"Now"

 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. 1 John 3:1,2

"BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.

Consider who we were, ....Yet we are called "the sons of God." 

--What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! 

--What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! 

As for the temporary drawback ....this we accept as an honor: "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." 

--Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow?

--Does your faith almost fail you? 

Fear not,—in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." Charles Spurgeon