SEEING THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR YOU!

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 God’s children now, 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! I John 3:1-3

John, in his writings, thinks often of God’s love. As you look at the Gospel of John it would seem that John was overwhelmed with the thought that he was loved by God and compelled to exult in it. In John 3:16 he records the words of the Lord Jesus, “God so loved the world” and reveals the measure of God’s love. As you look at the Epistle of 1 John it would seem that even in his old age he was still amazed by the fact that he was loved by God. John now says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” His words show us that…

The Father’s love for you is meant to be seen and savored!

I want to draw your attention to one word: “See”. It may not immediately impact you but it should. It is rich, powerful, and life-changing. This is John’s passionate exclamation and command to all of us. “See” is often translated, “behold”. As an exclamation, “see” shows that the Fathers great love is meant to amaze us, but in order to be amazed by it, God’s love is meant to be seen and savored; to be known and cherished; to be understood and treasured.

Some things grow very commonplace over time. We’ve heard about them and known them for years. Maybe at first, when it was new, an idea or experience affected us, but over the years, the effect grows weaker and weaker, until finally it’s just a far distant memory. But the Father’s great love for us is the kind of experience that God wants to grow stronger and stronger over the years in understanding and intensity, until it totally dominates every aspect of our lives. He desires it to consume our thoughts and control our behavior. He wants our seeing and savoring His love to motivate us to serve Him and to live holy lives. He wants the sight of His love to give us comfort in all our trials. He desires his love to fill us with the eager hope of being with Him in heaven. The sight of His love is meant to fill us with awe and worship.

Do you see and savor the Father’s love? I think of Paul who in thinking about God wrote in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” I ask myself and ask you: where is your “Oh!” in response to God and His great love?

There are so many diverse “Oh’s” that come out of seeing the Father’s love. Do we feel the “Oh” of enchantment, excitement, amazement, awe, wonder, yearning, submission, joy and satisfaction over the sight of this love? I think many people have lost the “Oh!” in their relationship with and response to God. Don’t let yourself ever hear of the Father’s great love and think, “Ho hum!” Perhaps this happens to us because when we think of God’s love, our response is more of a “who” of ignorance, or a “Huh” of disinterest, or a “so what” of bored indifference. It isn’t exclamatory excitement but a religious snore that emanates from the soul of those who don’t see and savor the love of God. How different this is from the cry of John, who is so amazed, awestruck, humbled, joyful, and excited that he invites us to join him and “see what manner of love the Father has given to us”. Look at it, be staggered by it, feel the wonder of it, be touched in the core of your soul by it, be amazed and astonished by it- the depth, the quality, the commitment of His heart to you.

The Father’s love for you is meant to instruct you

“See” is not only a passionate exclamation, it is also a command. “Stop everything else! Look at this! Think about it! Reflect upon this! Fill your minds with this truth! Ponder the significance of it!” Paul exhorts us in 2 Timothy 2:7, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.". John doesn’t just speak of the fact that God loves you, but how God loves you and he wants you to see this and feel it!

The word translated, “what kind”originally meant, “of what country, or race”. It is the same word spoken about Jesus in Matthew 8:27 after He calmed the storm out at sea and they said “what sort of man is this that even the wind and the seas obey Him?” What they saw the Lord do amazed them. When they saw the miracle, they thought, This man is out of this world. What we saw is strange and foreign. They had never seen anyone do what they saw Him do.

John says that the kind of love that He has shown to us, when seen and reflected upon, leaves us speechless and amazed. It is the kind of love that leaves us saying “Wow”! It is as if John thinks about the Father’s great love and says, “Where does this come from? It must be from heaven, because there’s nothing like it in this world!” It is supernatural, divine, peculiar, unique, stands out, incomparable, exceedingly beautiful and compelling. What kind of love is it? The heavenly, infinite, perfect, gracious, divine, supernatural love of the Father and He wants us to know it, understand it, see it, and savor it!

Is it no wonder why Paul prays in Philippians 1:9? “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Or in Ephesians 3:17-19, “…I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Or in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, "May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God".

A habit of devout, thankful meditation on God’s great love lies at the foundation of all vigorous, happy Christian living. This is why John makes this a command. It is the grace given, grace enabled, love caused, and wonderful duty of the believer to see and savor the love of God. John Owen, the great Puritan, wrote that the revelation of God and His great love “deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them.” If you had a friend in New York, but you never thought about this friend and never communicated with him, that friendship would fade and not have much significance in your life. Friendship maintained and built always requires great effort. For the friendship to affect you, you must think often about this friend and what he means to you and spend time with him. That is why John Owen suggests that “Friendship with God is most maintained and kept up by visits”. Oh how we need regular visits with God to stoke the fires of our love!

We all have too many other things crowding into our daily lives. That is why we lose the sense of “oh” in our lives. If we do not deliberately take the time and effort to block out all of these pressing things and to focus on what God has done for us in Christ, His great love will get crowded out of our thoughts and daily lives. So John shows us that the Father’s great love is meant to both amaze and instruct us. Stop and behold it often!


The Father’s love for you is lavished to you as a gift! “See what kind of love the Father has given to us” (Verse 1c).

John puts this in a very interesting way. Notice John doesn’t just say says that this love been shown us, revealed to us, manifested to us, or spoken about to us; even though He has done all of that. John says God has gone even further- He has given His love to us! The word speaks many things. First, it speaks of the measure of God’s love to us; it could more literally be translated lavished on us. Romans 5:5 tells us that, “the love of God is being constantly poured into us by the Holy Spirit”.

Second, it speaks of the manner of God’s giving of love. Giving has the idea of a one-sided giving, instead of a return for something earned or deserved. God’s love is purely a gift that comes from His undeserved favor, or grace. John writes in his gospel that there is an overflowing fullness from Christ poured out to us "full of grace and truth. ...And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."(John 1:14,16).

We see Paul emphasizing God's heavenly love in action in Romans 5. First he says in verse 6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Further, in verse 8, he adds, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Even then he does not exhaust this miracle. He goes on in verse 10, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” Add up the terms: we were helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God. His great love is demonstrated in that He sent His Son to die for us while we were in such an awful condition!

That is why John cries, “What amazing love!” God is under no obligation to save us. He is not obligated or owes us love. You and I are totally in debt to God with an unpayable debt! The fact that God’s great love is a gift means that you cannot do anything to earn it or deserve it. All you can do is receive it. It is all grace. It is a miracle!

Oh let the love of God for you touch your mind and your heart. Let it amaze and astound you as you see what kind of love it really is. There is no other word for God’s love than amazing. It is a love that leaves us standing in awe. It is a love like no other.

Dear reader, to the degree that you behold the free grace of God, to the degree that you meditate on it and you let it become a holy fire in your heart, to the degree you experience and behold the love of God, to that degree you are going to agree with John and say and feel “How great is the love of God!” This morning John wants you to look, see, savor, and be compelled and wooed by the wonder of His great love for you. Oh for a spirit of wonder that permeates your life. That you would gaze at this love and look at yourself and say, "I am a Christian, a Son and daughter of God, now. I am deeply, eternally, loved by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! This is wonderful, incredible, miraculous, unbelievable! It is amazing that God is so good to me; that God is for me. All I get from Him is undeserved love and grace.

There is nothing more important for each of you than to see God’s love for all it is and to savor it for all that it is worth.

Pastor Bill