1 John 3:1-2 - Stop & Behold
- Chad Werkhoven
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Stop what you're doing and behold your Father's love!
1 John 3:1–2 (NIV)
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 10 & 11 - Assurance Despite Doubts
Accordingly, our assurance
does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word,
but
from faith in the promises of God which he has very plentifully revealed in his Word for our comfort,
from the testimony of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children and heirs (Rom. 8:16-17),
and finally from a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience and of good works.
And if God’s chosen ones in this world
did not have this well-founded comfort
that the victory will be theirs
and this reliable guarantee of eternal glory,
they would be of all people most miserable.
Meanwhile, Scripture testifies that
believers
have to contend in this life with various doubts of the flesh
and that under severe temptation they do not always experience this full assurance of faith and certainty of perseverance.
But God, the Father of all comfort,
does not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear,
but with the temptation he also provides a way out (1 Cor. 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit revives in them the assurance of their perseverance.
Summary
We have for the most part, and for lots of good reasons, more or less set aside the good 'ol King James Version of the Bible. It served the Church well for hundreds of years, but our usage of English has changed so much that its translation often needs to be translated. After all, thou no longer useth words like peradventure, concupiscence, or wist not whence thou openest thy mouth to speak.
But every so often, the KJV can't be topped, and such is the case with this opening verse in today's passage. It's good for you to see what great love the Father has given, as the modern translations render it, but what John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, has in mind here is that you must behold the manner of love the Father hath given unto us! If you grew up going to Sunday School, it's hard not to sing those words!
You see tens of thousands of different things each and every day - far too many to focus on each and every detail. In fact, you've gotten really good over time at filtering out all of the extraneous things you see so that you can concentrate on the things that matter. The problem isn't the filtering out part - that's necessary, otherwise you'd never get anything done. The problem is that Sarx (your old sinful nature that's waging war against you) continually tricks you into concentrating on the wrong things.
So John here reminds you that every so often, you need stop, drop what you're doing, rid yourself of all other distractions, and behold your Father's great love. What's the difference between seeing and beholding? You see the Buffalo Ridge here in Southwest Minnesota (a nearly imperceptible rise in elevation from the vast plains around it) as you drive by it, but you behold something like the Grand Canyon. It takes your breath away as you gaze over it's expanse in awe.
Dig Deeper
I went to college in San Luis Obispo, California, which is on the Central Coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The university was several miles inland, far away enough that the ocean wasn't visible. The ocean certainly was still there, even though we couldn't see it. But every so often when heading out of town on the Pacific Coast Highway we'd crest the surrounding hills and the vast ocean would appear. No matter how many times we made that drive, it was a sight to behold!
We've been reminded these last few weeks that our lives are spent walking through the valley darkened by the shadow of death. God's love is always there but sometimes when it's especially dark, it can be hard to see anything at all, much less the Father's great love. That's why you need to make a concerted effort in your life to get up and out of the valley every so often to behold the great love the Father has lavished on us.
Reading the Bible like what you're doing right now is a great way to get a glimpse of this great love. The best way, of course, is to follow the Biblical rhythm of gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day, detaching yourself from all of the valley's details that constantly clog your vision, and beholding God's love as we read it, pray it, explain it, and sing it together.
This is one of the reasons the world does not know this love - they don't see it. For them it remains hidden behind the world's distractions. It's through this regular beholding that your assurance of salvation is strengthened, reminding you, as the Canons put it, that the victory will be yours, along with reliable guarantee of eternal glory.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who lavished us with His great love, that we should be called His children!
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the wisdom and strength to keep distractions at bay so that you can often behold the Father's great love;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Revelation 2
