François Fénelon was very much aware that some of his fellow Christians were trying to reach sainthood on their own. They saw how much veneration individuals received by performing highly religious acts of charity and hospitality. Some even chose a form of attire that made them stand out in a crowd. But he knew that when it came to serving God, let Him make whatever you do extraordinary. Be like Gideon of old, [2] who did not think himself worthy of such an honor. So, Bishop Fénelon had a word of advice for them. He said:
Generally speaking, I should fear that reading about extraordinary spiritual accomplishments tends to harm weak imaginations. Self-love easily flatters itself that it has attained the altitudes that it has admired in books. It seems to me that the only course in such a case is to take no notice of such temptations. Therefore, I advise you never to dwell voluntarily on astonishing achievements. It is a better way to discover how much self-conceit has to do with these supposed abilities. Nothing tends to wound the vanity of self-conceit and bring illusions to light as a simple desire to set aside these fantasies of selfish pride and ask the person who dreams of fulfilling those imaginings to act as though nothing of the sort existed. Without such a test, I do not believe a person can be proven genuine without it; I do not think the Church has given sufficient warning against these types of spiritual delusion.
The blessed John of the Cross[3] advises souls to look beyond such spotlights and remain in the dawning of simple faith. If the abilities are natural, such detachment will not hinder them from leaving their marks upon the soul; if not, such uncompromising faith will be a sure guarantee against delusion. Moreover, such a line will not keep a soul back from God’s proper leading, for there is no opposition. It can only distress self-conceit, which finds a hidden self-satisfaction in a person’s ambitions, and that self-conceit is the very thing that needs pruning.
Even if such an individual’s ideas are unquestionably honest and sound, it is most important to learn how to harness them and live by simple faith. However excellent the opportunities may be, letting go of them is still better. Did not the Apostle Paul say, “Let me show you a way of life that is best of all.”[4] – the way of faith and love; not clinging either to sight, feeling, or taste – only to obedience to the beloved One. Such a way is simple, genuine, straightforward, free from the snares of pride.
Written over 450 years ago
Vocabulary redacted by Dr. Robert R Seyda
[1] Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love means taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others.
[3] Saint John of the Cross, also known as San Juan de la Cruz, the patron of mystics, contemplatives, and Spanish poets. He initially attempted to institute reforms in the Carmelite Order but was met with imprisonment. He attempted again after escaping from confinement and this time the reforms revitalized the Order. Saint John of the Cross is known as a great spiritual writer and as a Doctor of the Church. Saint John of the Cross’s feast day is December 14th.
3:2Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, right now, and we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when He comes, we will be like Him, as a result of seeing Him in person.
This hope of a face-to-face encounter with the Creator of the Universe was already in the heart of a wise man named Job centuries ago. He had enough faith in God to believe that even after his human body decayed in the grave, he would still see God in a new body.[1] But Job was not alone; listen to what the Psalmist said how the Lord allowed him to enjoy a holy life here on earth, but it cannot be compared to the joy he will experience standing in God’s presence.[2]
But the Apostle John’s hope was not solely built on what these saints of long ago had to say. He was absolutely sure of it because of what Jesus said to him and the other disciples while here on earth. It came in Jesus’ prayer to His Father in heaven, “Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!”[3] When the Apostle Paul visited with John in Jerusalem,[4] perhaps in their conversation, this came up. In any case, Paul felt so strongly about it he told the Corinthians the same thing about seeing God face to face one day.[5] Then in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul put it this way: Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. We know these things are true by believing they will occur, not waiting until we see them happen.[6]
Here the context must prevail. The two statements that “We haven’t yet seen what we will be” but “we will be like Him” are coexisting. Note that the “Speaker’s Commentary” quotes the following anecdote; “When some heathen converts to Christianity and were translating a Catechism into their language, they came upon verse two about our being like Him. They stopped. ‘No, said one of them; it is too much.’ So, they requested, let us write that ‘we will be permitted to kiss His feet.’”[7]
We must be careful not to invert the meaning of this last clause here in verse one. It does not mean that seeing God is the effect of our being like Him, [8] but the cause of our being like Him. Verse five tells us that God is “Light” [understanding], and we can come into that Light [knowledge]. In this life, we cannot see the Light of the essence of Divine nature “as it is,” but only as reflected; and the mirrored light cannot transmit to us the Diving nature of the original Light, although it prepares us to receive it. That means being “face-to-face”[9] with His Light [revelation]. He will illuminate us through and through, and we will become like it. That’s why some take “like Him” to mean like the Anointed One.[10][11]
But one thing we cannot forget: Christians are the objects of love – of both the Apostle John and the Father. God loves us with a certain special kind of Love. It involves the principle that such Love is infinite and unconditional. So, how do we apply this to everyday life? God loves every Christian as much as He loves us. They may be less than sincere, but God still loves them. He loves us despite who we are, just as He loves others regardless of who they are. God does not love based on who people are; He loves them based on who He is. It’s God’s character to love. Human love is often unjust. It plays favorites and prejudices against ethnic groups or even other Christians. God’s Love is always just.
Now that we are Christians, John contrasts the present and future state of believers. The word “now” represents the present state of Jesus’ followers. A person becomes a God’s child at the moment of rebirth.[12] Eternal salvation is not instantaneous and progressive like Sanctification, but initiated until completed.[13] There will never be a time when a believer is not part of God’s family. And although Christians are God’s offspring, they are not yet what they will be. They are in the process now, but they will come to the point of perfection at a future time. We are God’s spiritual descendants “now” in contrast to “not yet.” What we are now is a foretaste of what we will be. Our present state as Christians is an indication of our future glory. So, the principle here is that in our current state as a Christian is a token of what we will be.
Christians have a fantastic future. The Bible reveals something of what it will be like after we go into God’s presence. It gives an incomplete revelation of what we will be like after Jesus comes back. Scriptures use mostly negative descriptions such as no more pain, tears, death, night, or sorrow.
We all suffer pain in this life. God has a purpose in everything we go through. He makes us more like the Lord Jesus in suffering. It is our “light affliction.” It is manageable compared to the overwhelming benefit of entering the glory of the eternal state. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, God’s Spirit renews our spirits every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet, they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So, we don’t look at the troubles we see presently; instead, we fix our gaze on things our faith imagines. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”[14]
Growing old has to be painful for those without the Anointed One, who has nothing to look forward to except the loss of health and the bleak, black hole of the grave. Their limbs creak, and their bodies ache. However, the best awaits the older Christian. They anticipate a brighter and better day. Each is one day closer to the most blessed state yet. Thank God that we are not now what we were. Again, we thank God that we are not what we shall be. Oh, what a transfiguration there will be when Jesus comes again.
John conveys a note of hope – the coming of the Lord for His own. The word “know” portrays the idea of sureness, “We know with innate assurance that we will be like Him.” Christians will receive complete changeover, spiritually and physically, at the point when the Anointed One comes back at the Rapture. The Bible does not give the exact time when he will return, but God will mold His children into their perfect state whenever that event occurs. Thus, there exists a radical contrast between the present state and the future state of the believer. We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus the Anointed One lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control.[15]
What does it mean, we will be “like Him” when Jesus comes back? It is the point when He conforms every believer to His image or nature. The current process of being formed into the likeness of the Anointed One will become final when Jesus returns. Thus, Christianity conforms us to the Anointed One[16] with the thought in mind that Jesus will conform us into His image perfectly when He comes back.
Another thing is, the body that we have now is a marvelous piece of divine artistry, but it is nothing compared to the body we will have on that day, so the best is yet ahead. Our bodies will be just like Jesus’ resurrected body when He arrives. So likewise, our character will be like Jesus one day. It is the consummation of salvation. The Devil will not thwart this event, for God predestines us to be just like Jesus.[17]
Furthermore, there will be no selfishness in us when we receive our glorified body, for we shall see Him as He is. There will be a day when we will see Jesus with unhindered direct sight when we meet Him in His immediate presence. We will see Him in His resurrected body. We will not see Jesus hanging on the cross twisting in agony. No, we will see Him in His resurrected state as the conquering Son of God. When we see Jesus in His heavenly state, it will translate us into His likeness. The sight of Jesus face-to-face will transfigure us because like reproduces like. A deductive mind grasps scientific truths. We will be able to see the Anointed One because we will be like Him. We become in character and essence like the person we worshiped.[18]
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
Michelle Murray (Contemporary) notes that in contrast to the Apostle John’s Gospel, his First Epistle does not reflect a controversial attitude toward Jews. Here John states: “I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning.”[1]Then, in verse eight, he asserts: “Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in Him and you.” John explains that loving one’s Christian brothers and sisters is more consistent with “living” in the Light of love than “languishing” in the darkness of hate.[2]
The reference here to “a new commandment,” says Murray, likely refers to the “new commandment” introduced by Jesus: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.”[3] It is not a reference to a new set of precepts that would replace Torah. Indeed, the idea of loving one’s brothers and sisters and neighbors is one of the central tenets of Judaism expressed in the Hebrew Bible[4] and later in the Jewish Talmud and Mishnah. Rabbi Hillel Hazaken, one of Judaism’s most distinguished first-century teachers, expounds on a version of this “golden rule.” Responding to a request from a non-Jew to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel’s reply was, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. All the rest is commentary; go and learn.”[5]
Also, the well-known Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, who lived approximately one hundred years after Jesus, is said to have declared, “Love your neighbor as yourself – this is the general rule of Torah.”[6] Other Jewish documents dated to around this time likewise reflect the importance of loving one’s neighbor in connection with loving God.[7] If there is anything “new” about the commandment to love one another in the Gospel of John or First John, it might be the last part of the statement from the Gospel: “Just as I have loved you.”[8] John’s use of images of Light and Darkness in his Epistle, [9] which reflects the influence of John’s Gospel, [10] appears as well in Jewish writings from late antiquity.[11] The Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, has a section of the Community Rule known as the “Instruction on the Two Spirits” and gives a fascinating description of these two human groups, the chosen and the unchosen. It mentions the “sons of darkness,” ruled by an “Angel of Darkness,” while identifying their supporters as “sons of light,” governed by the “Prince of Light.”[12]
3:2a Dear friends, now we are already children of God, and it has not yet been made clear what we will be in the future. But we know that we will be like Him when the Anointed One comes again because we will see Him as He really is.
EXPOSITION
Could it be that the words of Isaiah came to the Apostle John’s mind, where the prophet said, “I will give them – in my house, within my walls – a name far greater than the honor they would receive from having sons and daughters?” For the name that I will give them is an everlasting one; it will never disappear.[13]
Also, the Apostle Paul shares the same insight about what John the Apostle says here concerning the return of the Anointed One. He told the Colossians, “The Anointed One is now your life, and when He comes again, you will share in His glory.”[14] And Paul also told the believers in Rome, “From the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him – and all along He knew who would – should become like His Son so that His Son would be the first role model for many more to come.”[15] Paul also told the Romans is that one of the characteristics we share with the Anointed One is that God’s Spirit leads us.[16] That assures us that when He returns, He will not find us cringing in fear as slaves to the Law. Instead, we, with a blood-stamped seal on our hearts, show that we were adopted into the family of God. That’s why we call Him “Our Father, who is in heaven,” because we are joint-heirs with the Anointed to all the treasures, He has stored up for us. So, don’t be discouraged by the troubles we must go through now because they will be totally eclipsed by the future glory God will bestow on us.[17] And God will have no trouble spotting us because we were baptized into union with the Anointed One, so when you see us, you see Him.[18] Not only that, but as soon as we see Him, the Spirit within us will give us the right to call Him “DearestDad.”[19]
This idea that God has blessings stored up to give them to His children who reverence and trust Him is not something the Apostle John thought up. Instead, we find where Scripture says: “How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who reverence you, that you have given to those who trust you. You do this for all to see.”[20] It appears that the Christians in Rome were not being treated with dignity and perhaps were wondering if all this harassment was worth it. So, Paul tells them that he was sure that the things they were enduring now cannot be compared to the shining-greatness that He will give them.[21]
And for the Corinthians, some of whom were beginning to regret all they gave up to follow Jesus, Paul has a word of hope. He tells them that what God has prepared for them in the future cannot even be imagined.[22] He admonishes them for having any doubts because although things may be hazy now, one day, they will fully understand why God planned their life as He did.[23] His encouragement was this: We have minor troubles now, but these troubles are helping us achieve eternal glory. That heavenly splendor is much greater than our earthly struggles.[24] So, John was not wrong in saying what he did about the future of all faithful believers.
Then, in announcing what would take place when Jesus returns, the Apostle John may have been reminded of what the prophet Malachi said about our Lord’s second coming.[25] Not only were John’s readers concerned about standing before God one, day, but so were the Colossians. But the Apostle Paul told them: Since the Anointed One is He who gave you your spiritual life, you will share in all His glory when He comes again.
It was important for believers to know. In His first coming, you see that He dealt with sin and offered Himself the redeeming sacrifice. But when He comes again, it will have nothing to do with sin. A great battle was fought on Calvary and in the Tomb. It was there that Jesus won salvation for all who believe in His work on the cross. So, His coming again is to deliver that salvation to those who are eagerly and patiently await His return.[26]
Not only that, but as of now, we only know Him by faith and feeling through His indwelling Spirit. But when He comes again, we will see Him as He is in His spiritual state. Furthermore, says John, we will be just like Him. Were such hopes and expectations new to John’s generation? Not according to what the Psalmist said about finally seeing the Lord when he is awakened out of his peaceful rest in God’s presence and see what He looks like face to face and be fully satisfied.[27] Paul explained it this way to the Corinthian believers: Down here, we were made like every earthly human, but we will be made like that of the heavenly He-Man up there.[28] That will happen because, through His power of creation, He will take our human bodies and transfigure them into celestial bodies.[29] And the Apostle Peter says a great, big “Amen” to that.[30]
[7] Jewish Tisha B’av (“Ninth of the month of Av” [July]), reading for that year. Tisha B’Av, also known as the Jewish Fast of Av, is a period of fasting, lamentation and prayer to remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem. The Jewish people still continued the fast day even after they rebuilt the First Temple after the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC. The Romans destroyed the Second Temple by burning it in 70 AD and this marked the start of a long exile period for Jewish people. These are two of five sad events or calamities that occurred on the ninth day of the month of Av.
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
When looked at from a human point of view, says Kruse, those who “receive” the Anointed One, in the sense of believing in Him, are God’s children. And when we look at it from a divine point of view, His children are those He birthed, or as Jesus puts it, “It is the same with everyone who is born from the Spirit.”[1] Thus, the Apostle John not only says that he and his readers are “called”[2] children of God as an outcome of God’s Love lavished[3] upon them, but emphasizes the reality of this status when he adds, and that is what we are! Those who believe in the Word of life are undoubtedly the children of God, but that does not mean they will gain any respect from the world. And lest this should cause the readers any distress, John explains: The reason the world does not know us is that they’ve never met our heavenly Father.[4]
Ben Witherington III (1951) hears the Apostle John asking his readers to consider how lavish is the Love that God poured out on believers. This Love is so great that God calls believers His sons and daughters. It is not, however, merely an honorary title. Instead, John believes that they actually become transformed into such children through God’s Love, by which they are “born of God.”[5] If God’s Love can do that for us, imagine how much we can do for others with that same Love in us. And just as God showed His Love to us, so we must show His Love to others for it to be transforming.
Gary M. Burge (1952) says that again and again, the Apostle John repeats that we are God’s children now. It is a fact that God’s Love is controlling our destiny. John reflects on how this truth will have consequences in the future.[6] If now we have a glimpse of what it means to have the presence of the Father within us when the Anointed One comes, there will be yet more overwhelming experiences for us. When He appears, we will be just like Him, and then we will see Him exactly as He is. At that moment, there will be an unmistakable unity between the Father and us. It is reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah’s message: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”[7] Inherent in this idea is the notion that we will share in the glory of Jesus, the Anointed One.[8][9]
Bruce B. Barton (1954) points to the Apostle John’s statement at the end of chapter two that caused him to marvel that such Love could mean believers are “born of” God. The Greek word behind the English expression “how great” is potapen; it speaks of something that has come from a place other than the earth – something exotic, something beyond what mankind has previously experienced. The translation could read, “Behold, what unusual Love the Father has poured on us.” Just think, God’s Love came from another world; it seems foreign to humanity. And this Love has been lavished[10] on us, poured out on us, as shown by the fact that God allows us to be called His children. The Greek neuter noun teknon for “children” emphasizes birth rather than infancy. John, here, was calling attention to the remarkable fact, carried over from the last verse, [11] that God has actually “given birth” to believers as His very own children.[12]
For Daniel L. Aiken (1957), new behavior follows the new birth. Being born of God has definite and abiding results (“has been born” is a perfect-tense verb). Therefore, God’s children will grow to look like God their Father. Our conduct is proof of our parentage. The righteous Savior produces saints who live and act right. John carries this argument an additional step here in verse one, and what a step it is! He explains how the Love of God the Father is the source of our privilege to be His children. Calling their attention to this marvelous truth, John exclaims, “Look at how great a Love the Father has given us!” We could paraphrase what John says like this: “The Love of the Father is out of this world, and it is a love that will never be taken away. It is an amazing Love that awes and astonishes, and it has been given for us to enjoy forever and ever and ever.” What we read in Torah is so true: “I will never fail you or abandon you.”[13][14]
David Guzik (1961) says that when the Apostle John uses the phrase “placed on us,” it says many things. First, it speaks of the measure of God’s Love to us; more literally translated, “lavished[15] on us.” Secondly, it expresses the manner in which God gave such Love; bestowed has the idea of a one-sided giving, instead of a return for something earned. What is it that makes us slow to believe this Love of God? Sometimes it is pride, which demands a person prove themselves worthy of God’s Love before accepting it. Sometimes it is unbelief, which cannot trust God’s love when people see the hurt and pain of life. And often, it just takes time for a person to come to a fuller understanding of the greatness of God’s Love.[16]
Peter Pett (1966) says that just the thought of being born again by the Anointed One’s work on the cross raises the Apostle John to a level of adoration in the face of such a glorious truth. “See,” John says, “what kind of love the Father has lavished[17] on us.” He has not only called us His children, but made us so through the Anointed One. We are indeed His children, created through the Anointed One, produced by God. Such was His Love freely placed on us. And that is why the world does not acknowledge us or know who we are. It comes from the fact that they could not see God and get to know Him through the Anointed One.[18] The following section in this chapter reveals more of why this is. Therefore, the world is lawless and rejects those who are true children of God introduced to the Law of Love.
And note secondly, says Pett, the Father places this Great Love in us. It is ours, not by earning it nor having deserved it by any means, but because of His gracious Love, He placed it in us as a gift. And because of it, we love Him more than we do the world.[19] So, there are two points here; first, we are called God’s children because we are His children. Secondly, being called children involves christening. It is a public demonstration of God’s favor for all to see. The world may not notice, but the angels look on at the naming ceremony in wonder. So, these puny mortals have become the Father’s children? But even more astounding is that it is true.[20]
David Legge (1969) says this particular passage of Scripture has been a dilemma to many theologians and Bible teachers for this one reason: it states that Christians should not sin in a casual reading of the text. But, of course, human beings, in general, and Christians, in particular, are acutely aware of their inherent sinfulness both in their nature and in their behavior. They know that they are sinners and that they do sin. So, we have to make sense of what the Apostle John is saying to us in the crucial verses of this chapter. What does he imply by saying that Christians should not sin? What does he mean by the word sin? John tells us later that if we stay close to God and obey Him, we won’t keep sinning, but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really known Him or become His.[21] Then John states that if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who has been steadily sinning since he began to sin. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil.[22][23]
Douglas Sean O’Donnell (1972) Another view takes the titles little children (teknia)[24] and children [infants] (paidia)[25] to be essentially synonymous. Those words express Christians in general, not new or immature believers. It is supported elsewhere[26] when John addresses those under his pastoral care as little children.[27] Therefore, by little children and children, John is talking about “God’s children.”[28] Then with the title’s fathers and young men, he subdivides the rest of the Christian community into two age groups – the old and the young. Like the Apostle Paul, John is not setting before us a terrifying perfectionism. Still, he is demanding a life that is constantly on guard against sin, a life in which sin is not the standard accepted way but the odd moment of defeat. To make this point, look carefully at these first two verses and notice that John sees our fallen nature realistically.[29]
[2] The Greek verb kaleō means to bear a name or title: cf. Luke 1:35; 22:25; Acts of the Apostles 8:10
[3] The Greek word didōmi translated by Guzik figuratively as “lavished” can be used two ways: as an adjective it means “sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious;” as a verb, it implies “to offer something in generous or extravagant quantities.” John uses it here as a verb.
[4] Kruse, Colin G., The Letters of John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, op. cit., Kindle Edition
[5] Ben Witherington III. Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, op. cit., (Kindle Locations 6684-6687)
[8] See Romans 8:17–19; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:4
[9] Burge, Gary M., The Letters of John (The NIV Application Commentary) pp. 146-147
[10] The Greek word didōmi translated by Guzik figuratively as “lavished” can be used two ways: as an adjective it means “sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious;” as a verb, it implies “to offer something in generous or extravagant quantities.” John uses it here as a verb.
[14] Akin, Dr. Daniel L., Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary), op. cit., Kindle Edition
[15] The Greek word didōmi translated by Guzik figuratively as “lavished” can be used two ways: as an adjective it means “sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious;” as a verb, it implies “to offer something in generous or extravagant quantities.” John uses it here as a verb.
[17] The Greek word didōmi translated by Guzik figuratively as “lavished” can be used two ways: as an adjective it means “sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious;” as a verb, it implies “to offer something in generous or extravagant quantities.” John uses it here as a verb.
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
What unspeakable, unfathomable majesty is ours, says Kretzmann! With this assurance in our hearts, we welcome what the Apostle John tells us. The children of this world will not know, will not acknowledge us, will not consider us worthy of their attention just because we claim to be the children of the Most-High God and all such a relationship implies. The world did not recognize, God as the Lord, did not accept Him in faith, and, therefore, it cannot possibly enter into friendly relations with us. Unbelievers refuse to accept the new, spiritual, divine character which the Christians project.[1]
William Barclay (1907-1976) notes that the Apostle John demands that his readers remember their privileges. For one thing, it is an honor to be called God’s children. There is something special in that title. Second, Christians are privileged in being called God’s children. Don’t we count it an honor to have attended a great school, belong to a great military unit, be a great church member, or descendant of a historical family? Third, it is an inspiration in life to carry the name of the family of God. It’s something to put our feet on the right path and to keep us going.[2]
William Neil (1909-1979) says that living an Anointed One-like life is unquestionable proof that we have been made new through Him. Out of His boundless love, God called us to be His children. We did not just wander into the kingdom of God off the street, nor did someone discard us as an unwanted child at His door. He came looking for us. Yet, we do not fully comprehend what that means. But when we see God face to face, we will be like Him – not in looks, but character. Let us not blur the distinction between right and wrong. People who are in the wrong are doing what the devil wants them to do. However, if we accomplish what’s right, we do what God wants us to do. Our lives are genuinely in union with God; there is no backdoor for sin to enter.[3]
Daniel Snaddon (1915-2009) feels that the thought of being born of God grips the Apostle John with wonder, so he calls upon his readers to consider the incredible Love that brought them into God’s family. Our heavenly Father could have rescued us from sin’s trash heap without making us His children. He could have treated us like foster children, helping us learn how to live independently, and then let us go to find our way into the world. But the quality of God’s Love is seen in that He brought us into His family as children. Abba – Father. It is the difference between being a child or a son. The emphasis is on being born into the family. A child can be adopted or born. We should consider the kind of love, the unique quality of the Father’s Love by which He made us His children. The world does not recognize us as such. They do not understand our actions at times. John says this is what we must expect because they did not understand the Lord Jesus when He was on the earth. He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him;He came to His Jewish people, and even they rejected Him.[4] Since the true child of God has the same characteristics, we cannot expect the world to understand us either.[5]
Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2010) Now, this passage is what we call “transparent.” You can see right through it without glasses, a microscope, a telescope, a magnifying glass, or bifocals. Ruckman also suggests that this Love lavished on us could include the Rapture of the Church, of which the Apostle Paul spoke.[6] It could also have a double application, for there is a snatching away of the Tribulation saints.[7] This ascension of Tribulation saints is the one that causes all modern apostate Laodiceans to teach that Christians “go through the Tribulation.” They teach that because they are stupid and lazy and intend to stay that way. The expression “sons of God”[8] certainly would include all Gentiles in this age saved by grace, for all of them “received” Jesus the Anointed One. The Apostle Paul expresses it well in Romans 8:14 [children of God], 17 [co-heirs with the Anointed One] and Galatians 3:26 [God’s children through faith], 4:6 [Thus we call Him our Father]. The only thing the commentators miss – all of them – is the fantastic way that other verses are tied together. There are four great truths carefully concealed in these “original English autographs” [that no Greek scholar could find in the “Greek text,”] etc., since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.[9] Somehow, Ruckman finds this as part of the Father’s great Love that He lavished on us.
Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) tells how the United States Treasury Department has a particular group of employees whose job is to track down counterfeiters. Naturally, these men need to know a counterfeit bill when they see it. How do they learn to identify fake dollar bills? Oddly enough, they are not trained by spending hours examining counterfeit money. Instead, they study the real thing. They become so familiar with authentic dollar bills that they can spot a counterfeit by simply looking at it or, often, by feeling it. The approach in 1 John 3 warns us that there are counterfeit Christians in today’s world – “children of the devil.”[10] But instead of listing the evil characteristics of Satan’s children, the Scripture gives us a clear description of God’s children. The contrast between the two is obvious.[11]
Bishop Muncia Walls (1937) points out that the Greek adjective potapos expressed as “What manner of love” has an interesting definition. Some Greek writers used it to denote “from what region, country, nation or tribe.”[12] But other Greek writers employed it as the equivalent to “of what sort or quality?” It is the way the Apostle John uses it in the Final Covenant.[13] So, instead of being thought of as referring to some unknown or forgiven type of love, it is, more or less, saying that “out of all the kinds of love that exist, what is so special or different about this Love?”
Current writer John W. (Jack) Carter (1947) focuses on the first word in this opening verse. “Behold” translates the Greek verb eidō,which means “to pay attention.” Although some translations omit it, John uses it as an instructive term. It became a very emphatic imperative that separates the two passages in the text. It carries the idea that one can marvel at what is about to be said given what has just been said. Though the word is highly overused, in the modern vernacular, one might say, “That’s awesome!”[14]
Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) says that in the context of other biblical writers, we see the Apostle John’s preoccupation with the divine Love by using ἀγάπη (agapē, love) and ἀγαπάω (agapaō, to love). Final Covenant uses these two words to show their frequency is highest in John’s Gospel and Epistles than in other Gospels. On another reading, his penchant for these words is evidence of ongoing wonder and joy. The high frequency of love language in John’s writings can be depicted graphically and numerically.
The status of being God’s children enables John to address a question that may have been nagging at his readers. Given God’s great love and the resultant joy and fellowship within his community, [15] why has there been such division?[16] Why does “the world” seem sinister and hostile in some respects?[17] The answer, John says, lies in the alienation that results from saying we belong to God as our heavenly Father. It is “because of this,” which here in verse one most likely points backward – that “the world does not acknowledge” John and his readers as who they are. It does not see them in the same light in which they see themselves. This flawed perception is, in turn, a function of ignorance of the Father or perhaps the Son. That they “did not recognize Him” likely refers to the world’s rejection of the Father via its rejection of the Anointed One: “He was in the world, and although it was through Him the world was made, they did not recognize Him.”[18] Even when Yeshua was present, Yahweh’s representative presence in Him was unrecognized: “They did not comprehend that He was telling them about His Father.”[19] It is not surprising that Jesus’s servant John diagnoses the same malady still at work.[20]
Colin G. Kruse (1950) notes that the Apostle John includes himself with his readers among those (“we”) who are called the children of God. He begins by urging his readers to recognize the greatness of God’s Love: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us! In other words, look at the sort of Love the Father has given us! The author has in mind the exact expression of the Love of God: that we should be called His children. God calls us His children, out of Love. To be called God’s children is an immense privilege because it means that God personally chose us to be in His family. We find the best commentary on what it means to be children of God in John’s Gospel: “To all who believed in Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become God’s children. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
[1] Kretzmann, Paul E., Popular Commentary, Vo. II, op. cit., p. 566
[2] Barclay, William: New Daily Bible Study, op. cit., p. 82
[3] Neil, William: Harper’s Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 528
No doubt, after going through a war and all the chaos that followed, François Fénelon saw some of his fellow countrymen in a deep depression. Was it the way they lived that caused this? Of course, Fénelon had some advice. He told them it is false humility to believe ourselves unworthy of God’s goodness and dare not look to Him with trust. True humility lies in seeing our unworthiness and surrendering to God, never doubting that He can work out the most needed results for and in us. If God’s success depends on our foundations, we might as well suspect that our sins destroyed our chances. But God needs nothing that is in us. He can never find anything there except what He has already given. We cannot say that the worthlessness of a person who is bound with sin in a faithless soul, is the most appropriate of all subjects to receive His grace.
God delights to pour out His mercy on sinful souls. Especially those who have never experienced anything because they were too spiritually weak to ask for any of God’s gifts. It is just as the Apostle Paul says: “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to embarrass the strong.”[1] So, don’t be afraid that your past faithlessness makes you unworthy of God’s mercy. Nothing is so worthy of compassion as utter weakness. Jesus came to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.[2] Indeed, all would be lost if it were not for Him. The physician seeks the sick, not the healthy. Oh, how God loves those who boldly come to Him wearing their filthy, ragged garments and ask, as a child does of a father, for some clothing that would make them look better.
You may be wanting to keep in touch with God until He shows His smiling face. But I tell you that if you open your heart thoroughly to Him, you will cease troubling yourself about looking special when His face appears. Let Him change your harsh and dissatisfied look as much as He wants to. He will never love you more than when He shows displeasure, for He disciplines only to test, humble, and free souls from self-righteousness.
Do you want God’s pity, or do you want God? If pity, then you don’t love God for His sake but your own. In that case, you don’t deserve anything from Him. But if you seek Him alone, you will find Him more quickly when He tests you than when He pities you. When He feels sorry for you, you may end up caring more for what gives then for the Giver Himself. But when He deals roughly with you, and you hold on fast, it is to Him alone that you cling. The best time for progress is not when you delight in having a contented conscience, but when faith is unresponsive and cold – if you do not yield to discouragement.
Leave it all to God. It is not your business to judge how He should deal with you because He knows far better than you do what’s best for you. You deserve a certain amount of trial and distress. Endure it patiently! God keeps doing His part, even when He doesn’t answer you right away. So, do your part, which is to love Him without waiting for Him to assure you of His love for you. Your love is a guarantee of His; your confidence will end up turning all His sternness into tenderness. That means if He doesn’t show more interest, surrender to His decisions, and accept His intentions of nailing you to the cross in union with His Son, Jesus, that you might live in partnership with Him.
Such is the solid food of pure faith and generous love with which you should sustain your soul. I pray that God may make you strong, carrying your troubles. Expect all, and all will be given you: God and His peace will be with you.
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
John Stock (1817-1884) has a great way of introducing this chapter. He writes that the Apostle John has every reason to demand our admiration and wonder over the elevation of the faithful to the dignity of being adopted into God’s family; to their being called the very children of God! God’s bountiful goodness is unlimited. He furnished us with an indescribable gift by giving His only human-born Son to be our Savior, for His sake, and to freely gives us all things. The one blessing of His Son comes with many other gifts and surpasses all others. And it is only by His mercy that we receive the privilege to possess all He plans to share. “Behold,” says the Apostle John, “wake up to the realization of such marvelous grace, and the free favor involved in this transfer of everlasting honor to us, who are born corrupted,[1] who have been rebellious, who have sinned, and so, like Esau, have forfeited the birthright inheritance of the firstborn; who have been hostile to God by immoral living; that we should be called ‘children of God!’”[2]
Brooke Westcott (1825-1901) points out that the children of the devil who run this world do not “recognize” the children of God. It isn’t because they don’t know their names, occupation, or claims of being a follower of Jesus the Anointed, but because they don’t understand why we live, act, talk, and worship the way we do. For worldly people, their future is the time remaining between their present status and the grave. But for Christians, their future begins after they die and are laid to rest to await the resurrection. What puzzles the world is that the believer’s future is still to be revealed when they are transfigured to meet the Anointed One and see God.[3]
Andrew Maclaren (1826-1910) mentions that what the Apostle John says here is an example of shared love. John bids us “observe what type of love.” If we turn to the cross, we will see a Love that does not shrink from sacrifice. It is a Love not aroused by any lovableness on our part, but comes from the depth of God’s Infinite Being. He loves because He must; He is God. It is a love that yearns for acceptance, which desires nothing from us. The kind of Love that our sinfulness and shortcomings will not cancel. In like manner, we have to think, can we estimate the value of this “kind” of Love, that through and with great sacrifice of Jesus the Anointed One, it offers us the gift of a Divine life like His own? We may gain another measure of this Love’s greatness if we emphasize one word, “gave,” and think of such Love freely provided to pitiful creatures like ourselves.[4]
In one of his many sermons, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) preached on being God’s children. The question is, how could anyone claim to be a child of God before He gave them the power to become His children and believed in His reputation as a Savior? True spiritual children of God are not born by human effort; they did not become God’s children by mere creation.[5] “If any text can be more conclusive than this against universal sonship,” says Spurgeon. “I must confess I know of none.” And unless these words turn out to mean nothing at all, we rightly believe we are God’s children and His alone. Listen to the Word of the Lord in what the Apostle John says here in verse one; this shows how much He loved us. We are called children of God, and we indeed are. But worldly people don’t understand that we are God’s children because they know nothing about Him.[6]
There is a story involving Danish missionaries who went to India. There, they appointed some converts to translate a catechism for teaching young believers. When they came to where it mentions Christians being called God’s children, one of the translators was so startled at such bold teaching that he told the missionaries, “This is too much! Let me render it, ‘They will be permitted to kiss His feet.’”[7] Oh, God! That Christians would feel the same way today when they sing, “Who You say I am, I am a Child of God.”[8]
John James Eastmead (1822-1868) says that God’s spiritual family is called upon to take a look at “what type of love the Father placed upon us.” He goes on to suggest that God’s Love can be sorted into six types: 1. It is Covenant Love; 2. Unchanging Love; 3. Incarnate Love; 4. Redeeming Love; 5. Pardoning Love; and 6. Restoring Love.[9] With this multifaceted aspect of God’s Love, we can see how it helps us grow in understanding of God’s affection for us when applied to our lives.
Harry John Wilmot-Buxton (1843-1911) declares that we must be brave and loyal as Christians. We must never forget whose children we are and be courageous in our faith. Someone might say, “Since the Anointed One made the Christian course an exercise in warfare, of all living believers, a coward is the most unfit to be called God’s child.” Yet what miserable cowards some so-called Christians are, smiling while the prosperity sun shines, but when the clouds of persecution and trial arise against the Gospel, their smile turns into a frown. When the struggle involves one’s duty to God against satisfying oneself, between what we like and what is right, many, like the children of Ephraim, turn around and flee on the day of battle.[10] When the fighting comes, the Cross beckons, the shadows of Gethsemane and Calvary darken around us. Yet, too many forsake Jesus and do not follow Him anymore. We must be willing to give our all for one another because we are one Family, the children of God. Some say that pity, sorrow, and sympathy are sensitive like love. At most, condolences are a lukewarm expression of love. Only the outward and visible sign of the inward grace of God is love.[11]
William Sinclair (1850-1917) sees passing before the Apostle John’s mind the oddness that the stream of the world’s thought, the tide of the world’s history, should go on as if the Anointed One never came. No matter how insignificant the old Apostle was in the metropolis of Ephesus, or elsewhere, in the eyes of the wise, influential, or famous philosophers everywhere else. Why was this? Because what God manifested in the Anointed One was incomprehensible to the world. Therefore, if it did make sense to them, it only caused them more resentment. And since believers were like their heavenly Father, their characteristics became incompatible with the features that make up the character of the world. As far as the “world” exists at all in the moral meaning of the word, it is a mixture of qualities and tendencies that may or may not be like each other, but which all agree in being opposed to true righteousness.[12]
Arno C. Gaebelein (1861-1945) shows the development between the Apostle John’s ministry and later that of the Apostle Paul, and how the “sons of God”[13] using the Greek noun yhois, changed to the Greek noun teknon, “children of God.”[14] John never speaks of yhois “sons of God” in his message. In the Apostle Paul’s writings, the Holy Spirit speaks of believers as “sons and heirs.” But John unfolds the truth that believers are in the family of God by the new birth, hence the use of the word “children” to denote the community’s nature as born of God. As God’s children, we are partakers of His divine spiritual nature. It is by our heavenly Father’s that it was conferred on all who believe. And, finally, the Spirit of God assures us of this through the pen of John: “Now we are the children of God.” There can be no doubt about it; our present and known position is because having believed in Him, we are born again and possess eternal life.[15]
Harry A Ironside (1876-1951) comments on what beautiful words are written to believers here in the opening chapter three. He notes that this is something different from the universal love expressed in John’s Gospel.[16] That is infinite Love to lost people everywhere. If you are not a believer, be assured of this: the Love of God goes out to you, and He extended His Love to you when you were a sinner and the Anointed One died for you. However, there is a love sweeter and more precious than that, but it is not for you until you trust in the Anointed One. But if you have already trusted in Him, then you can enter into the Father’s Love. God’s children are addressed here as the beneficiaries of the Love that comes from being added to His family.[17]
Paul Edward Kretzmann (1883-1965) says it was the believer’s righteousness and conduct which the Apostle John urged. Now, he introduces another motive for such behavior. The Christians should use the eyes of both body and mind to see; they should concentrate their attention upon that miracle, upon that mystery, that we should be honored with the name, children of God. After all, the penalty of eternal damnation was removed and replaced by an intimate fellowship with God only available by the new birth through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. “Childrenof God,” that is what we are by faith in the Anointed One, Jesus, [18] sons, and daughters of God, led by the Spirit of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with the Anointed One.[19] The image of God, lost by Adam’s Fall, is renewed in us with the restoration of the Anointed One.[20]
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, obviously, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840), American Congregational minister and influential Divinity School theologian, talks about the future state of Christians. He writes concerning the character of God’s children. This family spirit forms all the beautiful and good-natured traits in the Christian character. First, it influences the children of God to love Him with enthusiasm and supreme affection. Second, it motivates them to love the Lord Jesus the Anointed One in sincerity and believe in Him alone for salvation. Third, it unites all the children of God to one another. Fourth, it offers a spirit of grace and supplication. Fifth, it inclines His children to obey all His commands.
But what about their future state? First, they are unacquainted with perceiving either material or spiritual objects after they have lost their bodily senses. Second, it’s unknown and mysterious how they will converse with one another and with the heavenly hosts after leaving these mortal bodies. And Third, they must remain uninformed in this life, how they will arrive in heaven, and move from place to place after they come there.
Yet, there one more thing. What do God’s children know concerning themselves in a future state? First, they do now perceive precisely where in the universe they will be hereafter. It’s called heaven, but that’s a unique place. Second, they can appreciate in this world what manner of persons they will be in the next. Third, they realize that they will be delighted and blessed when they leave this present evil world.
So, what lessons can we learn from this, asks Emmons? First, it appears that all the knowledge that Christians have of themselves in a future state wholly derives from Divine revelation. Second, they learn why some Christians die in so much light and joy and some in grief and distress. Third, Christians may and ought to infer the great importance of making their calling and election sure. Fourth, the preceding observations leave no doubt that death is always a happy event for God’s children. Fifth, it affords excellent consolation to those bereaved over the passing of near and dear Christian friends.[1] All this may not seem like something to shout over down here, but we will be shouting all over heaven when it comes to pass.
Samuel Eyles Pierce (1746-1829) says the significance of this verse makes it different from all others. We’ve received Unction – an anointing – from the Holy One. We are now the partakers of a new and supernatural birth. God sent His Spirit into our hearts, whereby we cry Daddy. We have received the blessings of grace and glory. It gives us an inward, genuine, and actual enjoyment of those gifts, which enabled us to examine and contemplate the Love of our heavenly Father. He is the original fountain, and spring, of our eternal life, blessedness, perfection, and glory.[2]
Catholic writer George Leo Haydock (1774-1849) speaks very much like an Evangelical when commenting on this verse. He states that the Apostle John said in the last verse of the preceding chapter that since we know that God is always good and does what’s right, we may correctly assume that all those who do right are His children. By that, I mean children of God by adoption. But the world does not recognize this, nor do they esteem and value us as such. But it’s no wonder because they’ve never known, nor acknowledged, nor reverenced God as they ought. We indeed are the children of God; we believe it because God assured us of it. It is why John tells us that is precisely who we are: children of God.
And that’s only the beginning, says Haydock. Right now, we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when He returns, we will be like Him, as a result of seeing Him as He is.[3] Furthermore, since time began, Scriptures say no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for Him![4] But again, we only know this, that His elect will be like Him because they shall see Him as He is when they enjoy Him in heaven.[5]
Albert Barnes (1798-1870) expounds on what manner of Love God used to love us. Here, the Apostle John signifies the type of love, and to a certain degree. This kind of Love is the most tender and ennobling in adopting us into God’s family, permitting us to address Him as our Dad to such a degree that it is exalted. Since no higher love can be found that adopts a poor and friendless orphan boy and gives him a parent and a home, certainly God could not bestow on us a more valuable token of affection than that we too were adopted into His family, permitting us to regard Him as our spiritual Father.
When we remember how insignificant we are as creatures, says Barnes, and how ungrateful, rebellious, and vile we have been as sinners, we might be amazed at the Love which would adopt us into the holy family of God so that we may be regarded and treated as the children of the Most-High. A princess could not exhibit higher love for a wandering, ragged, spiteful orphan girl found in the streets than by adopting her into the royal family, admitting her to the same privileges and honors as her daughters. Yet, this would be a trifle compared with the honor which God placed on us.[6]
Robert Smith Candlish (1806-1873) says that Jesus, the first-begotten among many brethren, is teaching us now to know, as He knows, the righteous Father through the love by which the Father loved His Son living internally in union with us. Candlish likens the world to a schoolhouse ill-prepared, in many respects, for teaching. The students are not as brilliant as one might wish. The schoolhouse is dimly lit and stuffy; the atmosphere is too full of dust and smoke; the learners are often drowsy, and reading the textbook is like looking through a dark glass.
But then! The hour comes when a kind and caring teacher leads the students into a spacious, magnificent, bright study hall on His Father’s mansion-filled estate. There, He presents them to the Father, face to face, saying, “Here I am Lord with the students You have given me.”[7] Then there is clear sight; unclouded vision; a complete and perfect understanding of the righteous Father; a comprehensive and textbook knowledge between Him and us; as whole and flawless an experience there can be of His beloved. All that is dark or doubtful about His character and ways are cleared up. There is nothing to awaken suspicion or suggest a question; nothing to give a partial or distorted view of what He is or what He does. We see Him as He is, and seeing Him as such, we approve, love, and are like Him evermore![8]
Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) explains that Regeneration, as a term, does not appear in Scripture but is expressed in all such phrases as born or birthed by God. It is that work of the Holy Spirit by which the love of God and Christian graces spring up in the soul. It occurs immediately following our repentance and faith, brought on by the convicting and enabling influences of the Spirit. The first spark of divine love is the flame of spiritual life – the glowing ember of everlasting life; if preserved within the soul, it will advance until it works out in resurrection glory.[9]
John Eadie (1810-1876) exclaims, what “manner” of God’s Love is this? Transforming those who were once so unlike Him, Love prompted Him to adopt them, and after they are adopted, He has delight in them. So, what “manner” of love is this that the repentant fallen should finally have a place in His embrace which the unrepentant unfallen can never occupy! Still more, a glorious destiny awaits them. When the years of being a minority expire, the children are taken home to the household on high, where the whole family form one unbroken and vast assemblage. We see the extraordinary Love of the Father in the entire experience of discipline arranged for His children. And what child would not be content under any circumstances? Whatever is for their good, their heavenly Father will give them. Such temporal blessings will come as they improve in obedience.[10]
Richard Holmes Tuck (1817-1868) points out that the things the Apostle John remembers of the words and works of our Lord Jesus were the things that caught and engaged his attention. They were forever fixed in his memory. We all can understand that the things we were most deeply involved with are the things we remember the longest. Think of it; only John records our Lord’s interview with Nicodemus; only John distinctly gives us the idea of the Christian life coming from a new and Divine new birth. So, he talks about the essential things he heard, saw, and touched that he remembers in detail and significance.[11]
[1] Emmons, Nathanael: Biblical Illustrator, 1 John 3, op. cit., pp. 40-41
[2] Pierce, S. E., An Exposition of the First Epistle General of John, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 325
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840), American Congregational minister and influential theologian of a Divinity School, talks about the future state of Christians. He writes concerning the character of God’s children. This family spirit forms all the beautiful and good-natured traits in the Christian character. First, it influences the children of God to love Him with enthusiasm and supreme affection. Second, it motivates them to love the Lord Jesus the Anointed One in sincerity and believe in Him alone for salvation. Third, it unites all the children of God to one another. Fourth, it offers a spirit of grace and supplication. Five, it inclines His children to obey all His commands.
But what about their future state? First, they are unacquainted with perceiving either material or spiritual objects after they have lost their bodily senses. Second, it’s unknown and mysterious how they will converse with one another and with the heavenly hosts after leaving these mortal bodies. Third, they must remain uninformed in this life, how they will arrive in heaven, and move from place to place after they come there.
Yet, there one more thing. What do God’s children know concerning themselves in a future state? First, they do now perceive precisely where in the universe they will be hereafter. It’s called heaven, but that’s a unique place. Second, they can appreciate in this world what manner of persons they will be in the next. Third, they realize that they will be delighted and blessed when they leave this present evil world.
So, what lessons can we learn from this, asks Emmons? First, it appears that all the knowledge that Christians have of themselves in a future state wholly derives from Divine revelation. Second, they learn why some Christians die in so much light and joy and some in grief and distress. Third, Christians may and ought to infer the great importance of making their calling and election sure. Fourth, the preceding observations leave no doubt that death is always a happy event for God’s children. Fifth, it affords excellent consolation to those bereaved over the passing of near and dear Christian friends.[1] All this may not seem like something to shout over down here, but we will be shouting all over heaven when it comes to pass.
Samuel Eyles Pierce (1746-1829) says the significance of this verse makes it different from all others. We’ve received Unction – an anointing – from the Holy One. We are now the partakers of a new and supernatural birth. God sent His Spirit into our hearts, whereby we cry Papa, Father. We have received the blessings of grace and glory. It gives us an inward, genuine, and actual enjoyment of those gifts, which enabled us to examine and contemplate the Love of our heavenly Father. He is the original fountain, and spring, of our eternal life, blessedness, perfection, and glory.[2]
Catholic writer George Leo Haydock (1774-1849) speaks very much like an Evangelical when commenting on this verse. He states that the Apostle John said in the last verse of the preceding chapter that since we know that God is always good and does what’s right, we may correctly assume that all those who do right are His children. By that, I mean, children of God by adoption. But the world does not recognize this, nor do they esteem and value us as such. But it’s no wonder because they’ve never known, nor acknowledged, nor reverenced God as they ought. We indeed are the children of God; we believe it because God assured us of it. It is why John tells us that is precisely who we are: children of God.
And that’s only the beginning, says Haydock. Right now, we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when He returns, we will be like Him, as a result of seeing Him as He is.[3] Furthermore, since time began, Scriptures say no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for Him![4] But again, we only know this, that His elect will be like Him because they shall see Him as He is when they enjoy Him in heaven.[5]
Albert Barnes (1798-1870) expounds on what sort of Love God used to love us. Here, the Apostle John signifies the type of love of this kind, and to this degree. This kind of love is the most tender and ennobling in adopting us into God’s family, permitting us to address Him as our Father to such a degree that it is exalted. Since there is no higher love to be found that adopts a poor and friendless orphan boy and give him a parent and a home. God could not bestow on us a more valuable token of affection than that we should be adopted into his family, permitting us to regard Him as our spiritual Father.
When we remember how insignificant we are as creatures, says Barnes, and how ungrateful, rebellious, and vile we have been as sinners, we might be amazed at the Love which would adopt us into the holy family of God so that we may be regarded and treated as the children of the Most-High. A princess could not exhibit higher love for a wandering, ragged, spiteful orphan girl found in the streets than by adopting her into the royal family, admitting her to the same privileges and honors as her daughters. Yet, this would be a trifle compared with the honor which God bestowed on us.[6]
Robert Smith Candlish (1806-1873) says that Jesus, the first-begotten among many brethren, is teaching us now to know, as He knows, the righteous Father through the love by which the Father loved His Son living internally in union with us. Candlish likens the world to a schoolhouse ill-prepared, in many respects, for teaching. The students are not as brilliant as one might wish. The schoolhouse is dimly lit and stuffy; the atmosphere is too full of dust and smoke; the learners are often drowsy, and reading the textbook is like looking through a dark glass.
But then! The hour comes when a kind and caring teacher leads the students into a spacious, magnificent, bright study hall of His Father’s mansion-filled estate. There, He presents them to the Father, face to face, saying, “Here I am Lord with the students You have given me.”[7] Then there is clear sight; unclouded vision; a complete and perfect understanding of the righteous Father; a comprehensive and textbook knowledge between Him and us; as whole and flawless an experience there can be of His beloved. All that is dark or doubtful about His character and ways are cleared up. There is nothing to awaken suspicion or suggest a question; nothing to give a partial or distorted view of what He is or what He does. We see Him as He is, so seeing Him, we approve, love, and are like Him evermore![8]
Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) explains that Regeneration, as a term, does not appear in Scripture but is expressed in all such phrases as born or birthed by God. It is that work of the Holy Spirit by which the love of God and Christian graces spring up in the soul. It occurs immediately following our repentance and faith, brought on by the convicting and enabling influences of the Spirit. The first spark of divine love is the spark of spiritual life – the spark of everlasting life; if preserved within the soul, it will advance until it works out the resurrection glory.[9]
John Eadie (1810-1876) exclaims, what “manner” of God’s Love is this? Transforming those who were once so unlike Him, Love prompted Him to adopt them, and after they are adopted, He has delight in them. So, what “manner” of love is this that the repentant fallen should finally have a place in His embrace which the unrepentant unfallen can never occupy! Still more, a glorious destiny awaits them. When the years of being a minority expire, the children are taken home to the household on high, where the whole family form one unbroken and vast assemblage. We see the extraordinary Love of the Father in the entire experience of discipline arranged for His children. And what child would not be content under any circumstances? Whatever is for their good, their heavenly Father will give them. Such temporal blessings will come as they improve in obedience.[10]
Richard Holmes (1817-1868) Tuck points out that the things the Apostle John remembers of the words and works of our Lord Jesus were the things that caught and engaged his attention. They were forever fixed in his memory. We all can understand that the things we were most deeply involved with are the things we remember the longest. Think of it; only John records our Lord’s interview with Nicodemus; only John distinctly gives us the idea of the Christian life coming from a new and Divine new birth. So, he talks about the essential things he heard, saw, and touched that he remembers in detail and significance.[11]
[1] Emmons, Nathanael: Biblical Illustrator, 1 John 3, op. cit., pp. 40-41
[2] Pierce, S. E., An Exposition of the First Epistle General of John, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 325
3:1aSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children – think of it – and we are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally, they don’t recognize that we are His children.
The opening verse contains the Greek adjective potapos translated as “manner,” and literally means “From what country, nation, or tribe.” The Final Covenant always supplies amazement, [1] but it means outstanding quality rather than size as the original meaning leads us to expect. We must take Love factually: the Divine love itself – agape, and not a mere mention of it. Potapos strikes the keynote of the whole section. The goal of this Love is that forever we’ll go by the title “Children of God.” And, whatever petty critics may say, the title is rightfully ours. The Apostle John shows that the people of this world do not recognize us because they did not recognize God from the beginning. Had they known the Father, they would acknowledge us as His children. John also refers to what precedes;[2] it does not merely anticipate that which follows. In logical phraseology, we first have the central premise, then the conclusion introduced by “what kind,” then – to clinch the argument – the minor premise introduced by “that.”[3]
Christians need to hold in high regard the nature of God’s Love. So, do you esteem the Love of God? We see His Love best in transforming sinful people into the children of God by the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. What kind of affection, what quality of appreciation, what depth of devotion, and what commitment is in this Love? God’s Love for us exceeds the love of a mother for her child. No poet or preacher can exhaust explaining the Love of God. He loves us in pain as much as in health. He loves us when we are pinched financially as when we are prosperous. We should not confuse God’s gifts with God’s Love. We distort a great moment when we say that we can tell how much God loves us by how much He blesses us materially. God’s Spirit directs us again and again to the quality of God’s Love for us. We can so easily forget His Love is unconditional.[4]
Keep in mind, God’s Love comes to us by untainted grace. God does not have to prove His love for us except through Jesus the Anointed One. He gave His best when He gave us Jesus. Anything beyond that is trivial. He gave us the most when He gave His Son. God offers believers the honor of holding the title of His family. In doing so, God gives us a more prestigious title than when we receive any reward from this world; it is an honor to be a child of God, a son or daughter of eternal destiny. We have, however, an entirely different value system of measurement than that of the world. God measures us by belonging to His family, not by power or position.
We can never be good enough for God to love us. He does not love us based on who we are, but on who He is. Acceptance of God’s Love is by faith, not works. We would never know whether we were in God’s Love if it depended on our measuring up to God’s perfection. Gaining God’s Love by works warps the idea of God’s grace.
We Christians have an extraordinary calling. We would treat each other better if we remembered that. The world does not have the spiritual capacity to know all about who and what God or Christians are. The world does not recognize us as the children of God. It looks upon us as just another subculture in society. The reason is that non-Christians do not have spiritual perceptions. They are dead spiritually. Although the non-Christian world may recognize us as Christians in name only, they do not know what it truly means. We should not expect the world to acknowledge our relationship with the Father in heaven. They may even resent that relationship because it reflects on their lack of supreme values.
The reason non-Christians reject our testimony and the witness of the Anointed One is because they voluntarily stop listening. They have no spiritual insight, so they cannot see. Genuine Christians will always be in the minority until Jesus returns. We will never win our entire nation to Jesus the Anointed One. He will establish His kingdom here on earth after He comes back to begin His millennial reign.
COMMENTARY
John Cotton (1585-1652) points out that the Apostle John teaches us that God’s plans are hidden and unknown to the world. Just like when they find out that a beggar or hobo who lives from hand to mouth is a millionaire. God’s people are worth millions, says Cotton, but they are hidden people; the world does not recognize them. If a pearl falls into the mud, you cannot discern it, but wash away the dirt, and you can see it gleam.[5] From all that Cotton says elsewhere, it is clear that he is not talking about Christians living in this dark world with no light shining like a city built on a hill. Instead, it appears that he is talking about when the Lord returns, and we shall see Him as He is, then all the world will know how special we are as children of God.
John Trapp (1601-1669) addresses what the Apostle John says about the world not knowing who we are. First, he says that unknown princes are unrespected; unrecognized, and undignified, as a proverb in the North part of the country. Then Trapp shares a story of a well-known Christian in his day. It concerned Mr. James Bainham (1500-1532), an English lawyer and Protestant reformer burned as a heretic tied to a stake on Tuesday, April 30, 1532.
Bainham was the son of Alexander Bainham, a man of wealth and influence; he was a knight and the sheriff of Gloucestershire. Young James was provided with an excellent education, excelling in Latin and Greek. But it was his actions and criticism of the Catholic Church that brought him to the attention of the ecclesiastical inquisitors. He stood accused of possessing Tyndale’s New Testament and attending illegal meetings in a warehouse on Bow Street. He became even more suspect when he married the widow of the notorious Simon Fish, who died of the Black Death while awaiting trial for heresy.
Sir Thomas More, the Chancellor of England, had James Bainham arrested and brought to his home. He wanted to know the location of Tyndale’s New Testament and other forbidden books, plus the names of the men and women who met on Bow Street. Mr. More attempted to obtain this information through persuasion and kind words; however, when Chancellor More saw his efforts were futile, Bainham was tied to a tree in the More’s garden, and he personally lashed and cut Bainham’s body severely. He then ordered the prisoner to be taken to the Tower of London to be placed on a stretching torture rack.
Bainham did not take back what he said nor surrender to their demands to disown all he had said about the Church. Thus, he was declared guilty of all charges and ordered to be burned. However, they tried one more time. They sent Parson Nicholas Wilson, chaplain and confessor to King Henry VIII, Archdeacon of Oxford in 1528 and rector of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in London in 1531, counselling Bainham to conform himself to the Church. But here’s Bainham’s answer:
“I trust I am a true child of God, which you, blind donkeys do not perceive. I am like the princess bride, waiting within her chamber, robed in beautiful clothing woven with gold,[6] dark but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, tanned as the dark tents of Kedar,[7] rough, but rich; as the tabernacle in the wilderness, covered with black goat’s hair, but inside luxurious and unique, just like the staff of Marcus Brutus’s scepter in Plutarch’s story, that was covered in solid gold in a its hollow wooden shell. All righteous people are kings in righteousness as the Priest Melchisedec was, and just as obscure to the world as he was. They are content to pass on to heaven as the Anointed One did, as concealed royalty. Their faith made them glorious in the Lord Jesus the Anointed One.[8] Although now they are not noticed or given any attention, one day their faith will be proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus the Anointed One returns.”[9]
But before being led to the place of execution, he turned to Mister Pave, the town clerk, saying, “God forgive you and show you more mercy than you’ve shown me.” He also prayed for God to forgive Sir Thomas More. Thus, they burned James Bainham tied to a wooden stake on Tuesday, April 30, 1532, the man who preferred death to life if it meant he must deny his faith. One year later, Mr. Pave, Bainham’s tormentor, hung himself. However, Sir Thomas More refused to renounce the Pope and recognize King Henry the VIII as the sovereign head of the Church of England, and he was arrested and thrown into the Tower of London. They beheaded him on Friday, January 28, 1547, for treason. “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord.[10]
[1] Matthew 8:27; Mark 13:1; Luke 1:29; 7:39; 2 Peter 3:11
[2] John 5:16, 18; 7:22; 8:47; 10:17; 12:18, 27, 39
Down an Unfamiliar Road 