“Do you not know what we will be?”

1 John 3.1-3

Pastor Tom Johnson, November 6, 2011

 

Mother butterfly lays a tiny, round egg on a stem or leaf. She lays the egg near plenty of food. She puts the egg in a good position for survival. But she will never come back to monitor the egg. She will never return in order to show her young what the next step is. Soon a tiny larva will come out of that egg—a little worm-like creature that immediately begins to eat the vegetation around. The tiny larva grows bigger every day. It soon becomes a caterpillar eating and growing. And I wonder: Caterpillar, do you not know where you came from? Do you not know what you will be? Are you eating and growing but unaware that one day you will be re-created—that one day you will spread your wings and soar into the sky?

The Scriptures tells us where we came from. Psalm 139 (v. 13) says that we have been knit together by God in our mother’s womb…and (v. 14) that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has not left as to fend for ourselves. He has not abandoned us as orphans. God has not abandoned the caterpillars. He has not abandoned the little sparrows. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” (Matt 10:29). He has not abandoned any of his creatures—especially those creatures who have been created in his image. Our Scripture says, “We are God’s children now.”

The young caterpillar builds a chrysalis—a cocoon around itself. It lays itself down to rest. Its soft tissue breaks down and harder firmer structures are formed. And I wonder: Caterpillar, do you think that you are dying? Do you think that this is the end? Do you not know what you will be? Do you not know that you will be reborn soon—that you will be a new creation?

Scripture asks us if we know? Paul asks us in Romans chapter 6, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Do you, Christian, think that you will be overcome by death? Do you think that death is end? Do you not know what you will be? Do you not know that we already have the life of Christ at work in us?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” “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.”

The caterpillar’s time in the chrysalis comes to an end. Its transformation is complete. It wakes up from its strange slumber. It spreads its wings and flies off to a bigger world—far above and far away from its beginning. It is a butterfly. And I wonder: Butterfly, did you not know this day would come? Or are you thinking to yourself, “Finally this day has come”? Or are you thinking, “Now isn’t this a surprise! I never knew I had it in me”?

“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.” When Jesus died on the cross and was buried, he knew what he would be. He knew that just as Jonah was in the cocoon of the fish for three days, so Jesus would be in the cocoon of the tomb for three days. Jesus overcame death, the devil, and the grave. And that same power that raised him from the dead lives within us—now. And do you not know what we will be is even more glorious?

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ’s death will be raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so that we too might walk in newness of life? Do you know not know that those with faith in Jesus—those saints who are absent from the body are now present with the Lord? Do you know not know that those skeptics around us may soon break free from their cocoons of doubt and unbelief? Do you not know that the same power that worked in Jesus works in them, you, and me?

“What we will be has not yet appeared.” We will be transformed. We will be renewed. We will be re-created. “When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” When we see Jesus face to face, it will the final transformation of our minds, bodies, and spirits. Do you not know that we are his children now? That is who we are. And do you not know that one day we will spread our wings, take flight, and radiate his love and glory forever and ever?