For God to stay his hand of judgment, to forgive and redeem rebellious sinners like us, would have been, in and of itself, a remarkable display of divine love, but our Lord went even further and made us his children! We dare not pass quickly over this point; we must ponder it until we share the awe and wonder of the apostle at this truth.
– Ray Van Neste in the ESV Expository Commentary, Volume 12
Tag: God’s Children
Out of This World Love
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
– I John 3:1a
See! Behold! Open your eyes! Take notice!
God has done something amazing!
What is it? He has given us an amazing gift!
The Father has given His love to us. Bestowed His love on us. Lavished His love upon us.
It is not a skimpy love. It is not a Scroogey love.
See what kind of love. “What kind” has idea of “what country?” If someone does something strange or unexpected we might ask: “What country are you from?”
What in the world?
John says: “Of what country did this love come from?” It is foreign to what we would think.
What in the world kind of love is this?
That God would lavish His love upon us by calling us His children?
That we – rebels/sinners – might bear His name?
That He would claim us as His own?
This love is out of this world!
And yet, He doesn’t just call us His children; we are His children. That is what we are. God has made us His children. We have been adopted by God Himself into His family.
Open your eyes! God has showered an out of this world love upon us that calls and makes us His children.
Brian J. Mikul 