Children of God

St John as we know wrote his beautiful gospel focusing on who Jesus is, rather than primarily on what Jesus taught and did as Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the Synoptic Gospels present Jesus’ ministry through parables, miracles, and a chronological narrative, emphasizing His humanity and His role as Messiah. John, however, emphasizes Jesus’ divine identity, structuring the entire book around signs and deep theological conversations that reveal Him as the eternal Son of God.

Instead of parables, John gives long, intimate discourses; instead of a fast-moving narrative, he highlights key moments that show Jesus’ glory. The first three gospels show Jesus from the ground up — John shows Him from heaven down.

Now this is where it gets rather fascinating if John met Jesus around AD 28–30, and wrote his Gospel around AD 90–95, then the time span is about 60–65 years!
That means John carried his memories of Jesus for six decades before writing them down. Like Mary who pondered 'these things in her heart' and John had access to her experiences as she lived with him in Ephesus but coupled with that is his experience of the resurrected Jesus living inside him for 6 decades. His gospel is absolutely full of divine revelation. John wasn't’t writing as a young man.

He was writing as:

the last surviving apostle

the one who had seen the church grow, suffer, and split

the one who had watched false teachings rise

the one who had reflected on Jesus longer than anyone else alive with primary source knowledge

This is why his Gospel is so different:

deeper

more reflective

more theological

more intimate

more “remembered” than “reported”

Its possible that his first letter was written up to 5 years afterwards and its this that after all this time provides extraordinary revelatory information about our familial dynamic with God. Its a concept something Johns pondered for decades and has to now write it down as he realises it a reality he cant wait any longer he's not just compelled to write he phrases it with a what we might say in the vernacular is a (Wow) its:

1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! and that is what we are (gk καὶ ἐσμέν (kai esmen)= “and we are” / “and that is what we are.”) verse 2 starts: Beloved, we are God’s children now! (ie already even though what we become is like him, for we will see him as he is! (this isn't possible with human eyes Paul was blinded for example on the Damascus Road) again 1 John 3:1 See what kind of ahavah HaAv has given to us, that yeladim of Elohim we should be called. And so we are (Orthodox Jewish bible). There is so much more we can say about this (see Identity)