“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.” (1 John 3:1 ESV)
John 3:16 is likely the most well-known verse in the entire Bible: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The English construction of the verse, however, can be somewhat misleading, because the “so” does not describe the degree of God’s love, as is often the case—God loved us so much—but the manner of God’s love—God loved us in this way. In other words, the Father sent the Son into the world to display the Father’s love for the world.
As he does in his Gospel, here in his first epistle John again uses a similar grammatical construction to display to his readers the manner of God’s love. Not only did the Father send his Son into the world that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life, but also that we should be called children of God. John is showing us, in tangible terms, how God shows his love. Note the direct connection between the Father sending his Son and God calling us his children; it is only because the Son has come into the world that we are able to be adopted as children of God, which again shows us how God loves us.
To grasp this, consider the holiness of God and his diametric opposition to sin. God is holy both in his nature and in all his acts. All that he does flows out of and is perfectly consistent with his holy nature. We, conversely, are sinful both in our nature and in our actions. In our fallen state, all that we do is affected by our corrupt nature. Before God judged the world in Noah’s day by sending a global flood, the wickedness of man’s heart was such that “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). This does not only describe Noah’s contemporaries but every human being in their unregenerate state as a descendants of Adam.
Despite this, Paul says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Christ not only came to us and for us but did so when we were least interested in him and most undeserving of him. Christ did not come to a cleaned-up people excited to receive him but to a people who hated him and deserved his just wrath.
In what manner has God shown us his love? Scripture testifies repeatedly that salvation is the work of God from beginning to end. God chose to love us in eternity past of his own sovereign initiative (Ephesians 1:4–5). He sent his Son to show us how he loves us. Christ died for us while we were still in our sin to show us how he loves us. God calls us his children to show us how he loves us. And how to we receive that sonship in Christ? By receiving him and believing in his name (John 1:12).
We cannot choose God on our own because we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1), hostile to God (Romans 8:7), incapable of understanding spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:14), and unable to please him (Romans 8:8). But while we were in that state, God showed his love for us by sending his Son as our propitiation in order that we may be adopted as his children.
When we are called to be his children, we are also called out of the world in a spiritual sense. We remain in the world until Christ returns or calls us home, but we are no longer known by the world because we are no longer of the world.
If you believe in Christ for your salvation, it is because God loves you and has chosen you in Christ. He does not call us his children with reluctance, but with eternal, unchangeable love—a manner of love which he has displayed for us in every aspect of our redemption.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We are humbled by the manner of love which you have shown to us in sending your Son for us that we may be saved through grace by faith and adopted as your children. Impress on us the glory of redemption and the worthiness of Christ, that you may be magnified for your love for us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Tuesday: Pray for the ongoing effort to send missionaries to the lost and unreached.
- Wednesday: Pray for missionaries serving in camp ministry in Romania to bear much fruit.
- Thursday: Pray for missionaries serving in pro-life prenatal ministry in Peru to protect and provide for the most vulnerable.
- Friday: Pray for short-term teams in Zambia using medical care to reach the lost with the gospel.
- Saturday: Pray for the staff and students of SBBE Toledo seminary in Spain to grow in knowledge of God and his Word.
- Sunday: Pray for missionaries working as design and construction professionals to work with craftsmanship and excellence to the glory of God.
- Monday: Pray for missionaries serving in Germany to bring hope to the large refugee population.
Featured Opportunity to Serve:
Administrative Assistant
Location: Togo
Hospital of Hope, in northern Togo, is looking for a skilled administrative assistant to assume tasks in general office work and data entry for hospital administration. Other duties include scheduling the logistics of travelers and short-term volunteers coming to the hospital.
