The Father's Extravagant Love

​See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)
 
Some of the translations of the Bible say “see what kind of love”. Let’s take a look at the nature of the Father’s love and, as we do, we’ll see that it is more than a fact or theological concept. We’ll see the substance of love being poured into our heart. 
 
It is an extravagant, generous and marvellous love. Nothing is spared or held back. It’s like going to a feast where there is almost too much to eat. You want to try it all but you know you don’t have the capacity to do so. 
 
His love is redemptive. In order for us to become his children we have to be redeemed (or bought back) from the enemy who’d stolen us. The Father takes us from the destructive life of sin and brings us into his family. 
 
The Father’s love is a sacrificial and giving love. It cost the Father his Son, he paid everything in order that you and I might be brought home, into the centre of his love. 
 
And finally, it is an eternal love. God has always been and will always be loving, he is our true Father. That is the love with which we are loved. It’s not dependent on us, on how we feel or behave. It’s a love that originates in the Father’s heart and it’s a love which is generously poured out, without limit, into our heart.