"His Great Love"
1 Jn. 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: . . . (KJV)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!. . . (NIV)
Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called ‘children of God.’ . . . (JB Phillips)
See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children--think of it--and we really are!. . . (LB)
Intro:
Though I have been asked several times, and have tried to pinpoint an answer, I still find it hard to say what my favorite scripture verse is. So many of them have ministered so wonderfully to me. But this verse certainly ranks right up there near the top of the list (with several others).
I think I’ve preached this text more than any other so far. And it continues to make music in my soul!
The Greatness of the Loving
John says, Behold, what manner of love. . . or, How great is the love. . .
If you and I could even begin to grasp the true greatness of the love of God for us we would never underestimate His love. But as it is so many people honestly wonder if God could still love them after all they’ve done.
That kind of thinking is based on a faulty presupposition about the love of God. It presumes God loves you because you were smart enough to take Him up on His offer of salvation. Or because you were good enough to obey His will. Or because you became His child through adoption in Christ. Those are all lies sold by the Devil!
Any idea of the love of God that is based on your performance can only lead to further error. You cannot start off wrong and end up right.
The things I mentioned are all good reasons: You were smart to act on His offer of salvation; The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, . . . (Pr. 9:10a, 1:7) It is good to be obedient to His will - . . .Well done, good and faithful servant! . . . (Mt. 25:23) And you have been adopted as His very own - . . . you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15)
But none of those things can explain why God loves you. They are evidences of His love. For the scriptures say, But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)
If we truly believed in the love of God for us as revealed in the Scriptures we would not minimize His love. We will sometimes hear someone comment "Only God could love a person like that." As if that was something less than wonderful. (Kind of like we meekly remark, "all I can do is pray...") Oh! If God loves you what else matters!? Who else matters?
"Though all the world forsake me still I will follow..."
It makes for a good chorus, but if we could move it from merely an emotional level to somewhere deep down in our soul it would be an immovable anchor in times of storm.
Think about the greatness of this love the Father has bestowed upon us. Think about the kind of love this is. It is God’s love. That makes it a special kind of love. It is no lesser love than that of the Father Himself.
It is an adoptive love. Through the miracle of the greatness of God’s love we become the children of God! Heirs to the Father, joint heirs with the Son.
I have heard of adoptive parents comforting their children with the idea of their love by saying, "Birth children are born to birth parents who simply accept the child who comes, but we chose you. . ."
How great is the love of God that chose us.
The Greatness of the Giving
John exclaims, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, . . . How great is the love the Father has lavished on us . . .
The natural reading of this verse is more like, "See what manner of love the Father has given to us..." (GB) But the word bears the idea "to give freely" so the translators try to convey that meaning with the words "bestow" and "lavish."
God does not give His love to us in some beggarly fashion. His love is not given stingily or guardedly in small doses. He lavishes His love upon us copiously!
This same idea is presented to us in Rom. 5:5 where we read,
. . . God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, . . . The word translated "shed" or "poured out" can also be translated "gush out." (-Vine’s)
How GREAT a gift the love of God is! The gift of His love is HUGE. It is "the love . . . which passes knowledge." (Eph. 3:19) The songwriter describes it as being, "Boundless as the universe around me. . ." and as, "love beyond our human comprehending. . ." (#447 Isn’t the Love of Jesus)
He so literally heaps His love on us!
The Living Bible paraphrases it, "See how very much our heavenly Father loves us . . .?" and for emphasis, later adds, "think of it!" JB Phillips has, "Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us . . ." The word incredible means "not credible - unbelievable." The way the Father so freely gives us His love is too grand for us to fully digest. We have been lavished with His love.
The Greatness of the Calling
The greatness of His love is seen in the greatness of the calling - "that we should be called the sons of God" (KJV), or "the children of God." Some versions finish the thought with "and that’s what we are!" meaning, "that’s what we really are!"
In other words, we are the sons of God both in name and in actuality.
"We" are the objects, the focal point, the recipients of His tremendous lavishing-on of the love of God. The wonderful thing in all of this is that He loves us! And that He loves us so much!
May we never lose the wonder of all this.
In these words of John the beloved there is a subtle hint of our pre-salvation days. I see in John’s marvel of God’s love for us a faint reminder of the way we were before we came to Jesus. "...that WE (of all people!) should be called the sons of God..."
What a salvation message there is in this verse!
The whosoever of the Gospel is so powerfully, yet tenderly personalized in John’s amazement in our adoption into the family of God.
But this is not just a message the unsaved need to hear. This message of adoption is equally important for every believer as well. Remember, these are the words of "the beloved apostle" addressed to the church - the children of God.
What a joy, what wonder, and what great comfort and hope we derive from the theme of God’s tremendous love that adopts us as His very own!
It’s a message for the sinner an saint alike; the love of God will make a place for you in the family of God.
Close:
My Savior’s Love #466
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!
When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see,
‘Twill be my jot through the ages to sing of His love for me.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!
Stop doubting God’s love for you.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 Jn. 4:10)
Stop minimizing His love for you.
The love of God is the greatest and grandest love of all. And He has lavished it on us, so much as to adopt you as His child - if you’ve received Christ Jesus. . .
Walk in love. . . obey His commands. (1 Jn. 5:3)
Joy in His love. Marvel in it. And tell others of it.
