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.
A love measured by its kind, not just its size
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.
Children, not adopted sons only
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.
"And so we are" — true now, hidden now
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 "Him" the world did not know
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.
Shared nearness, shared treatment
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.
A calling to display the Father here
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!
Summary
- 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.