On this Thanksgiving Eve here in America, I found I couldn’t move past the first verse of the chapter!
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not.” 1 John 3:1
The apostle John has always been my favorite of Jesus’ disciples, for I love that in John’s gospel he always refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. I can’t prove it, but I tend to think Jesus loved all the disciples, but the fact that Jesus loved him was all consuming to John and all that mattered to him in terms of his identity! Can you relate?
The Strong’s Concordance defines the word, “behold” as a Greek imperative meaning – literally, "Be sure to see . . . !," i.e. "Don't miss this! It is an observable, objective fact!"
Can you see how important it was to John that you and I grasp how much the Father loves us? John is calling us to turn our attention to something extraordinary in his mind! "John is utterly spellbound in holy awe. “Behold,the love of the Father.” This was something that the apostle could not get over and he never will. Eternity will not exhaust its marvel.” - John Murray
Look and See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 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. —1 John 3:1-2
There are very few places in the Old Testament where God is referred to as Father. Jesus radically changed that when He came, by speaking of God as, “My Father,” “Our Father,” and “Your heavenly Father.” And John is desperate for us to grasps the manner of love the Father has “bestowed” on us, for when we do, it will change everything!
We worship a God who adopts His enemies through the sacrifice of His Son! A God who makes us His children at the price of His
only begotten. Can you imagine such a love!? That’s how much He loves YOU. It's overwhelming and awe inspiring! And John stands breathless in awe of this incredible truth. “Behold, what manner of love the Father has given
to us that we, we should be called children of God.”
For, the Father’s love is the highest form of love; a devoted love as of a father for his child. It’s a love that looks beyond our past with all its mistakes and failures. It looks beyond our present faults and weaknesses! It sees the potential in all of us as to what we can become with God’s help. It sees in us what we can do when we put our lives into His hands and let Him shape us into His image.
What manner of love is this? It is a love that claims us as a true daughter/son, as one of the family, even as a soul worth dying for.
I remember as a young Christian, I had a hard time calling The Lord Jesus, my Friend. I could call Him, Lord, God, Savior, but Friend seemed so foreign that I actually prayed and asked Him to help me be able to call Him, "Friend"! Has that ever happened to you? Up until that time, my view of God had been of a righteous Judge! One to be feared and revered, but as I drew closer to The Lord (James 4:7-10; 1Pet 5:6-8) and as He began to reveal more and more of Himself to me (Phil 3:8,10), it really wasn’t long at all that one day, as I was praying I whispered, “...my Friend”. I can still remember the moment and the joy that filled my heart! It was in becoming more and more deeply and intimately acquainted with all He is that caused my love to grow and our relationship to deepen. It seemed so trivial then, to share that moment with anyone else, but this is exactly what John is trying to convey here in this chapter!! For I believe John already understands that when we truly grasps the depths of God's love for us, constant sinners, that, this will be what will motivate us not only to obey and follow the Lord, but to turn and lavish His love on others as well!
Jesus told us, “If you love Me, you’ll keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” - John 14:15-18
He also gave us a new command,
We know that God’s love (1 Cor 13) is not a feeling, but has always been active! It’s been proven time and time again by actions, which is precisely what John is pointing out in this chapter. He draws a line in the sand with those who are children of God on one side and those of the devil (3:8) on the other, and he exhorts those that are His to actively be about demonstrating the love that dwells within each of us!
And what better time to be reminded of these truth than on the eve of Thanksgiving; the day we set aside to give God thanks for all He has given to us!?
O Father, Please help us to continue to marvel over how amazing Your
love for us is!! May we never loose sight of the depth of Your love for each one of us!! And may it cause us to love You all the more abundantly, so that it will begin to spill over unto others around us!
If we could only grasps how deep and wide Your love is for each one of us today, I do believe we could hugely impact this world all for Your glory, honor and praise!! Amen