Transformed by glory

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he (Christ) appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3

As children of our loving heavenly Parent (God), we are cherished. Yet, we are still not complete/mature but young children. Who we are created to be, has not yet been fully realized or revealed to ourselves or others. And this "becoming" who we are ultimately designed to be won't be complete ¹until we see God in all the fullness of His love, beauty, majesty, worth... in a word, His glory. To see Him in this way, through direct experience - face to face - will perfectly confirm first-hand (not just by faith) that God is for us. 

We know He's for us now, but only by faith (sometimes it feels like He's against us). We will know then, by sight. We have only been told what Christ did for us, and we believe it. We weren't there to see and experience firsthand his earthly ministry - as well as his death, burial, and resurrection. ¹When we step into eternity we will be right in front of him, and He in front of us, looking into each other's eyes and seeing the scars on His hands, feet, and side as evidence of His love for us personally. 

What is it about seeing Christ fully as he is that transforms us?

How are we not seeing him now? 

And in this seeing, how are we not only transformed but specifically made like him? 

We see this mentioned not only in the above passage but also alluded to in the following two passages.

Now:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. II Cor 3:18

In eternity:

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. I Cor 13:12

All three passages speak of beholding Christ and how this transforms us. It is either implied or stated directly that this seeing is presently ongoing and progressive, but also incomplete. 

Whether this seeing occurs now or in eternity, these passages tell us seeing is the means or mechanism by which we are changed. Something about Christ, who he is in the fullness of his glory and particularly who he is for us, becomes clear (complete) in a way it is not now. Seeing Christ results in our transformation in ever-increasing degrees now, but will only occur completely in eternity. 

In what way will we be like him?

Christ is single in his focus and desire to honor his Father. His vision of the Father is so clear and so perfect, He is in constant rapture with the beauty of the Father. This resulted in a corresponding love for Him that is so great it ²moved Christ to love us in the same way he loves His Father by stepping out of the bliss of his face-to-face beatific view of the ³Father, into our broken world, with all its pain and suffering and taking on human form. He did this so we too might be with him and His Father to behold and partake (share) in the infinite love of the Father along with Him. 

As a result, we too will one day have as perfect and pure a focus on Him and longing for Him in the same way He does. There will no longer be distractions or obstructions. There will be a singleness of focus resulting in singleness of action i.e. we will behold the fullness of his glory and be so enthralled and enlivened by his beauty, wonder, majesty, and greatness we will desire, without distraction or interruption, to extol Him and conduct ourselves in such a way that brings the greatest honor to Him simply because it will be clearly apparent -- infinitely more than now -- that He is worthy of all honor. The greatness of his glory -- his great worth/value to us  -- will be seen and experienced so perfectly and fully, that we will see, experience, and realize He is the fulfillment of all our desires. It is Him that has been missing, and we have longed for all our lives, even if we didn't fully realize it. We will experience, for the first time, that he is all we've ever truly desired, longed for, and sought after throughout our lives and He will be right in front of us and perfectly ours and we will be His, with no obstruction or interruption. Think in terms of presently being separated from the love of your earthly life for an extended period and eagerly anticipating being reunited and never apart again. 

How does hoping for this cause us to want to be pure? ...everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 

The more we come to love and trust him now, the greater our capacity to behold Him as He truly is in eternity. Knowing (hoping for) this moves us to draw nearer to him in greater devotion now, in this life. Learning to depend on and draw ⁴strength from God today increases our capacity to appreciate and experience him "tomorrow" in eternity. This is our reward, God himself. HE is the reward of our faithfulness. This hope moves us to even greater faithfulness.

For a further discussion on glory, I offer the following:

Created for glory II

Crowned with glory and honor

Giving and receiving glory

Why God calls us to glorify him

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¹Image experiencing some devastating loss so great you almost die. As a result, you've completely lost all your strength, and all your senses... hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling, were significantly impaired. Someone from a distant country, with the expertise and unlimited resources to restore you, heard of your plight and began to send you costly and rare treatment at no cost to you. This allowed you to keep going and get well enough to eventually come to the clinic where you are promised you'll be completely restored and made even better than before your loss. As you stabilize and begin to recover, your hope grows and you increasingly look forward to your trip to meet this person who has been treating you from afar. 

You eventually arrive, meet, and spend one-on-one time with this provider and healer. As a result, you are completely restored and the best you have ever been and more. Though you have corresponded and spoken to him many times and you feel you knew him pretty well,  you now finally see him and discover he is even kinder and more caring than you could ever imagine. 

²This love from His Father overflows and moves Christ to love us.

³The Father also gave up something of this in sending Christ to us. 

⁴the essence of this strength we receive is a sense and awareness of how much God values us.