A word that says: look
Behold, What Manner of Love
The apostle John, near the end of his long life, cannot get over one thing. He calls us to stop and stare at it. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. That we, once strangers and rebels, should be called the sons of God, is a wonder that never grows old.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”1 John 3:1
Where it is said
Where it is said. These words are written by the apostle John in his first letter, recorded in 1 John 3:1. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." John writes to believers to assure them of their standing with God and to encourage them to walk in love and truth. In the surrounding verses he has been speaking of Christ's righteousness and of being born of God (1 John 2:29). Now he pauses to marvel at the love that makes this possible. The word behold here is a call to look and wonder, and the phrase what manner of love means love of what kind, love so unusual that it defies our ordinary categories. John goes on: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). The love he points to is the love of the Father, who has bestowed on undeserving people the astonishing gift of becoming His own children.
What it asks us to see
What it asks us to see. This Behold asks us to see the sheer greatness of the Father's love in making us His children. John does not say we are treated like servants or guests, but that we are called the sons of God, adopted into God's own family. That is not a distant legal arrangement only, for John adds that this is what we truly are, now. This Behold asks us to feel the wonder of it, the same wonder that stopped an aged apostle in his tracks. We were by nature far from God, and yet His love has drawn us in and given us a name and a home. It also explains why the world does not understand believers, because the world did not recognize Christ either. Those who belong to the Father live by a love the world cannot see. And it points forward with hope, for although we cannot yet see all that we will become, we know that when Christ appears we shall be like Him. To behold this love is to let it settle deep, so that our identity rests not on our achievements but on the astonishing fact that the Father calls us His own.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. This love is made known and made possible through Jesus Christ. We are called the sons of God because Christ, the eternal Son, has shared His sonship with us. John's Gospel says that to as many as received Him, "to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). It is by union with Christ that we are brought into the Father's family, for God "sent forth his Son... to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5). The manner of love John marvels at is the same love that gave the Son for us, for "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). And the hope that we shall be like Him and see Him as He is points to Christ's return and our being made like Christ at last. To behold what manner of love the Father has given is to behold the cost at which it came, the Son laid down, and the glory to which it leads, that we shall be like the Son forever.
Questions people ask
What does what manner of love mean?
The phrase means love of what kind, pointing to a love so unusual and extraordinary that it does not fit our normal categories. John is amazed that God's love is of such a quality that it would make undeserving people His own children, and he calls us to stop and wonder at it.
How do we become sons of God?
According to Scripture, we become children of God through Jesus Christ. John's Gospel says that to all who received Him, He gave the right to become sons of God (John 1:12), and Galatians 4:4-5 teaches that God sent His Son so that we might receive adoption as sons. It is His gift, not our achievement.