Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
—1 John 3:1
Behold means to observe. It means to regard, view, and witness. God wants to witness to us about His love. He wants us to perceive who we are in His love. But you can’t behold something that isn’t perceivable. So God’s love for us is visible. It is revealed in His nature and in other ways.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-3).
However, the greatest manifestation of God’s love for us is revealed in the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus, who was without any sin. Anyone who truly desires to see God’s love for them can find it revealed in this amazing and self-sacrificing gift.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
God didn’t bestow on us the wrath we deserved. Instead, He gave us Himself. He bestowed His love by giving Jesus as the payment for our sins. He gave us all the blessings we didn’t deserve by raising us to be His children and joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17).
Incredibly, God did not punish us for what we had done, but for Him to claim us as His children and bless us with all His spiritual blessings is mind-boggling. Mercy is not getting the bad we deserve. Grace is receiving the goodness of God that we don’t deserve. His gospel of grace seems almost too good to be true.
God’s extravagant love for us is His best given to us without cost to us. If you truly behold Jesus and His love—if you truly behold yourself as His child who in Christ has received all of His inherent blessings, you know you have received His best. You know His best is yours because Jesus gave His best for you to have it.
Think about this. We can only give God our best when we believe God has given us His best. Every effort on our own to give God our best will fail. Beholding the love of our Father and believing the new creation we have become in the love of His Son is the only way to believe we have received the very best from God.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).
You can only give with the measure that has been given to you. God’s love is that unending measure. When you give with the measure of the fullness of His grace, His blessings return to you pressed down and running over.
Behold, my friend. What manner of love is this? That we should be called His children?
©2024 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2024/02/beholding-gods-best.html
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