TOPIC: The Starting Place of Love
LESSON SCRIPTURE: I John 4:7-21
DEVOTIONAL READING: Mark 12:28-34
CENTRAL VERSE: I John
4:19
INTRODUCTION:
We all know how difficult it is for us to love someone when we do not
feel like doing it. People hurt us all the time, and yet it is in the
midst of our own hurt and pain that we are called by God to love these
very same people. Our lesson this week, therefore, points us to the very
source of love, God Himself. Without God, we cannot ever love others,
for love does not come naturally to us. We need Him to love through us.
GOD'S LOVE (I John 4:7-8)
John challenged the
believers of his day to love one another, for love comes from God alone.
When we love others, we become outpourings from the very source of God.
Loving others is a sign we are born of God, renewed by the Holy Spirit
Who resides within the believer. Love, therefore, is a mark of a
relationship between God and man.
SUPREME EXAMPLE OF LOVE (I John 4:9-12)
God showed us
that He truly loved us with He sent His very own Son to die for us on
the cross for our sins. That was the supreme example of real love. He
sent that which was closest to His heart to die for us to show us that
we are close to His heart despite our sins. Jesus was the sacrifice for
our sins.
PROOF OF LOVE (I John 4:13-16a)
How do we know that
we truly have this divine nature to love? God sent His Holy Spirit to
live within us to give us the power to love those whom we cannot love in
our sinful nature. The Holy Spirit lives within us and constantly
remind us that He empowers us to love. John had no doubt about any of
this, for he had seen with his own eyes how God had sent His Son into
the world to die because He loves us so.
GOD LOVES US FIRST (I John 4:16b-19)
God took that
first step, and when we love Him, He makes His dwelling with us in our
hearts. As we continue to build our relationship with God, He perfects
our inner man little by little. It is a growing process. This prepares
us for the Day of Judgment. We can then face it without fear. Christians
have the confidence to face God because we have trusted in the very
source of all love. When we do this, we are like Christ in this world,
for we show His nature.
Perfect love is not tainted with fear. There is no fear of
judgment, for Jesus has taken that away. When fear comes in, we know
that there is still more work to be done in our lives with love.
WE MUST LOVE BOTH GOD AND MAN (I John 4:20-21)
We can not love God without loving man. We are called to love both
Him and our fellow Christians as a reflection of our love for our God.
One can not be done without the other. If we can not love man as
Christians, we are not truthful with ourselves, for love is of God.
ESSENTIAL THOUGHT:
Where God is, so is love.
QUESTIONS:
1. How does love give evidence of the new birth?
2. What is meant by the phrase "God is love" (I John 4:8)?
3. How did John view a person who claimed to love God but did not love his brother?
