Behold What Manner of Love: Children of God

John opens First John 3 with the astonishing cry, “what manner of love,” and that cry is meant to make the child of God stop and take a deep look. The apostle has been separating true believers from pretenders by the marks of righteousness and love, but now the same truth comes under the banner of sonship. God’s love does not merely make sinners right, redeemed, reconciled, and sanctified. God’s love brings them into the family, so that the sovereign Creator of all things is known intimately as “Abba, Father.”

The word “manner” carries wonder, something peculiar, unique, and almost beyond comprehension. The word “bestowed” carries the weight of an unearned, permanent gift, granted profusely and without limit. God’s love cannot be tarnished, diminished, or worn thin over time. The cross proves that love once and for all, because Christ died while sinners were still enemies, unworthy and unable to rescue themselves. Salvation begins with love, and grace comes as the provision that love makes available.

Sonship is an exclusive identity. The world does not know the children of God because the world did not know Christ. Righteous living matters, but righteousness alone does not automatically reveal Jesus to the lost. The life and the words belong together, because the church lives like Christ in order to tell others about Christ. Not every person is a child of God, though every person bears the image of God. Scripture makes a distinction between children of God and children of wrath, and only faith in Jesus Christ brings adoption as sons and daughters.

Verse two gives the exciting reality of what shall be. The child of God already belongs to the Father, but the full glory has not yet been revealed. The promise stands that when Christ is revealed, the children of God shall be like him, because they shall see him as he is. The best is yet to come, and that hope is meant to change life now. Sanctification may be slow and fluctuating, but glorification will be immediate, complete, and glorious.

Hope also carries an expected purity. Everyone with this hope purifies himself because Christ is pure. The Father’s love removes the desire to live in sin, even though the believer still stumbles. Sin against God is no longer merely lawbreaking. For the child of God, sin is against the Father and against love. The Father may chasten, but he will never abandon. This permanent relationship calls for holy living, deep meditation on Jesus, and a life that honors the name and legacy of the heavenly Father.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s love gives exclusive identity. God’s love does more than rescue from judgment. God’s love grants adoption, making believers sons and daughters of the Most High. This identity is not a general label for all humanity, but a grace given only through faith in Jesus Christ. The wonder of sonship should be deeply considered, not casually assumed. [41:09]
• 2. The cross proves love permanently. God’s love is not measured by present comfort, emotional intensity, or spiritual performance. The cross stands as the eternal proof that Christ died while sinners were still enemies and unworthy. That means the Father’s love cannot be increased by obedience or decreased by weakness, because it was bestowed before merit ever entered the picture. [31:42]
• 3. Righteous living needs gospel witness. A moral life is necessary, but morality by itself does not explain Jesus to the lost. The world did not recognize Christ, so the world will not automatically interpret Christian conduct correctly. The life that practices righteousness must be joined to words that proclaim the love and gospel of Jesus. [38:16]
• 4. Future glory strengthens present faithfulness. The child of God does not yet see the full shape of what shall be. Christ’s appearing will bring immediate and complete transformation, and that promise gives strength in the slow and uneven process of sanctification. The best is yet to come, but the victory of that future belongs to the believer now. [44:11]
• 5. Hope produces a purified life. Biblical hope is not grasping at straws, but confident expectation rooted in God’s promise. That hope creates a desire to be holy because the Father is holy. Sin becomes grievous not merely because it breaks law, but because it strikes against the Father’s love.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [23:24] - What Manner of Love
• [24:30] - Sonship and Genuine Faith
• [27:29] - The Wonder of Being God’s Child
• [29:24] - A Unique and Lavished Love
• [31:42] - The Cross Proves God’s Love
• [35:38] - Behold the Love Bestowed
• [37:41] - Righteous Living and Gospel Witness
• [40:13] - Not Everyone Is God’s Child
• [41:50] - What Believers Shall Be
• [44:11] - Changed in the Twinkling of an Eye
• [47:41] - Trading Up for a Glorified Body
• [50:07] - Hope That Purifies
• [52:22] - Sin Against Father and Love
• [59:30] - Salvation Means Adoption

Bible Reading

1 John 3:1-3
“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 now children of God, 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. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” [23:24]

Romans 5:8
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [31:42]

John 1:12-13
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” [28:18]

Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” [34:23]

1 Corinthians 15:52
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” [44:21]

Observation questions

1. In 1 John 3:1-3, what present realities and future promises are given to the children of God?
2. According to John 1:12-13, who becomes a child of God, and how does that happen? [28:18]
3. In Galatians 4:4-7, what words describe the change from what a believer was before Christ to what he is now?
4. In 1 John 3:3, what is connected to hope, and how is that hope supposed to affect a believer’s life? [50:07]

Interpretation questions

1. 1 John 3:1 says believers are not only called children of God, but truly are. Why does that matter for how a Christian understands salvation and relationship with God? [59:30]
2. Romans 5:8 shows that Christ died for sinners while they were still unworthy. How does that shape the way a believer should think about God’s love on weak days, sinful days, or confusing days? [31:42]
3. 1 John 3:1 says the world does not know God’s children because it did not know Christ. Why is righteous living alone not enough to make Christ known to the lost? [38:16]
4. 1 John 3:2 promises that believers shall be like Christ when they see him as he is. How should that future certainty help someone who feels discouraged by slow spiritual growth right now? [44:11]

Application questions

1. “Behold” calls for more than a quick glance. What helps a person slow down and really consider the Father’s love? What tends to keep that love feeling ordinary or distant in daily life? [35:48]
2. If being a child of God is an exclusive identity given through faith in Christ, has that become a clear and settled truth personally, or is there still uncertainty about whether God is truly Father? [41:09]
3. The cross is the lasting proof of God’s love. When guilt, failure, or spiritual dryness begins to speak loudly, what truths from the cross need to be remembered more deliberately? [31:49]
4. Christian living and Christian witness belong together. In everyday relationships, where is there a tendency to live decently but stay silent about Jesus? What might simple, faithful gospel speech look like there? [38:16]
5. The best is yet to come, and that future is meant to shape the present. What changes when a person actually lives with the expectation that Christ could come at any time? [46:23]
6. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself. What specific habits, influences, or patterns may be dulling holiness right now? What would it look like to pursue purity in one concrete area this week? [50:15]
7. Sin for the believer is not only against law, but against the Father and against love. How might repentance grow deeper if sin is seen that way? Is there a sin that needs to be brought honestly before the Father instead of excused or hidden? [52:22]