Children of God:
An Exposition of 1 John 3:1a

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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Sometimes a phrase is said so often that we no longer think about it. It has become trite -- meaning, "hackneyed or boring from much use. Not fresh or original."[1] For example, the phrase "God is love"[2] is true, but we've heard it so many times that it has lost its punch. Here is another: "I am a child of God." Sure. Tell me something I don't already know!

John's First Letter reexamines this supposed truism. Even now, as the Apostle John writes as a very old man, the idea blows him away! Look at what he says and how he says it:

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1a, NIV)

Struggle with Sin

In this short letter, John has been talking about sin and righteousness. He writes things like:

"In him [Jesus] is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning." (1 John 3:5b-6a)

Oops. Verses like this make us feel very uncomfortable, because in our struggle with sin, we too often fail. If our only chance of getting to heaven is to consistently conquer sin, we are surely doomed. But the Apostle John knows this, so he assures his readers:

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2)

Jesus not only died for our sins -- both all of yours and all of mine -- but when our name comes up before the Father, Jesus stands in our defense. "This one is mine, Father. I died for James. I gave my life for Mary. They are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. See here!"[3] The Lamb of God, our sacrifice, intercedes with the Father -- on your behalf, on my behalf. Praise God!

Amazing Love

So in the context of sin and struggle, when John says the following, we listen with fresh ears.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1a)

"How great" is this love? asks the NIV to translate the Greek adjective potapos.
"How glorious?" renders the Greek-English Lexicon.
"What manner of love" is this? wonders the KJV.[4]

Indeed, what kind of crazy love is this, anyway?

We are sinners, but God looks past our sin and calls you his daughter, his son, his child.

If you've ever wondered about grace, here it is -- that God would call us his child, his children. The world "child" here is teknon from tiktō, "to bear, to beget." Among several possible Greek words for "child," it is an intimate word suggesting bringing brought into the world. I think of a mother going through the pains of childbirth to bring forth her child, then holding him in her arms and nursing him. The father is there to defend his offspring and stand up for her through every peril that life brings -- the warmth and intimacy of family. That's the kind of word teknon is.[5]

In Bible days, family is everything! As the English proverb puts it: "Blood is thicker than water." We are now children in God's family.

The wonder is that God would call us "children of God" in this wonderful, loving, intimate way! We are so underserving of it!

Calling us his children is the result of God's love being "given" to us:

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God." (ESV)

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (NIV)

The NIV combines both the depth and extravagance of God's love (Greek potapos) paired with the idea of giving (didōmi) -- and translates "has given to us" as "has lavished on us," catching the flavor of this amazing truth.

God calling us his "children" is so over-and-above what we deserve that "lavish" feels exactly right.[6]

The Undeserving Failure

I think of Jesus' story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). After wasting his inheritance, the son trudges home to beg for work among his father's laborers. He knows he doesn't deserve even that. He has broken trust with his father and family. He is utterly undeserving. He can't be trusted.

But I imagine the father seeing him from afar, gathering up his robe to keep from tripping, then running flat out towards his son, tears streaming. The boy's head is bowed in shame, but the father grabs him in a marvelous, exuberant hug that literally sweeps him off his feet.

The son begins his rehearsed apology: "Father, I have sinned.... I am no longer worthy to be called your son."

But the father will hear none of it. Instead, he calls to the servants, breathless from trying to keep up with the old man.

"Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

The young man was dead -- as we were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). But now he is alive again -- just as we have been "made alive in Christ" (Ephesians 2:5). He was lost. We were lost. Now he is found, as God found us, and at great cost declared us to be his children.

This, dear friends, is marvel of God's love for you and for me. No longer trite, it is filled with meaning:

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1a, NIV)

Endnotes

References and Abbreviations

[1] "Trite," Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.

[2] 1 John 4:8, 16.

[3] Revelation 21:27; 20:12; 13:8; 17:8; 3:5; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Daniel 12:1; etc.

[4] "How great is the love" (NIV), "what kind of love" (ESV), "what love" (NRSV), "what manner of love" (KJV) is the adjective potapos. "How great" is an "interrogative reference to class or kind, 'of what sort or kind(?)' Sometimes the context calls for the sense, 'How great, how wonderful' (Mark 13:1ab), 'how glorious' (1 John 3:1)." (BDAG 856). "Generally, 'what sort of?' (Liddell-Scott, 1426, on the original podapos).

[5] "Children (NIV, ESV, NRSV), "sons" (KJV) in verse 1-2 is teknon, "an offspring of human parents, child" (BDAG 994, 1a), from the verb tiktō, "engender, bear." Tiktō/tekein, "bring into the world, engender" (of the father, 'beget'), (of the mother, 'bring forth')" (Liddell-Scott 1792). John uses huios ("son") exclusively for Jesus as Son of God; he uses teknon for us as children of God. Other New Testament writers don't always observe this distinction.

[6] Lavished" (NIV), "given" (ESV, NRSV), "bestowed" (KJV) is perfect active indicative of didōmi, "give," which can have many connotations, depending on the context (BDAG 243).

Discipleship Lessons from John's Letters

Copyright © 2025, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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