How Great Is the Father’s Love

Happy Father’s Day! Hallelujah!

Let’s give a big round of applause to all the husbands and fathers who have worked so hard over the past year to support their families. Let’s comfort and encourage them with our deepest gratitude. I deeply miss my own father, who passed away 26 years ago; he was a warm-hearted, righteous man who always helped those in need.

In Korea, Mother’s Day was changed to “Parents’ Day,” often leaving fathers as an afterthought. Here in America, celebrating Father’s Day on its own is a true blessing.

Years ago, a Korean radio program asked, “Who do you like more: your mother or father?” A striking 83.3% preferred their mother, while only 16.7% chose father. Similarly, a study of 50,000 students at Lincoln University asked, “Which would you choose: your father or the TV?”, and 68% chose the TV. Tragically, fathers rarely realize this distance. In one survey, 50.8% of fathers believed they were the first person their child would talk to about a problem, yet only 4% of children agreed.

Fathers can be pitiful figures. They work tirelessly, only to age, struggle to connect, and ultimately feel alienated in their own homes.

Reflecting on earthly fathers makes me pause: What about God our Father? Do we truly understand His love? Do we give Him our time and hearts? Because we fail to communicate through prayer, we miss our Father’s love and focus instead on worldly substitutes. How heartbroken the Father must be!

In today’s scripture, the Apostle John writes:

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)

God protects and provides for us, but the ultimate expression of His love is that He restored us through Christ’s blood and adopted us as His own.

Years ago, a Korean pastor studying in Los Angeles ran out of money. He answered an ad from a wealthy Jewish man looking to adopt a student for one year. The man handed him a blank check and said, “Use as much as you need.” He lived the entire year without a single financial worry.

When you become a child of God, you receive a spiritual blank check. The Creator has made us royalty in His Kingdom. In Christ, everything that belongs to God belongs to you. Yet, many Christians live unaware of this identity. Imagine a prince asking a palace maid if he is allowed to eat the food! In Luke 15:31, the father tells his eldest son: “My son… you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

Why do we forget our identity as heirs? Because God’s eternal wealth is invisible, making it feel less tangible than worldly success. If you give a 7-year-old a $20 bill, they rejoice. If you give them a $1 million check, they might throw it away because the amount makes no sense to them. Similarly, our identity is so immensely valuable that we often fail to grasp it.

But 1 John 3:2 reminds us: “Dear friends, now we are children of God… when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” When Jesus returns, we will be instantly transformed into glorious, resurrected bodies, radiating His light.

Furthermore, God’s children enjoy immense blessings right now. Romans 8:32 says: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also… graciously give us all things?”

Knowing this, what hope should we live with? Worldly success? 1 John 3:3 tells us: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” We must fix our eyes on the imperishable inheritance above. As 1 John 2:17 reminds us, the world passes away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We cannot achieve a pure life through human effort alone. 1 John 4:12 says: “If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” When we love one another, our souls are transformed into His image day by day.

This Father’s Day, express your gratitude to your parents. More importantly, let us love one another, abide in the Lord, and be transformed into His glorious image. Amen.