Behold What Manner Of Love (Part1)
During worship last Sunday, I was overwhelmed again by the love of God. I caught a glimpse of what it means to be loved by God. I don’t deserve it, I didn’t earn it, yet He gave His best, He gave Himself to bring me into His world of love.
To know that the best and most accurate way for anyone to define me is not by my name, though I have a good name and it’s not by my role, status or achievement. The best way to define me or any disciple of Christ is that we are loved by Him. We find fulfilment only when we are described in relation to the one who made us and loved us in our broken and unholy state.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3 NKJV).
The way John started this chapter is important and of note. When he said “Behold” he does not simply mean “see” like most translations puts it. John is inviting us to something deeper than a mere glance. He does not want us gloss over it. He is inviting us to linger as we consider and think about the love of the father. He is inviting us to consider it deeply, to muse over the nature of God’s love.
It is only this considered way of looking at God’s love that elicits a reaction like that of the woman with the alabaster jar, who poured and lavished expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36-50). It’s what made Paul consider everything else as dung for the excellency of knowing Christ. It’s why Peter fearlessly requested to be crucified upside down and it’s also why John The Beloved wrote so deeply and affectionately about God’s love.
That creator God lavishes His love on created, imperfect and deeply flawed beings like us is mind blowing. This love that means we get to be called “Children of God”, putting us firmly in relation to His son Jesus, with full access to His inheritance as joint heirs, is beyond human comprehension.
“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, ESV). This means we were incapable of loving until we encountered His love. It is His love that teaches us what love really looks like. The world system has a completely skewed idea of true love. For them, it’s more about feelings. It’s selfish and partial. We are called to a deeper love. We are called to agape. Welcome to love, the heavenly father’s way.
To be continued…