1 John 3:1

The Love of the Father

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” - 1 John 3:1-3

Introduction

Certain texts of Scripture are so precious, so majestic and glorious, that they just humble a preacher to his core. The great British pastor and theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of the passage before us:

“any man who has to preach upon such a text or upon such a word must be unusually conscious of his own smallness and inadequacy and unworthiness… I have never chosen, in and of myself, to preach upon this text. I have often felt that I would like to, but there are certain great words like this in Scripture of which frankly I am, in a sense, frightened; frightened as a preacher, lest anything that I say may detract from them or may rob anyone of their greatness and their glory.”

Whether right or wrong, I certainly feel a bit of the gravity captured by Jones’ words there. How can human language capture the grace and glory of such a text as this? How could the pitiful sermon of a fallen human with manifold corruptions produce the gratitude appropriate from such words?

In this text, John stops between two application points of the new birth, to glory in the reality of being adopted by God. You’ll notice that in 2:29 (the verse preceding this) and 3:4-11 (the passage proceeding this), John talks about how being God’s children causes us to live in patterns of righteousness. However, for this brief moment, it’s as if John were so overwhelmed by the reality of adoption that he can’t help but put aside his current train of thought and just exult in the gospel for a moment. As if to say, “Hold up! Let’s just stop now and look at what God has done! Consider who you were, and what Jesus did for you! Not only that, but do you have any idea what kind of incredible good things God has for you in eternity, dear Christian?” 

The whole of Christianity is understood through these precious realities of the Fatherhood of God, and the identity of believers as His sons and daughters. Does the thought of this make the hairs stand up on the back of your head? Does it bring tears to your eyes? Do you understand who God is, and who you are as a result of your salvation? Along these lines, J. I. Packer says, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father… ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God.” The extent to which we understand the doctrine of adoption measures the extent to which we mature as believers. In verse one, you’ll notice the glories of adoption, that we may stand in awe of the gospel; verse two tells of the timing of adoption, that we may have assurance and hope in the gospel; and lastly, verse three speaks of the result of adoption, that we may live appropriately in light of what God has done. In this chapter, I’d like to focus singularly on verse one, covering the love of God and it’s separating effect.

“Behold” - His Love is to be Seen

For many years, my religion resembled a roller coaster when it came to my emotions. One day, I would feel on top of the world; I’d have the confidence to stand on street corners and pay any cost necessary to live for Christ! On other days, at the slightest conviction of an inkling of sin, I would plunge down into the depths of despair wondering if I was even saved at all. One day, as I was meditating in prayer upon Romans 5:8 (“But God commendeth [demonstrates] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”), I felt a sudden lack of the love of God in my life. I began to pace the room in anxious prayer asking God for more of His love. Eventually, my anxiety turned to anger as I felt robbed. So many people had such great encounters of the love of God while I had so little! Frustrated, I prayed, “God, I’m tired of hearing sermons and singing songs of your love while experiencing what seems like nothing. Why can’t you just tell me now that you love me!” I was selfish and wrong to speak to my God, Creator, and Father in such a way, but in mercy, He rebuked me in my conscience. Now, I firmly believe that God only speaks to us through Scripture (I am a cessationist), but it was through Romans 5:8 that I sensed God telling me something like, “Matthew, I don’t have to tell you I love you...I SHOWED YOU I LOVE YOU! I demonstrated my love for you on the cross! You don’t need to work up a feeling, or search for some flowery prophetic insight. Just look to the cross and believe my Word.” 

The love of God isn’t something you need to feel or hear (although God does give us preachers and good feelings), as much as it is something you need to constantly see through the eyes of faith. God said through the prophet, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). On the banks of the Jordan river, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)! Paul tells us that Jesus was “set forth to be a propitiation through faith” (Romans 3:25), meaning that the Father displayed Christ His Son like a billboard to be seen by the nations for salvation. Lastly, the writer of Hebrews defines the Christian life as “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). All throughout the Scriptures we are constantly called to stop looking at ourselves and our sins, and instead look to God who loved us in Christ. 

It’s for these reasons that when the old puritan John Bunyan described the moment of salvation in his famous work the Pilgrim’s Progress, he used the allegory of sight. The main character Christian had a heavy burden on his back from the moment he realized he was a sinner. He went from place to place trying to be free of the dreadful weight of that burden. He tried to find relief through morality and obedience to the law, but nothing could free him. It wasn’t until he came to a hill with a cross at the top that everything changed. As he looked to the cross and walked toward the top of the hill, the burden fell from his back, and rolled into a nearby tomb! Christian kept staring in relief at the cross until tears streamed down his face, and he sang this hymn,

"Thus far did I come laden with my sin,
Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in,
Till I came hither. What a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss!
Must here the burden fall from off my back!
Must here the strings that bound it to me crack!
Blest cross! blest sepulchre! blest rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me!"

Dear Christian, your problem is never on God’s end. You may just be looking for love in all the wrong places. John calls to you, “Behold! Look at the love God has for you at the cross, the empty tomb, and the man who suffered there for you!” 

“What Manner of Love” - His Love is Special

While it may be easy to quickly skip over this phrase “manner of love,” there is an incredible truth here worth stopping for a moment to consider. The Greek word used for “manner” is “potapos,” which also translates to “country, nation, or tribe.” It’s as if John had said, “No person on earth loves you the way this God loves you.” Or better yet, “There is no kind of love in this realm that compares to the love of God.” Because God is perfect and unfailing, His love is perfect and unfailing. Because God is eternal and unchanging, His love is eternal and unchanging. Every attribute that God possesses is contained in His love without contradiction or shadow of turning. Because the depths of God can never be fully explored or uncovered, neither can the glories of His love. 

When trying to preach the gospel, I once heard a kid in Bible college give the illustration of a crush he had on a girl in school. He eloquently made the point that when she had every reason to reject Him, she accepted his request to go on a date. Somehow that was supposed to communicate the love of God to us…. I’ve heard other preachers give better illustrations, comparing the gospel to a soldier dying for his men on the battlefield, or a judge forgiving a criminal. The reality is that none of these illustrations can measure up to how other-worldly and glorious the love of God in the gospel of Christ is. Every attempt to describe it falls short. The most glorious articulations from the greatest human preachers pale in comparison to how stunningly magnificent the love of God is. 

“Bestowed” - His Love is Set on Those God Seeks

The love of the Father is bestowed upon us personally. It is not something we earn by obedience to the law. It is not something we deserve for good behavior. It is not gained or won by human action or achievement. The love of God is the gift of a Father to His precious children. We are loved by Him because we are born of Him; He loves us on account of who He has made us to be, family. He seeks us out and personally sets His unique otherworldly love upon us. 

In our day, most adoptions take place when a couple wants an infant or young child to add to their family. However, in Bible times, adoption usually took place between adults whenever one person wanted to grant the family inheritance to another. In 2 Samuel 9, David longed to display the lovingkindness of God to someone in the lineage of Saul for the sake of his old friend Jonathan. Usually, kings would slaughter the lineage of former kings because their existence was a threat to the new administration. However, David found the crippled son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth had nothing to contribute because of his disability, and had every reason to die for his bloodline. But David restored all of the inheritance of Jonathan to Mephibosheth, including wealth, land, and favor. Not only that, but David gave Mephibosheth a permanent place at his own royal table. The table of fellowship erases all accounts of judgment. From that moment forward, Mephibosheth was practically a part of David’s family when he should have only been part of David’s executions. 

Too many of our gospel presentations focus on the work of man in salvation! I like the old hymns like Victory in Jesus, because they understood that salvation is primarily about the work of God, 

Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere [before] I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Rather than focus on what you did to get saved, you should spend most of your time focusing on what God did to save you. Jesus was the one who sought us out and did all the work necessary to reconcile us. The language of “I found Jesus,” isn’t entirely Biblical; Jesus wasn’t lost, He didn’t need to be found. Before we knew Him, He loved us. Every bit of love we have for God is due to the love that He first had for us. He bestowed it upon us. 

“That we should be called” - His Love is Scandalous

Recently, I heard a great pastor named Mike Stone preach on the love of Jesus. He gave the illustration of a time he preached a church member’s funeral, and toward the end, the congregants lined up to shake his hand as they left. When one individual approached next in line, Mike Stone extended his hand, but the man crossed his arms and gave him a cold shoulder. That act was one of the most insulting things a person could have done in such a moment, and Mike Stone had no idea why the act was done! Sometimes, people who don’t know us have no legitimate reason to hate us, but do so anyway. Pastor Stone then made the closing point, “I’m not shocked when a person who doesn’t know me rejects me, I’m shocked that a God who does know me could ever love and accept me the way He does!”

We like to think that if people just knew our hearts, they would like us more. The reality is that our hearts are deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and the more a righteous person could see of our hearts, the more they would be inclined to reject us. The scandal of grace is that our God knows all things about us more than anyone, but still chooses to love us all the more! He knows the depths of our hearts and the innermost secrets of our lives. He knows the extent of our damnation deserving depravity. Yet, knowing all this, He loves us so much that He would die for us on the cross. Rightly has it been said, we are more sinful than we could possibly imagine, yet we are loved more than we could possibly imagine. The sight of the cross should make us confess, “For me? He died for me? This is amazing grace! This is amazing love, that the Father would make someone like me His adopted child!”

“Therefore, the world knoweth us not” - His Love Separates

Never be surprised when people reject you for your new found status in the family of God. When Christ came to His own, they rejected Him (John 1:10-11); do you really think they would treat His brothers and sisters any differently? No strange thing is happening when people look at your life and say, “Who do you think you are? You’re a child of God, huh? So, you think you’re better than the rest of us?” To which, every Christian should answer, “I do not think I’m better; in fact, I know I am infinitely worse! I am the worst person I know, but God forgave and adopted me. If this God could have mercy on the worst person I know (me), then He can surely show mercy to you too.” But don’t be surprised if they refuse to hear that response. They rejected your God, so they will reject you too, and John says that’s an expected part of the Christian life. You are different now by the grace of God alone, so don’t get proud!

When my faith started to bear fruit in my life, I began to lose friends. I went to a concert one night, and I was grieved when an old friend sarcastically said something like, “Great! Matthew’s here, I guess Jesus showed up and the fun is over!” At first it hurt my feelings, but then I realized that he associated my presence with that of Jesus; something about my faith was tangibly seen and felt by others. This is when I first began to understand the eighth Beatitude:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

Persecution can be something as great as taking a bullet and torture for your faith, and it can be something as mundane as loosing friends. I’ve found that many people who say they would be willing to die for Christ aren’t near as willing to lose their reputation for Him. If the love of the Father is set on you, the world will see something different about you, and that’s a good thing! That is cause to rejoice! Something is going right. 

Conclusion

The love of God is to be seen, it is special, it is set upon those God seeks, it is scandalous, and it separates us from a fallen world. Endless books could be written on the love of God. The love of God is what makes life worth living. For the next couple chapters, we will further explore what John has to say about this glorious subject of adoption. For now, let us lose ourselves in the love of God. Look to the cross, consider who you are and what God has done. Do this until you can declare with the old hymn writer, 

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above  
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.