See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
1 John 3:1 NLT
See how very much our Father loves us…
John doesn’t ease into this revelation. He grabs us by the shoulders and says, Look. Pay attention. Wake up. This isn’t a side note to the gospel — this is the gospel.
This is not poetic exaggeration. This is apostolic declaration.
He doesn’t say we might become children of God.
He doesn’t say we’re working toward sonship.
He says, “that is what we are.”
Identity precedes behavior.
Belonging comes before becoming.
Affirmed by the Father
The Father has always been intentional about identity.
When Jesus stepped into the Jordan River, before a miracle was performed, before a sermon was preached, before a cross was carried, heaven opened and the Father spoke:
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus had done nothing public yet — but He was already fully affirmed.
In the same way, the Father does not wait for your maturity to call you His child. He doesn’t delay love until you “get it together.” He names you before He shapes you.
Love is the starting line, not the finish line.
Why the World Doesn’t Recognize You
“But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.”
1 John 3:1 (NLT)
This isn’t an insult — it’s a diagnosis.
The world is trained to recognize:
- Achievement
- Status
- Control
- Image
- Self-made identity
The world asks, “What do you do?”
The Father asks, “Whose are you?”
Children of this world strive to construct identity.
Children of God receive identity.
That’s why the world struggles with us. We live from approval, not for it. We obey from love, not fear. We rest in sonship while the world exhausts itself trying to prove worth.
Simply put: You don’t fit in because you’re not supposed to.
Already Children… Still Becoming
“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears.”
1 John 3:2a (NLT)
Already His.
Not yet finished.
Secure — but still being shaped.
“But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”
1 John 3:2b (NLT)
Becoming like Jesus doesn’t start with effort — it starts with vision. We are transformed by what we behold. When we see Him clearly, we begin to reflect Him naturally.
The Practice of Hope: Purity
“And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”
1 John 3:3 (NLT)
Notice what John does not say.
He doesn’t say purity earns identity.
He says hope fuels purity.
Purity isn’t punishment — it’s alignment. It’s choosing what agrees with who your Father is.
If God is pure, His children learn purity by imitation, not intimidation.
This is how Jesus lived His entire earthly life:
“I only do what I see My Father doing.”
Personal Application: Live Like a Loved Child
Where has God already spoken identity over you — but you’re still living like it’s probationary?
Verse 3 invites action:
- Let go of what contaminates your affection
- Say yes to what sharpens your hunger
- Align your habits with your hope
Trusting God doesn’t mean waiting passively.
It means acting on His will.
Invitation: Holy Spirit Encounter
Pause here. Don’t rush.
Ask the Holy Spirit:
- “Father, where have I been striving instead of resting?”
- “What part of my life needs to come back into agreement with who You are?”
Then listen.
The Spirit loves to reveal the Father. And the Father delights in teaching His children how to walk like Him.
You are not earning sonship.
You are learning how to live from it.
See how very much the Father loves you.
And then — live like it.
Prayer
Holy and Loving Father,
We come to You not as strangers, but as Your children. You have already named us, already claimed us, already loved us. Forgive us for the ways we’ve lived as though Your affection must still be earned.
Increase our capacity to receive Your love. Stretch the places in our hearts that have been limited by fear, disappointment, or striving. Heal what has resisted rest. Quiet what has learned to perform instead of trust.
Holy Spirit, search us and gently remove every distraction that competes for our affection. Expose and cleanse anything that contaminates the purity of our minds and hearts — habits, thought patterns, compromises, or misplaced desires.
We want to live like we are loved.
Teach us to imitate our Father. Shape our desires to reflect Yours. Align our lives with the hope we carry — that we will be like Jesus, because we will see Him as He truly is.
We receive Your love now — without resistance, without delay, without shame. Fill us with your love, Holy Spirit, until we overflow onto the world around us.
In Jesus’ Name we pray.
Amen.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NLT
Igniter Ministries 