We have the same conversation almost every night at bedtime. I tell my daughter I love her. She says, “I love you more.” And I reply, “That’s not possible. I love you most, and I loved you first.”
I win the Who-Loves-Whom-The-Most battle because I loved my daughter before she even had an awareness that I existed. I know her 13-year-old mind can’t begin to fathom the depth of my love for her. It reminds me of God’s love—a love so deep, so wide, so infinite, so indescribable, beyond the comprehension of His children.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)
This month we’re going to spend three weeks looking at this verse – today we’ll focus on the first phrase. If you look at other Bible translations, this phrase is translated, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us” or “lavished on us.”
In R.C. Sproul’s book Saved From What?, he wrote that John started with this word “see” or “behold” as a way of getting his readers’ attention. John wanted them to stop and pay attention to what he was writing here, because this is a big deal. This is a big love. This love is different from any other love we’ve experienced.
What is the manner of this love that God has lavished on us? Later in his letter, John wrote this:
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
Propitiation refers to Christ’s turning away God’s wrath from us by taking it on Himself. This is the kind of love God has for us – the kind that compelled Him to send His Son to die in our place and take the punishment our sin deserved.
No matter what you face this week, stop and behold the amazing love God has lavished on you.
Share
[…] month we’re spending three weeks looking at 1 John 3:1. Last week we heard John’s call to stop and pay attention to this saving love that the Father has lavished […]