Certain Eternity Part 25 – Seeing Love
1 John 3:1a April 19, 2025
Introduction
Brazil’s prison system is one of the largest in the world. Over one thousand
facilitates are packed well beyond capacity…upwards of 200% percent full
according to recent estimates. The situation is worsened by the fact that the
recidivism (people who commit another crime and go back to prison upon
release) rate in Brazil is over 70%. Prison System In Brazil – The Brazil Business
Because of this terrible condition, the government of Brazil has tried different
methods to address the overcrowding and recidivism rate. One successful prison
emerged in the 1990s that has been a model for others. With the exception of
two full-time staff, all the work is done by the over 700 inmates serving time for
everything from murder and assault to robbery and drug-related crimes. Every
man is assigned another inmate to whom he is accountable. In addition, each
prisoner is assigned a volunteer mentor from the outside who works with him
during his term and after his release, and families outside the prison adopt an
inmate to work with during and after his term. The facility, which was renamed
Humaita, has a recidivism rate of 4 percent. How did all of this happen? One
simple word: love.
1 John 3:1 marks an important turning point in the overall letter. Many people
break the letter into two parts and chapter 3 verse 1 is the turning point into part
2.
o Part 1: God is light, Part 2: God is love
1 John 3:1a “See what kind of love the Father has given to us…”
2 sections today: see, love….then 3 points of application
See
1 John 3:1a “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us…”
NKJV
C.H. Spurgeon “[1 John 3] is a chapter in every word and a sermon in every
letter. How it opens with a “Behold!” because it is such a striking portion of
sacred Scripture, that the Holy Ghost would have us pay particular attention to it.
“Behold!” says He, “read other Scriptures if you like, with a glance, but stop here.
I have put up a way-mark to tell you there is something eminently worthy of
attention buried beneath these words.””
“see” or “behold” (Gk. horaō) means to discern clearly to something for what it
truly is, and does not call for the reader to merely “glance”, but to gaze or stare
upon so as to clearly perceive
o To spend the time to stop and evaluate something and to take it all in
Remember 1 John 1:1-3 where used multiple times to describe how
John beheld Jesus and knew Him so well
o “See” is in the aorist imperative which is a command calling for the reader
to give immediate, effective, even urgent attention. Here’s the idea…Stop
everything else! Look at this! Think about it! Ponder its significance! See is
in the plural which calls for all of his readers to take a hard look to truly
understand the thing to which attention is drawn
This is not a rolling stop (see pic below) // teaching Connor to drive –
construction detour brought us to stop sign at blind turn and I thought he would
actually stop long enough for me to explain how important it was that he inch out
after a full and complete stop so he could see if anything was coming, but he
didn’t. Translate to the importance to see God’s love and not take it for granted
because it affects our identity
“what kind” (Gk. potapos) – of what quality…literally “from what country” …
“where did this come from?!?” …. this thing is so foreign to me
o It is used here as an exclamation…. conveying the sense of strong
admiration and astonishment = “how great!”; “how wonderful!”, “how
glorious!”… “can you believe how amazing this is…it must come from
heaven because it is not of this world!”
Flashing lights to grab your attention are put here for a reason. Steven Cole
makes the point that it is sad but true of our human nature that “Some things
grow commonplace over time. We’ve heard about them and known them for
years. Maybe at first, when it was new, an idea or experience affected us. But
over the years, the effect grows weaker and weaker, until finally it’s just a far-
distant memory. But the Father’s great love for us is the kind of experience that
should grow stronger and stronger over the years, until it totally dominates every
aspect of our lives. It should consume our thoughts and control our behavior (see
2 Cor. 5:14). It should motivate us to serve God and to live holy lives. It should
give us comfort in all our trials. It should fill us with the eager hope of being with
Him in heaven. It should fill us with awe and worship, that He, the holy sovereign
of the universe, would set His love on a sinful, self-willed rebel like me! “Amazing
love, how can it be, that Thou, my God, should die for me!” Don’t let yourself ever
hear of the Father’s great love and think, “Ho hum!” It ought always to amaze
you.”
Love
“Love” (Gk. agape) unconditional, self-sacrificial action of always seeking the
best for another
o Biblically refers to a core characteristic of who God is (future sermon).
Agape may involve emotion, but it must always involve action. Agape is
unrestricted, unrestrained, and unconditional – it is not earned or merited –
it is simple given or “bestowed”.
“given” (Gk. didōmi) to put something into another’s possession.
Didomi conveys the added sense that the granting is based on a
decision of the will of the Giver (in this case our Father) and not on
any merit of the recipient (saved sinners). This love is a gift and which
cannot be earned or purchased (it is priceless)
In the perfect tense, which signifies past completed action with
ongoing effect/result…..cannot be rescinded, is permanently in
our possession if we would just receive it!
o Agape love is the virtue that surpasses all others and in fact is the
prerequisite for all the others.
Jesus when asked “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
Law?” replied ”‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and
foremost commandment.” See Mark 12:28-31
o Not eros, storge, or philia….much deeper and lasting
o It is not just a concept in scripture…it is constantly demonstrated by God
toward us and is the heart of the gospel message
Gospel paraphrased: Separated from God due to our sin – His love
made a way for us to be in right relationship with Him through the
cross
Application
Receive God’s love
Be reminded of God’s love regularly
o Alexander Maclaren, “We are called upon to come with our little vessels to
measure the contents of the great ocean, to plumb with our short lines the
infinite abyss, and not only to estimate the quantity but the quality of that
love, which, in both respects, surpasses all our means of comparison and
conception. Properly speaking, we can do neither the one nor the other, for
we have no line long enough to sound its depths, and no experience which
will give us a standard with which to compare its quality. But all that we can
do, John would have us do—that is, look and ever look at the working of
that love till we form some not wholly inadequate idea of it….So we have to
turn to the work of Christ, and especially to His death, if we would estimate
the love of God. According to John’s constant teaching, that is the great
proof that God loves us. The most wonderful revelation to every heart of
man of the depths of that Divine heart lies in the gift of Jesus Christ….The
Apostle bids me ‘behold what manner of love.’ I turn to the Cross, and I see
there a love which shrinks from no sacrifice, but gives ‘Him up to death for
us all.’ I turn to the Cross, and I see there a love which is evoked by no
lovableness on my part, but comes from the depth of His own Infinite
Being, who loves because He must, and who must because He is God. I
turn to the Cross, and I see there manifested a love which sighs for
recognition, which desires nothing of me but the repayment of my poor
affection, and longs to see its own likeness in me. And I see there a love
that will not be put away by sinfulness, and shortcomings, and evil, but
pours its treasures on the unworthy, like sunshine on a dunghill. So,
streaming through the darkness of eclipse, and speaking to me even in the
awful silence in which the Son of Man died there for sin, I ‘behold,’ and I
hear, the ‘manner of love that the Father hath bestowed upon us,’ stronger
than death and sin, armed with all power, gentler than the fall of the dew,
boundless and endless, in its measure measureless, in its quality
transcendent—the love of God to me in Jesus Christ my Saviour.”
(Expositions of Holy Scripture [Baker], on 1 John, pp. 298-299)
A habit of devout, thankful meditation on God’s great love as seen in
the sacrifice of His Son for us, along with the humble, thankful
conviction that I am a child of God because of it (future sermon), lies
at the foundation of all vigorous, happy Christian living.
Maclaren uses the illustration that if you had a friend in
Australia, but you never thought about this friend and never
communicated with him, that friendship would fade and not
have much significance in your life. For the friendship to affect
you, you must think often about this friend and what he means
to you.
Maclaren also points out that such thought always requires
great effort. We all have too many other things crowding into
our daily lives. If we do not deliberately take the time and effort
to block out all of these “pressing” things and focus on what
God has done for us in Christ, His great love will get crowded
out.
Learn to love yourself and others
o Possible because God’s love for us and who He makes us (future sermon)
Conclusion
Chuck Colson visited the prison and made this report: When I visited Humaita I
found the inmates smiling-particularly the murderer who held the keys, opened
the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean
living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with Biblical
sayings from Psalms and Proverbs…. My guide escorted me to the notorious
prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a
single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the
key in the lock, he paused and asked, “Are you sure you want to go in?” “Of
course,” I replied impatiently, “I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.”
Slowly the inmate swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that
punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humaita inmates – the
prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross. “He’s doing time for the rest of us,” my
guide said softly. “He’s the one paying the price for us all.” From In the Grip of
Grace, copyright [Word Publishing, 1996] Max Lucado, p. 112-113; also
appeared in the January 1995 issue of Guideposts magazine.
Since Humaita, other Christ centered prisons have opened in Brazil run by an
organization called APAC. The director of international relations for these
alternative prisons in Brazil recalled an inmate who escaped from six prisons
before entering APAC and who was asked why he did not attempt to escape
anymore. …He replied, “Nobody flees from love.” … “We try to teach them as
God teaches us: with love,” the Director said. His words echo the vision of
APAC’s founder Mario Ottoboni, who once said that criminals “are not dangerous
people. They are only people who are not sufficiently loved.” ‘Nobody flees from
love’: Brazil’s alternative prisons offer a model of restorative justice | America
Magazine
Amen. Amen.