A Pattern of Purity

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2 ESV)

Today we see the love of God patterned and shaped by the very Son of God who is risen from the dead. During this Easter season here at International Lutheran Church, we will be reading through the first letter of John to the churches in Asia Minor.

The Apostle John’s first letter to the churches is familiar to us as it makes up some of the key elements of our weekly liturgy – like our opening confession (1 John 1:8-10). This letter, like all of John’s writings, points us to the love of God revealed in Jesus, His Beloved Son. This love of God the Father made manifest in Jesus is the very focus of the gospel that transforms our lives. Through this sacrificial love, God demonstrates His love for us. Through this love we have been made children of God, pure and righteous, just as He is pure and righteous. This love becomes the very pattern of our new lives together in Him.

Maybe you have had the opportunity to take in some of the spring flowers that are all around us. The visual as well as aromatic reminders of God’s creativity cannot be missed. Yet, these patterns, images, and scents are only a dim reflection of the beauty of the One and Only Son of God. His pattern of purity is of the life that He laid down for you and me. He is the very image and pattern that reshapes our lives. We are made pure and righteous through His forgiving love, and we become the very example of God’s love today, here and now.

Peter and John experienced the reality of this new pattern for living as they boldly gave witness to the power and presence of Jesus our Savior following the healing of the lame man in the presence of so many people (Acts 3:11-21). Our lives also give witness to His grace and mercy in both big and small ways. This pattern of death to life is the very pattern of our own lives in Him as He has made us alive again in Him. In Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Jesus brings us into this pattern of death and life anew. Through these means of grace, He makes us pure through the forgiveness of our sins. As we are made pure - made righteous - our lives change and reflect this pattern of purity that becomes our hope as we wait to be made like Him on that last day.

The world that God created is filled with an amazing variety of patterns, shapes, and images that He has made. But the single greatest pattern is that of our risen Jesus. He is the very pattern of purity that shapes us into a new identity in righteousness and purity. This pattern of purity is not only our future hope, but it is our present reality in Him who is risen from the dead.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl