As you read these words, remember that this is part of a friendly letter. And so verse follows verse in same way that sentence follows sentence in your texts or conversations. Not only is that sequence of words logical, but it can be emotional as well. Sometimes you and I deliberately stop and think about the next thing that we say. But then at other times, the words just flow out of us as our spirits lead us. But of course, in this case it was not the human spirit of John leading him; it was the Spirit of the Lord. And yet, each thought was a child of the preceding thought, or at the very least they were closely related.
That means that the words of our text, flow right out of the preceding verses. They stay within the context. And what had John already say? “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” I plan to come back to the last verse of chapter 2 later. But following the thought of Christ’s return, John is swept away in emotion and Holy Spirit guidance. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God.”
John is filled with rapturous delight, as his mind unconsciously moves into Heaven. He is a kind of spiritual schizophrenic, so close to Glory that his heart leaps back and forth between the two. And by the way, people of the world often think that this kind of schizophrenia needs be institutionalized. “The world knoweth us not.” But this is what the Holy Spirit produces in us – He creates an other-worldliness. As the Lord Jesus has said, “If ye were OF the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world… therefore the world hateth you.” Christians are exhorted to “set our affection on things above, not on things on earth….” “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us – WE are called the sons of God.”
Now, as John’s heart fills with this rapturous thought, we are introduced to some marvelous doctrine. There is a vein of golden truth in these three verses. In fact, it might be possible to say that we can see the summary of Christianity in these verses. Again, this is what Christianity is all about. And at the same time, this is what proves much of modern Christendom to be false. In here we have a separation – an unfavorable comparison – between the sons of God and the world. The kind of Christianity which permits and encourages its people to be worldly is a false Christianity.
We find here the three graces which Paul said would abide forever – faith, hope and love. Here is the love of God which sent the Lord’s only begotten Son into the world “that the world through Him might be saved.” Here is the hope of the saint and “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” We have here the new birth and adoption as sons of God – purely by God’s grace and received by faith. Then along with several other things, we eventually come down to the effects of Christ in our lives: “And every man that hath his hope in him PURIFIETH himself, even as he is pure.” James said, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to KEEP himself UNSPOTTED from the world.” These verses are well worth hours and hours of meditation and study. And introducing them, we have an intimated command which I am trying to obey this morning: “Behold!” Sadly, we only have time enough to behold a very small nugget of all the gold found here.
What is it that should we behold?
Of course, we must at least try to behold THE MAGNIFICENT LOVE OF GOD.
Oh, how it needs to be repeated that God’s love is not what is commonly pictured as love today. Obviously, along with many corrupt kinds of love, there are a many, perfectly acceptable forms. Yet God’s love is not marital, even though we can learn things by comparing the two. God’s love is not brotherly, it is not necessarily even compassionate. And obviously, it is not shallow; it is not sexual, it is not selfish. God’s love is unique in that it is permeated through and through with His own special righteous.
Not even the omnipotent God can separate His love from Who He is – from all the rest of His divine attributes. For example, people sin against the Lord, and then demand that He overlook their wilful transgression based upon the fact that He is a God of love. But that is something the omnipotent God cannot do. One divine attribute cannot take a back-seat to any other. God cannot disregard your sin, my sin, or even the sin vicariously laid upon the back of the Saviour.
The sinner who pleads ONLY love – either his own love – or God’s love – is making a serious mistake. Our only plea, as sinners, must be to God’s grace and mercy as expressed in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. God cannot sacrifice His love in order to forgive us and cleanse us from our sin. But through mercy and grace He can weave all his righteous attributes, including love, together. Through grace Jehovah can be both just and the justifier of them who believe. It is not love on its own, but love co-mingled with holiness and justice that sinners can be delivered and forgiven of their trespasses against God. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ graciously died for us.”
John says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us…” But how can we behold what is unbeholdable; how can we see that which our eyes are too blind to see? In the examination of some things in this world the subject must be destroyed. The scientist sometimes has to break his subject into its component parts in order to understand it. And some diseases can only be diagnosed by examining the brain of deceased. I won’t say that would happen in our study of God’s love. But in this case, because of the difference between God and man, there is a sense in which we will be destroyed in our grasping of this divine knowledge. Perhaps it would be better to say that we will be transformed by accessing this knowledge. The nearest I can come in illustrating this is in the study of the sun. To look at the sun with your unprotected eye you will quickly be blinded. Train the common telescope at sun, and your blindness with come even more quickly. Send a spacecraft toward the sun, and it will be swallowed up first in its gravity and then by the fires of the sun itself. Jehovah is in many ways more intense than the sun of our solar system.
Behold the love of God? John, we’re not so sure how to do that. Can we do it by comparison? Only superficially. As far as QUALITY goes, we have nothing with which to compare God’s love in its purity and extent. There is nothing on earth as rich, and pure, and holy, as the love of God. And as far as QUANTITY goes, we have nothing on earth with which to measure that love. The only thing that we can do, is study the effects of that love upon us, or try to understand it as it is illustrated in the person of Christ.
I’ve started a subject which we cannot conclude this morning, this week, this month, or even in this lifetime. This study requires our perfection and glorification. This subject is something which we’ll only begin to comprehend after beholding it for a millennium or two. But perhaps John helps us out by the way that he expresses his exhortation. The verse doesn’t say, “behold the love,” but rather “behold the MANNER of that love.”
Behold the BESTOWAL of that love.
There are a lot things about human love which people have to lay aside in order study God’s love. For example there is idea that God’s love is available for the taking or for the asking. Some people think of that love as laying upon an upper shelf in the armory of the Palace Beautiful. From there it can be either earned or given to meet our mere request. No sir! Oh, God’s love is a gift all right, but it is a gift of GRACE, bestowed only because God chooses to give it.
Think about that word “bestow.” “Behold what manner of love the Father hath BESTOWED upon us…” Doesn’t that differ from all the other words which speak of giving? The Greek word “didomi” (did’-o-mee) is quite common; it is used about 400 times in the New Testament. Nine out of ten times it is translated “to give.” But in this case, our translators used the word “bestow” instead of the more simple term.
I may be taking liberties with the Bible which I shouldn’t, but maybe there is lesson in that verbal substitution. Is there a difference between “bestowing” and simply “giving”? If there is a difference what is it? In history or literature, does the king “give” the title of “knight” to some extraordinary commoner? Why do we say that he “bestows” that title, rather than to merely “give” it? Do people give an honor to someone, or is that honor “bestowed?” To my feeble mined, the word “bestow” speaks of dignity and honor which reaches beyond to merely “give.” When I asked my computer to define the word “bestow,” it said, “To give or present something: to present something, especially something valuable or UNDESERVED, to somebody.” That God should “bestow” His LOVE on us is far more than if He gave us five hundred million dollars. God’s love is a gift which is far more valuable and honoring than any physical or temporal thing.
And by the way, the verse says that this love has been given once for all. Notice the word “hath.” That means Christians ARE the Sons of God; not “shall be” or “may become,” or especially “maybe.” It bears the idea of reality with the added thought of permanence. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be (eternally) called the sons of God”.
And WHO are those whom God has honored? US!
How did John emphasize and enunciate the words in this verse when he first thought it or wrote it? Did John say “… that we should be called THE sons of God”? Actually the definite article isn’t there in the sentence John wrote. It could properly be translated: “… that we should be called sons of God”? Did he say “… that we should be called the SONS of God”? Or did he say “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… that WE should be called the sons of God?” When John wrote this verse how much emphasis did he lay upon the little pronoun “us”?
I could spend the rest of the morning whittling away at our pride and our negligible collection human glory. We could run back and forth contrasting God’s love and man’s wretchedness. I think that it is justified and probably well worth our time. But in light of this verse, it would be redundant and regressive. The emphasis should not be what WE are by nature and what the Christian IS or once WAS. The emphasis, I think, should be on the Lord, rather than us. It should be upon HIS love rather than OUR sinfulness. At least that is as it should be in the light of this verse.
What the RESULTS of this BESTOWAL are is far more important than to whom the gift is given.
“Behold, what manner of love THAT we should be called the Sons of God.” The little word “that” in the verse can be interpreted a couple of ways. To my mind it means that the Father hath bestowed His love upon us, in order that we might be called the sons of God. It was through God’s love, proven and empowered at Calvary, that we are saved and brought into the Heavenly family.
And what again are we called? “Sons of God.“ Ladies, don’t be offended, thinking that you aren’t included. In our Heavenly eternity, gender will not be an issue. There is nothing derogatory or demeaning intended in not speaking about the “daughters of God.” And I doubt that the question entered John’s heart or head. Here was his point: the saint of God is one of the Lord’s children – both born and adopted into His family.
SOMEONE could call any of us, “the King of Siam,” but that wouldn’t make it true. But this is not just anyone. It is Jehovah who has called us “sons” – and that makes it real. I have some acquaintances, who do not attend our church, who call me “Pastor” or “Pastor Oldfield.” They are trying to be respectful, but that is all. Some of them would refuse to recognize me as their spiritual shepherd, but they still used the title. I suppose that there are hundreds of empty titles in this world. But God bestows no empty titles. Because of His love, the Lord has called some of the sinners of this world – “sons.” They not only bear that title, but they actually are the children of God, no matter what their gender.
Now bear with me for a couple more moments of temporary insanity and flights of fancy. Do I see a difference between the titles “sons of God” and “children of God”? At first sight, they appear to be twins. But no matter how much alike they might be, twins are not the same person. They are two distinct and often different people, even if they are nearly identical. How often does the Bible ever call the Lord Jesus “a Child of God,” or even “the Child of God?” Admittedly, once or twice because of the context. But far more often Christ is call – “the SON of God.” “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” When did the angels – or even the demons – call Jesus “the Child of God?” They said things such as, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?” A son is always a child, but a child is not necessarily always treated as a son. But here we are, and here is the Lord Jesus. Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a CHILD is born, unto us a SON is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” That verse both unites and separates the two terms – “child” and “son.” A child was born, but in the fulness of time the eternal Son of God was given.
My imagination may be running wild, but I think that when John uses “sons” in this verse, it is special. When I introduce Jackie, I say, “This is my daughter.” And when I introduce Sahalie to someone, I says, “This is my grandaugher.” When I show someone a picture of Nikolai and Tanner, I may say, “These are two of my grandchildren.” But when I introduce Kraig, I do not say, “This is my child.” I say, “This is my son.” That word “son” seems to be to far more personal and special than the more generic term “child” or “children.” Foolish on my part? Perhaps.
Listen to a few other passages that speak about our relationship to the Father though Christ our Saviour. John 1:12 – “As many as received him to them gave he power to become the SONS of God.” Romans 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the SONS of God.” Galatians 4:7 – “Wherefore, thou are no more a servant, but a SON, and if a SON, then an heir of God through Christ.” And I John. 3:1 – “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS of God.”
What am I trying to say this morning?
Whatever else you have or are, you have and are NOTHING without what this verse contains. No matter what your gender, if you are not a Son of God – you are a child of the Devil, a child of the world. And John already declared in 2:17 – “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.”
If you possessed the wealth of the entire world and every title man can “bestow,” and yet you lack this God-given title and this position, you lack everything of eternal value. “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
But how may sinners, much like ourselves, have received this – the greatest of all gifts? If you wish to become a child of God, first of all, you can thank the Lord for giving you that desire. Unless it is some faulty, imaginary idea that you are thinking, then it was given to you by the Lord. No sin-deadened soul wants to become a child of God until the Lord gives him that desire. After that, if you want to become a child of God, humbly plead with the Lord for His mercy and grace. Recognize that you are not worthy of sonship – none of us are even worthy of servanthood. But the Lord is gracious and merciful. And plead the shed blood of Christ, which was prompted by and pumped out by God’s love. Turn to Calvary where the love of God was most vividly displayed: “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Has the Lord enabled you to grasp the reality that Christ died specifically for YOU? Then humbly trust that it is true, and give yourself to Him in thanksgiving. If you would like to rejoice as John did here, repent before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.