[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] (1 John 3:1).
[In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him] (1 John 4:9). [He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him] (Ps. 103:10, 11).
[But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,] [as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him] (Ps. 103: 17, 13).
[For He made Him (His Son Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us (sinners), that we might become the righteousness of God in Him] (2 Cor. 5:21). [He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins,] [for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved] (1 John 4:10, John 3:17). Oh, what a great and unconditional love is that of our heavenly Father! [In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us] (1 John 4:10). [All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him (His Son Jesus) the iniquity of us all] (Isa. 53:6). It was to [release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage] under the power of death, [for indeed He does not give aid to angels (of heaven) but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham,] the sinners of earth (Heb. 2:15, 16). What a reassuring and cheerful message worthy of all praise!
[He is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the Pit (of death); I have found a ransom'] (Job 33: 24).
O what an amazing love of our heavenly Father! If it had not been for His gracious provision, who could have escaped from the horrible pit of death? [In this is love, not that we loved God] but that [He first loved us] (1 John 4:10, 19). [My son (you sinner), God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering] (Gen. 22:8). [Return to Me, for I have redeemed you] (Isa. 44:22).
Praise the Lord! [You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption] (Isa. 38:17).
Though all this evidence is given, the enemy of good still managed to blind the minds of men so that they look upon God with fear. They can only think of Him as severe and unforgiving. Also, Satan deceives men into thinking that God is a being whose chief attribute is stern justice, one who is a severe judge, a harsh and exacting creditor. He draws our heavenly Father as a being who is watching us with jealous eyes, to discern our errors and mistakes so that He may pour judgment upon us.
It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God that Jesus came to live among men. It was to make manifest the Father that the Son of God came from heaven. [No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him] (John 1:18).
It is from the Father's heart that the streams of divine compassion, manifested in Christ, flowed out to the children of men. Jesus, the tender, pitying Savior was God [manifested in the flesh] (1 Tim. 3:16). None but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption; for only He who was in the bosom of the Father could declare Him. Only He who knows the height and depth of the love of God could make it manifest. Nothing less than the infinite sacrifice made by Christ on behalf of fallen man could express the Father's love to lost humanity.
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son," not only to live among men, to bear their sins, and to die as their sacrifice, but He gave His Son to the fallen race forever. He who was one with God liked Himself with the children of men by a bond that will never be broken. Jesus is [not ashamed to call them brethren] (Heb. 2:11); He is our Sacrifice, our Advocate, and our Eldest Brother. Bearing our human form before the Father's throne and throughout eternal ages, He is the Son of Man, one with the race He has redeemed. And all this that man might be uplifted from the ruin and degradation of sin, that he might reflect the love of God and share the joy of holiness.
The price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly Father in giving His Son to die for us, should give us exalted concepts of what we may become through Christ. As the inspired Apostle John beheld the height, the depth, and breadth of the Father's love toward the perishing race, he was filled with adoration and reverence; and failing to find the suitable language in which to express the greatness and tenderness of this love, he called upon the world to behold it. [Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God] (1 John 3:1). What a value this places upon man! Through transgression the sons of men were subject to Satan, and through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the sons of Adam can now become sons of God. By assuming human nature, Christ has elevated humanity. Fallen men are placed where, through connection with Christ, they may indeed become worthy of the name "sons of God."
Such love is without parallel. Children of the heavenly King! Precious promise! Theme for the most profound meditation! The matchless love of God for a world that did not love Him. The thought has a subduing power upon the soul and brings the mind into captivity to the will of God. The more we study the divine character in the light of the cross, the more we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and justice, and the more clearly we discern immeasurable evidence of a love that is infinite and a tender pity surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy for her wayward child.
[He is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom'] (Job 33:24).
Hymn
1. For God so loved the world
That He gave His only begotten Son,
That whosoever believes in Him
Should not perish but have everlasting life,
That whosoever believes in Him
Should not perish but have everlasting life,
Should not perish but have everlasting life.
2. Heavenly Father loved me a sinner
And gave up His only Son,
That I might be brought to His arms.
What a wondrous love it is to me!
That I might be brought to His arms.
What a wondrous love it is to me!
What a wondrous love it is to me!
3. My Father so loved me
And He will again send His Son,
That I might have life there above
With Him to live for eternity.
That I might have life there above
With Him to live for eternity,
With Him to live for eternity.
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