See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called [the] children of God. For this reason the world knows us not, because it knew him not.
The verse opens with a call to stop and look. John points to a love that has given believers the name and place of children of God. Then he adds the cost: the world that never knew Christ does not know them either.
John does not simply say the Father loves us. He asks what kind of love this is. One writer sets it beside the best that human giving can manage:
It is not only this love that is stressed here, but "what kind of love." Human charity may call itself love because it gives generously, and maybe lifts someone out of misery and poverty into comfort and plenty. In one sense you may call that love, but it falls far short of the Father's love. This is a kind of love that does more than rescue enemies from a state of sin and total ruin, and clothe, feed and enrich them. It is satisfied with nothing less than bringing them into His own house for ever as His own children. True, pure love delights in having those it loves near.
The words "children" and "sons" are not the same, and the difference is family closeness:
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us." It is not only the measure of it but the kind of it that is so wonderful. It shows itself in this, that the Father has given us this boundless love "that we should be called children of God." "Children" is the right term, not "sons." John normally uses the word "son" only about Christ… To be a child of the family is more intimate than the position of an adopted son. We are sons by adoption, but we are children by the closest family tie to the Father, though both come through the Son.
The name is not flattery. It is a fact today, even though nothing on the outside shows it:
First of all, John speaks here of the present: "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God." His love has already taken effect on us. Already today we are called, and are, children of God. But the world still knows nothing about it. It sees nothing special in us. This is because it has no relationship with Christ and sees nothing special in Him. The family of God is a mystery to them.
Why are believers called this only now? One writer points to what had to happen first:
There is no doubt that believers in the Old Testament were really children of God, but they were not called this, because the Father's love could not be fully shown or known until the Lord Jesus had come and atoned for sin at the cross.
The verse begins with the Father. But the one the world failed to know is Christ:
"The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." Who? The "Him" here means Christ. The world did not know Him, and it does not know us for the same reason. We have the same life and character that He had. The world cannot recognise and own what is of Christ in us, because it did not recognise it in Christ.
Believers now stand where Christ stands. One writer follows that through, and adds a warning:
No one was ever as near to God as He was; but now we are brought into that very same nearness… So what is His becomes ours. But the world does not know us. Why? For the most precious reason — because it did not know Him. Whatever was His portion is our portion. If the world threw Him out, should I wonder if it throws us out too? If the world called Him every bad name, we must expect no better. Only let us take care that we do not deserve it.
Being unknown does not mean being invisible. God has given His children something to show the world:
If the world did not know the righteous Father presented in the righteous Son, it cannot know His righteous children. And it is to this place of children of God that the Father in His infinite love has called us. What a place of favour is ours while Christ is rejected from the earth — that we should be called to show the world the moral features of God!
- Love — it starts with the Father's giving, not with our worth. This love brings rescued enemies into His own house as His own children.
- Name — that love hands us a name: children of God. Writers stress this is closer than adopted sonship. A child shares the family's life, not just its title.
- Now — this name waited for the cross, and it is true today, even though outsiders see nothing special in us.
- Unknown — the world is blind to us because it was blind to Christ. His portion becomes ours, so rejection is no surprise.
- Display — while the earth refuses Christ, His children stay here to show the Father's moral features. That is the honour of the name, and its daily test.
Beloved, now are we children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been manifested; we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
John writes to people who already belong to God's family. Then he tells them that the best part has not appeared yet. The verse holds two things at once: a relationship settled today, and a change that waits for the day Christ appears.
John states a present fact, not a hope. One writer explains why John says "children" and not "sons":
John never speaks of "sons of God" in his message. In Paul's writings the Holy Spirit speaks of believers as "sons and heirs." But John unfolds the truth that believers are in the family of God by new birth. So he uses the word "children" to mark the shared nature of those born of God. As children of God we share in the divine nature... The Spirit of God gives the strongest assurance through the pen of John: "we are God's children now." There can be no doubt about it. It is our present and known position. We believed on Him, so we are born again and have eternal life.
The words "has not yet appeared" could sound as if the future were vague. But what is missing is public display, not information.
He adds something not yet manifested. It is not yet manifested what we shall be. What does he mean? That we shall be like Christ even in our bodies. He does not say or mean that it is not revealed to us, for it is set out in Scripture fully and simply. We would be wrong to think there is the smallest doubt about the result... his faith depends not on things that are seen, but on His assurance about things as yet unseen.
One writer pictures the difference between what the world will see and what His own will see:
When He is manifested in His glory, we shall not only be with Him but like Him, for we are going to see Him as He is. The world will see Him in that day, dressed in His majesty and His might. They will see Him in His official glories. We shall see Him in His more intimate personal glories. The crowd sees the kings of this world in official dress on state occasions. Their own families see them in private, as they are.
Why does John give sight as the reason for likeness? One line of comment takes the sight itself as the transforming power:
So great is the gracious power of the Second man to make us like Himself, that for us to see Him is to be like Him. When we saw Him here on earth by faith, we were made spiritually like Him. When we see Him bodily one day, we shall be like Him even in our bodies.
Commentators differ here. Another writer reads it the other way round: likeness is what makes the sight possible:
The thought here is not that the sight of Him will transform us then. There is a precious transforming power even now in looking into His face (2 Corinthians 3:18). But we are promised that we shall behold His face in righteousness. It follows that we must be like Him. Only after being made like Him will it be possible to take in the beauty and glory of His Person, "as He is."
"As He is" means what He is now, not what He will be. That glory is more than flesh could bear:
His glory is not yet manifested, but we shall be like Him, for "we shall see him as he is." That means not as He will be, but as He is now in heavenly glory at the right hand of God. The flesh could not see this and survive. Daniel fell as one dead, and John too, when it appeared. But we shall be like Him, and therefore able to see Him as He is.
One writer ties the change to Christ's coming, and marks it off from dying:
When are we to be like Christ in the glory? When He comes. It is not when a person dies and the spirit goes to be with Christ. Then he is like Christ when Christ was in the grave. And I do not want to be like Christ when Christ was in the grave... I want to be like Him in the glory. When will that be? When He comes, He will change our lowly bodies and fashion them like His glorious body.
- Now — the relationship is settled and known today. Believers are children of God by new birth, not candidates waiting for a verdict.
- Not yet — what is missing is public display, not information. Scripture states the outcome, so there is no doubt about it.
- When — the change comes at His appearing, not at death. At His coming He will fashion our lowly bodies like His glorious body.
- Sight — "as He is" means as He is now at God's right hand. Flesh could not see that glory and survive. Commentators differ: does the sight make us like Him, or does likeness make the sight possible?
- Likeness — the world will see Him in official majesty. His own will see Him in personal glory, and will be like Him even in their bodies.