The first part of 1 John 3:1 says: “See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are.” I was reviewing this scripture today, as part of a regular rotation of scripture I like to ponder, and was struck by how appropriate it is to the Christmas season. God’s love is made visible in the Incarnation: The Son of God taking on human form and going to the cross to take on the guilt of our sin. This price was required if we were to be God’s children. He is holy; we are not.
Life’s circumstances may cause me to question God’s love, but he calls me to look to the places where his love is made visible—Jesus in a manger instead of in glory, on a cross instead of on a throne. If I look to life’s circumstances to decide whether or not God loves me, I can be like someone picking petals off a daisy…he loves me…he loves me not. When I look at Jesus, I can instead see the extravagance of his love. What a high price he has paid that I might call him, “Dad.”