Series Introduction

This series of devotionals is based out of 1 John chapter 3. The themes that come up in that chapter are the stuff of life: surprise, hope, false teaching, dealing with sin, and transformation.

Reflection:

“What manner of love” literally means “of what country is this?” It is so foreign to this world, so unfamiliar, so unearthly, hence the question. The sense here is one of astonishment.

Commentator David Allen explains: “Had you lived in the first century in a Greek seaport town, you might one day be about your business, and suddenly there would be a rustle among the people down on the docks, and word would spread through the town that a ship was coming. People would move down toward the docks and look out on the horizon at the approaching ship. By the sail configuration they could tell whether the ship was from their own country or a foreign nation. You would hear people asking in Greek, “Potapēn?” which literally means, ‘Of what country?’” What new people are coming to visit? What language and goods are we going to encounter? What new things are we going to learn?

This is the word translated “what manner of” in 1 John 3:1. This is a very unusual and rare word in the New Testament. It bristles with surprise, astonishment, urgency, and excitement. What kind of love is this that the Father has given us?

Prayer:

Thank you, Father, that your love is literally out of this world. Please help me not to reduce and tame your love to a level that is familiar. Enable me and those I love to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.