What will we be?

If ye know that he is righteous,
ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called children of God:
and such we are.
For this cause the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not.
Beloved,
now are we children of God,
and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be.
We know that,
if he shall be manifested,
we shall be like him;
for we shall see him even as he is.
And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure.
Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness:
and sin is lawlessness.
And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins;
and in him is no sin.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him,
neither knoweth him.
1 John 2:29-3:1-6 RV

Again, I'm taking the epistle instead of the Gospel for today's reflection. I guess one has to take the few opportunties that there are for 1 John in the lectionary.

I have written about a section of this previously, in connection with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and The Transfiguration. And as then, the same part has capture3d my attention.

Beloved,
now are we children of God,
and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be.
We know that,
if he shall be manifested,
we shall be like him;
for we shall see him even as he is.
And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure.
1 John 3:2-3 RV

(We are Christians, but we do not know what this will make us become. If Jesus were to become present again, we will be the same as him. We will achieve this by making ourselves as pure as Jesus.)

To me this is a very strong message of the mystic way. The way to be a child of God is to be like Jesus.

The idea that we are not sure what we are to become, but we are sure that we will be like Jesus is an intruiging concept. I like to to think of this phrase along the lines of Jesus becoming present again, he would be like us. The obverse is that if he were to become present again, we would be living a life that would be like him.

As I wrote earlier, I believe in the Transfiguration, Jesus was showing us what it is capable for us to become.