By: Brent Wilkins
In 1 John 3:1 we read, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
In the Greek, the kind of love described in 1 John 3:1 is potapen. According to John MacArthur, potapen is classic Greek for something foreign, something alien, something that is inexplicable in known terminology. It really says, "Look, there is a love that is utterly unknown to us. It is not at all like human love. It is alien, it is a love that human experience doesn't know. It's a love that's outside of us, above us, beyond us."
It is that alien love that makes us children of God.
The final words of this verse are beautiful too… “and so we are.” Children of God is not merely a name that is bestowed upon us. It is a reality! We ARE children of God. The Father has adopted us as his own and nothing can separate us from that great love.
This great assurance gives us confidence to live as children of God; to be imitators of Christ in the holiness of his life, making him our pattern and example. We can walk through this day excited and encouraged by the fact that we are indeed his children. Children who are loved with the alien love of God.
