1 John 3:1 - 3

- 3

1 John 3:1–3 NKJV

1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1 - Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

2 - Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

3 - And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Today we will begin to explore Chapter 3 and dig in to some of the Greek nuances that will help us to understand what John intended.

Verse 1 was made into a praise song many years ago so it is very familiar to me.

These first verses are very rich in meaning beginning with the first word, “Behold”. In the original the it in the Aorist Active Imperative meaning this is a command to pay attention and continue to do so. The word in Greek is eidō and means to know, in this case to fully grasp.

to know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive

of any fact

the force and meaning of something which has definite meaning

So “behold” what? what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us

When we say what manner of something, what do we mean?

Well, in this case the Greek word here indicates the sort of or quality of a thing. In this case it is the quality of God’s love given to us.

Love is the word agapē. This is God’s selfless love. Why does God love you, just because...

He has bestowed this love on us. In the original the word means to give.

Bestowed on us speaks many things. First, it speaks of the measure of God’s love to us; it could more literally be translated lavished on us. Secondly, it speaks of the manner of God’s giving of love; bestowed has the idea of a one-sided giving, instead of a return for something earned.

But His love is not all. Think of it, just His love would have been more than enough but its says: that we would be called children of God; the NU adds - and such we are.(NASB has it this way.)

God not only loves us, in spite of ourselves, but has adopted us into His family. With a mere pity, He might have set forth a plan of salvation where man could be saved from hell. But God went far beyond that, to call us the children of God.

In this, we gain something in Jesus Christ greater than Adam ever possessed. We never once read of Adam being called one of the children of God in the sense John means here. He was never adopted as a son of God in the way believers are. We err when we think of redemption as merely a restoration of what was lost with Adam; we are granted more in Jesus than Adam ever had.

Hand out

1b - For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

When we feel lonely or not at home here its because the world doesn’t know Him and us. It’s all about who you know. How is it possible that the world didn’t know Him and yet they didn’t.

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He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

2 - Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

I love this verse, it begins with a statement of fact. We are is in the tense of continue to be children of God. But now John ponders the future of our lives in eternity in a physical sense.

Have you ever thought about it? All we are told is when He appears we will be like Him.

Wuest - page 149 - 152

What is Jesus like now, as He is. After Jesus rose from the dead in His glorified body, His body uniquely retained the nail prints in His hands and the scar on his side (). In , Jesus speaks prophetically of the day when the Jewish people, turned to Him, see Him in glory: then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. continues the thought: And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

3 - And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Why would knowing these truths cause one to purify himself? Ultimately, as we abide in Him we become more like Him. Knowing this is not some myth, that we will see Him again, makes us live holy lives.