what is on God’s heart and what His purpose is from eternity to eternity. God wants to be our God, and we need to be His people according to the law of life. This is real and very wonderful. We shall now see from the Scriptures what an important matter in the universe this is.
What does God intend to have in the universe? In Genesis 2 we see that after God had created man, He indicated that man should exercise his free will to choose His life. However, we are not told what God intended to have in the universe. Genesis 3 speaks of man’s fall, but it does not tell us what the Devil was really after. It was not until God led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, where He declared the Ten Commandments, that He revealed what was on His heart. It was not until the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness that He revealed what the Devil was really after, and it was not until the Lord prayed the prayer which He taught His disciples, that again He clearly spoke of God’s true desire.
The first of the Ten Commandments is: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The second is: “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God.” The third commandment is: “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.” The fourth is: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exo. 20:3-8).
In these four commandments God revealed His will and clearly unveiled His formal requirements for man. Here He spoke clearly of the purpose of His creation and the purpose of His redemption. The purpose is simply that God wants to be God. God is God, and He wants to be God among men.
In the New Testament there is a great revelation which parallels God’s revelation upon Mount Sinai. It is the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness. In the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah we are clearly told of the cherub which God had made, who later exalted himself to become equal with God. He rebelled against God, was judged by God (Ezek. 28:8, 12-19; Isa. 14:12-15), and became the Devil. However, this matter was not as clearly revealed as it is in the Gospels when the Devil made his open bid to usurp God’s position. The strongest part of the Devil’s temptation of the Lord was:“...if You will fall down and worship me.” But the Lord without any hesitation rebuked him saying, “Go, Satan.” Then the Lord solemnly declared: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Matt. 4:9-10). Oh, only God is God!
In the New Testament, the prayer which the Lord taught His disciples was also a great revelation. In this prayer, He also reveals God’s will—that God wants to be God. The Lord said, “Pray, then, like this: Our Father Who is in the heavens, let Your name be sanctified” (Matt. 6:9). In the heavens God’s name can only be used by God, but on earth there are people who take His name in vain, and yet He hides Himself as if He did not exist. However, one day our Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father Who is in the heavens, let Your name be sanctified.” The Lord’s purpose in wanting us to pray in this way is that we would declare that only He is God. The rest are not. We need to glory in His holy name as the Psalmist did (Psa. 105:3). We need to say: “O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth” (Psa. 8:1). O God, may Your praise be perfected in “the mouth of babes and sucklings”! (Matt. 21:16).