The unconditional love of God

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3 NLT

John begins with a call to believers to “see” the unconditional love that God has provided. Though difficult to measure, we ought to fathom the love that He has lavished to His children. The love is great “for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). It is unconditional for it did not require any merit act from us. It is an honor for us to know that God made it possible for us to belong in His Kingdom though we do not deserve it. “Since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory” (Romans 8:17). Because we believe God and by faith have received Him as Lord and Savior, “He gave [us] the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). This is why John says in the epistle “that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). God declares His relationship with us as soon as we have received Him by faith. It is not just about the promise that He will fulfill in the future but having the joy, knowing that even in our present life, we can enjoy all the rights and privileges of being adopted in the family of God and what this relationship entails. The world will not understand the unconditional love of God for they do not know Him. They will be hostile to God’s children for they have rejected God’s offer of salvation. “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first” (John 15:18). We should not insist that the world will accept who we are and our testimony for by doing so, we can end up compromising our belief and conviction. God’s goal for us is to conform us in His image. God does this through the working of the Holy Spirit who is in us. “All of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Let us have this mind in us that when Jesus appears, He will “take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control” (Philippians 3:21). While anticipating the fulfillment of the sure hope of His return, let us submit to His working in our lives.

Blessings,