It is no accident, of course, that the Bible so often uses the image of birth in speaking of how God has called men and women into His spiritual family. God has given human birth as an illustration of what the new birth means. In human birth there is first a conception in which the seed of the father unites with the egg of the mother to begin a new life. There is a period of gestation in which that which was begun in such a quiet and small way begins to grow and take form. At last there is the actual birth. In the birth the first cries of the child are heard, and those who stand by rejoice in a new human being. In the same way, men and women become God’s children when God the Father of His own will takes the seed of His Word and plants it within the heart, causing it to unite with the ovum of saving faith, which together begin to grow. At this stage of God’s work those without cannot tell whether spiritual life is present or not. But in time the life within grows and the actual birth takes place. As those standing by hear the public confession of Christ by the newborn, they know of the new life and rejoice in it with the Father (cf. 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18).
It is in line with this conception of salvation that John writes in the prologue to the Gospel, in words that bear a similarity to this section of the epistle, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12- 13).
God did not bring children into spiritual life to thereafter abandon them and let them go to hell, however. He brought them into life in order to make them completely like Jesus and take them with Him into heaven. Therefore, John cannot stop his rhapsody with the mere thought of what we are, but rather goes on to reflect on what we shall be when Christ shall appear and we shall be made like Him.
What we shall be is not completely known to John, a fact which throws light on how 1 John 2:27 should be taken. But enough is known to cause wonder. “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” (3:2). Here there is an important sequence. First, Jesus Christ shall appear. This is the Christian’s earnest expectation. Second, we shall see Him. It will not be a mere spiritual, still less an impersonal, return. Rather, “This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). We shall see Him come. Third, we shall be made like Him. In this latter expression John seems to suggest that there is something in the mere sight of the glorified Christ that will purge His followers of sin and conform them at last to His own perfect image.
