Extravagant Love

Hello and welcome to Beauty, the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are talking about the greatness of our Father’s love! Today, as we continue to walk through the book of 1 John, we are going to talk about God’s extravagant love for us. If you have been following along with this study, you know the drill. And if this is your first day joining - welcome! This isn’t a deep dive study, but rather a helpful resource for you to learn how to study. We begin each day by reading and writing the verses we will look at. Today, that is 1 John 3:1‐3. Once you read and write these verses, take a look at the words you wrote and see if you can identify a progression. Did you spot it in each verse? These three verses tell us what we are, what we will be, and what we should be. First, John tells us what we are. We are children on God. Those are more than simple lyrics in a worship song. If you have claimed God as Lord and Savior, you are adopted into the family. You are a child of God. That is the beauty and reality of your life. John then goes on to share, in verse two, what will be in the future for those who claim their place in the family. God’s great love continues - even after death. We have something to look forward to because he is coming back for his church. When he does, we will not only see him, but we will also become like him. John wraps this up in verse three with the reason why it is important for us to know who we are and what we will be. “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” It is motivation. In knowing that Christ will return for us; in knowing we will see him in all his glory and become like him for eternity, we should be motivated to live a life worthy of being claimed. One of my commentaries said, “To know God does not bring spiritual complacency, but purity of life.” This goes back to the previous chapters. Remember, we can’t just read and forget. We have to connect the dots. In the previous chapters, John urges his friends to walk in the light and be obedient to God. He tells them to seek forgiveness and to stay near to truth. He encourages them to love well. This does not sound like complacent faith to me. This is active faith. This is a pursuit of righteous living. And it is this type of engagement that will prepare us for the moment in eternity that John describes in verse 3. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing. We should be focused on the things before us with the knowledge of what is ahead of us. What is the here and now stuff of life that you need to pay attention to so you don’t lose sight of your future hope? D 🙂 Have you missed part of the study? You can find links to each days thoughts here. Links will be updated on Friday’s. Get full access to Shining.Our.Light at deannakohlhofer.substack.com/subscribe