Let us look at 1 John 3:1.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
The Centurion’s Love for His Servant and Its Limit
Matthew 8 tells the story of a centurion who came to Jesus on behalf of his servant, who was lying at home paralyzed and terribly tormented.
At that time, Romans did not regard slaves as independent members of society. They were under the authority of their masters and, legally, their status was in many respects closer to that of property. Therefore, when a slave became ill, there were cases in which the master might view it more as a loss of labor and property than as the suffering of a person.
Yet the centurion came to Jesus for his servant, who was paralyzed and suffering terribly. Luke describes this servant as one who was “dear unto him” (Luke 7:2). From this, we can see how deeply the centurion valued his sick servant.
Jesus saw the centurion’s faith, showed him grace, and healed his servant.
The Love of the Creator Who Gave His Life for His Creatures
However much the centurion loved his servant, it would not have been easy for him to give his own life for that servant. People value their own lives above all else. Yet what is astonishing is that Jesus willingly gave His life for us—and for human beings whom He Himself created.
How could the Creator give His life for creatures He made? That the Son of God became man and died for the human beings He Himself created is a love that human wisdom simply cannot explain. This is why John said, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1).
The expression “what manner of love” means more than simply “how much love.” It carries a sense of astonishment: “What kind of love can this possibly be!”
Scripture says:
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7–8).
If the centurion’s servant had been a wicked man who refused to obey his master and wasted his master’s possessions, would the centurion still have gone to Jesus for him? It is difficult to imagine such a thing happening. Yet while we, His creatures, had become enemies of God and were opposing the very God who made us, Jesus gave His own life for us. How can we explain such astonishing love?
A “Wonderful” Love Beyond Human Reason
Speaking of the God who knew him completely, David said, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psalm 139:6). Here, “wonderful” means something so astonishing and extraordinary that human wisdom cannot fully comprehend it.
We too can say that God’s love is wonderful. God’s love is an astonishing love whose depth and reason cannot be fully fathomed by our reason and experience.
We are the objects of God’s great love. Yet many people do not know how deeply God loves them. Some even think that God hates them or has abandoned them. The devil causes us to look at our sins and failures rather than at God, leading us to doubt God’s love.
The Cross: The Evidence That Shatters the Devil’s Lie
But the cross declares that this is a lie.
The fact that Jesus died for us not when we were righteous but while we were sinners proves that we are the objects of God’s great love. Therefore, rather than looking only at our sins and failures and doubting God’s love, we must look to Jesus, who endured the scourging and the suffering of the cross for us.
Scripture says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26). Our hearts have a strong tendency to judge us according to our deeds. But in the Word of God we see the love that God first bestowed upon us while we were sinners.
If we want to know how God has loved us, we must not look only at ourselves but look to Jesus Christ. John says, “Herein is love.”
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9–10).
The apostle Paul said, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). The more we come to know Jesus, the more deeply we understand how much God has loved us; and the more we understand that love, the deeper our love for God becomes.
The Joy of Knowing the Love of Christ That Surpasses Knowledge
Yet no matter how much we come to know the love of Christ, we can never fully comprehend it. Paul prayed:
“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18–19).
Christ’s love is a love we can know, yet it is also a love that surpasses our knowledge. We continue to discover its breadth and length and depth and height, but no matter how much we learn, we can never reach its end.
God’s love toward us is so wonderful that our wisdom can never fully comprehend it. Yet God has revealed that love to us through Christ. As we continue to know that love, we will live in gratitude and rejoice in it.