1 John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Okay, don't laugh at me. I don't know what I used to think this verse meant, but it wasn't anything normal. "It has not yet been revealed what we shall be." Will we have three arms? Two heads? Will we look like creatures out of a Sponge Bob episode?

No, that's not what I thought. But I thought "not yet been revealed" meant that there'd be some kind of surprise when it finally is revealed. Y'know how kids in Sunday School (or grown-ups, for that matter) will ask questions about what our "glorified bodies" will be like after the resurrection? I've heard it asked SO many times whether we'll be able to walk through walls like Jesus. Or [poof] appear and disappear. (Actually, the Bible never says Jesus could "walk through walls." It just says in John 20 that Jesus "appeared in their midst.") So there is lots of wondering about what WILL be revealed someday that hasn't been revealed yet -- and it's not just me.

So when we got to this in Bible class a couple of weeks ago, I asked. And Pastor gave one of those DOH! answers, where you think, "Of course! Why didn't I see that before? It's so obvious!"

He said that it "hasn't been revealed" because we don't know what it's like to be sin-free. We don't know what it's like to have pure motives. We don't know what it's like to have no pain, no sorrow, no selfishness. We don't know what it's like to live in a world that has been freed from the curse of the fall. So, yes, we have been told what's coming, and in that sense, it has been revealed. And yet, it hasn't been revealed because we haven't seen what is coming, and we can't even begin to imagine what it will be like.