Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Monday, 08 April 2024 11:25

Behold What Great Love
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

Where we are blessed to live, there are many things to behold with the eyes. Every time I cross over the river driving into Scottsboro, I take a quick look to behold the beauty, especially if it is near sunset. I have visited many places, but few compare to the beauty of looking up the Tennessee River during sunset. But it is not just the river that holds so much wonder and beauty in our neck of the woods. Springtime is always a great time for beholding the beauty of creation – a time for taking a long look at the beauty all around us. Behold the budding trees and blossoming flowers with such magnificent color and creativity. I trust you’re not too busy these days to behold creation’s beauty.

But there is much more to behold than just physical things, things of greater beauty and worth. In 1 John 3:1, John does something unique. He uses a particular word, in a particular form, in a particular place, for emphasis. The word is translated “see” in most of its usages in the Bible, meaning to look at something. But the form in which John uses it here in 1 John 3:1, is better translated like the KJV translates it – behold. To help you understand how emphatic this word becomes when it is used this way, Luke uses it in the same way when he writes about the time the resurrected Lord appeared to His disciples in Luke 24:39. They were unsure whether or not they were seeing a ghost, so the Lord commanded them to “behold” His hands and His feet so that they might see the nail scars and know for certain that it was the Lord Himself in the flesh. I am quite sure they looked intently!

But John wants us to behold something spiritual, not physical. John wants us to behold the love of God. If I could translate the passage, I would add, “like right now… do it now. Behold the great love of God!” What is the basis for this great love that John wants us to behold? The basis is the fact that we are the children of God.
If you are a student of the Bible, you are well aware that there are only two “fathers” in Scripture. One father is the devil, and the other Father is God Himself. And if you know that, you probably also know that only those who have been born again are considered the children of God.

Pulpits in our day do not use the phrase “born again” much anymore. When the Holy Spirit wrote the Scriptures, He put much emphasis on being born again. In fact the Lord Jesus Himself said, “You must be born again,” (John 3:7, ESV).
You and I must be born of God in order to be counted as the children of God. And John wants those who are God’s children to marvel and behold at how that could be possible for rebellious sinners like you and me. Those who were once enemies of God and under the wrath of God have now, through the grace of God, been born again as the children of God.
John says, “Behold, what kind of love is that!!!” Which brings me to another great word which is actually translated as “great” in 1 John 3:1. But “great” doesn’t cut it for me. The word in the original is potapos. The word is also found in Matthew 8:27. “The men were amazed, and said, ‘What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” (NASB, emphasis added). In other words, when the disciples saw the Lord stand and rebuke the sea so that it grew calm from the storm, they realized they had no category for the man in the boat. He was like someone they had never seen before, and they were certainly right about that! The man in the boat was not just a man; He was also God.

So we bring that thought into 1 John and the exclamation grows even larger. “Behold, what in the world kind of love this is, that we sinful rebels might be called the children of God!” Which is kind of the point. This love is not of the world. This love is from heaven, and it is not like anything we have ever seen or known before. And with this love comes other consequences that we will discuss next week. But for the meantime, behold!