1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
We are God’s children, adopted into the Father’s family by Jesus. Despite the world’s denial, our adoption remains true (Romans 8:14-17). The world did not acknowledge its Creator when He became flesh in Jesus and lived among us. God’s Word proclaims our identity as children of God.
The experience of the Father’s great love for us should grow stronger over time, permeating our thoughts, behavior, and motivation to serve God. It should provide comfort, hope, and awe at His willingness to die for us, even if we are sinful or rebellious. “Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, my God, should die for me!” It is important to remember that God loves us unconditionally and should never be taken for granted.
According to Alexander Maclaren (Expositions of Holy Scripture [Baker], on 1 John, pp. 298–299), the cornerstone of all active, joyful Christian living is a habit of fervent, grateful reflection on God’s great love as demonstrated in the sacrifice of His Son for us, as well as the humble, grateful conviction that I am a child of God as a result. He gives the example that if you had a friend in Australia but never gave him any consideration or spoke to him, the friendship would die out and become meaningless in your life. You must often reflect about this person and what he means to you in order for the friendship to have an impact on you.
Maclaren also emphasizes that thinking of this kind always takes a lot of work. Too many other things occupy our everyday lives, for all of us. God’s wonderful love will be pushed out of our daily lives and thoughts if we do not consciously choose to set aside time and effort to concentrate on what God has done for us in Christ and filter out all of these urgent things.
We are all prone to give excuses why it’s so hard to love “so and so” such as “He/She’s so mean to me” or “All they do is gripe and complain. I can’t do anything right.”
Just imagine where would we be if God made excuses as to why He couldn’t love us?
Our measley excuses won’t hold a candle to God’s infinite love for us. Even more amazing is the fact that God’s love is a gift. The only action required on our part is to receive it.
Whoever has believed and received Christ as their Saviour has been declared a child of God.
