5. Sure of God’s Love
Question 1:
How have you seen love demonstrated lately?
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
This may come as no surprise, but since COVID-19 rearranged so many of our schedules, we have changed how much time we look at a screen, whether it’s a TV, smartphone, laptop, or computer. As a country, we’re spending a significant amount of time on these devices. With that increased usage came an increase in exposure to hateful, divisive rhetoric. Anger, violence, and unrest posted to social media platforms only reflected the anger, violence, and unrest in our communities.
Some people may wonder where God is in all this. Others are tempted to question God’s goodness. The presence of human hatred and violence, however, in no way negates God’s goodness and love. Moreover, the world’s concept of love cannot compare with God’s love. I am referring to God’s love that was on display when He gave His One and only Son to die on the cross for the sins of the world. We can do nothing to deserve His love, but He loves us anyway. God’s love abides forever, and He wants us to be sure of His love for us.
THE POINT
God’s love is seen when we love others
as He has loved us.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
1 John 4:7-10
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
John had already spoken twice on the theme of love in this epistle (1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-18). Now he was dealing with the topic for the third time. When Scripture addresses a matter once, it’s important, but when God inspired the biblical writers to address a topic repeatedly, we should really take notice!
Love is the nature of God. The apostle John wrote, “love comes from God,” (v. 7) and love comes from God “because God is love” (v. 8). Love is not just another attribute among many; rather, it is God’s very nature from which all other attributes proceed.
Christians should know God loves them because “He sent his one and only Son into the world” (v. 9) to save them. We have already seen that the origin of love is God. Therefore, Christ is the manifestation of God’s love. God manifested His love for us by sending His Son to pay our sin debt. The greatness of God’s love is observed in the value of the gift: God gave “his one and only Son.” The Greek word used here for only Son is monogenes, the same word used to describe Abraham’s offering up his only son Isaac (Heb. 11:17).
God spared Abraham’s son, but He did not spare His own Son on the cross. He “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (v. 10). The Father willingly gave His Son to die in our place, and Jesus willingly took the punishment for our sins upon Himself.
Question 2:
How do you know God loves you?
God’s children have no reason to be uncertain regarding God’s love for them, especially when that love was displayed so clearly on the cross. We can’t receive salvation without putting our faith and trust in Christ; we cannot put our trust in Him without knowing what He did for us on the cross; and we can’t appreciate what Christ did for us on the cross without also seeing God’s sacrificial love for us. Since God loved us in this way, we know He withholds no good thing from us as His children. You can be sure of God’s love!
1 John 4:11-13
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
We have already seen in verse 7 the command to “love one another.” John repeated it twice more in verses 11-12. With this call to love comes great responsibility. We are to love others as God has loved us. God has loved us with a changeless, self-sacrificing love. God still loves us in the same way today, and He seeks to display that love through us.
As we saw in verses 8-9, God revealed His love when His Son, Jesus, became the sacrifice for our sins. He took away our sin, but He didn’t just take away the bad; He gave to us as well: He gave us life, “that we might live through him” (v. 9). We are to live in Him and through Him, which means we are to allow others to see His love in and through us. To love with God’s love gives evidence that we have a relationship with the One who displays His love through us. To state that negatively: “Whoever does not love does not know God” (v. 8).
Putting God’s love on display is to be a continuous, ongoing activity. Admittedly, it’s sometimes hard to love, especially when we feel wronged or hurt by someone. In those moments, in our humanity, the last thing we want to do is express forgiveness and extend tangible acts of kindness to that person. But God has commanded us to love, and what God commands, He makes possible. Furthermore, we are to love, not for our own sake, but for the sake of Christ.
The key to loving others is in loving God. The more we love God, the more of God’s love will flow out of us toward others. Picture a garden hose attached to the outdoor faucet of a house. When the faucet is turned on, the water flows. The hose doesn’t produce the water; it is only the conduit for the water to freely flow. In ourselves, we might find it difficult to love—especially to love unconditionally, as God loves—but when we are “attached to Him” (remaining in Christ) His love flows freely through us.
Although “no one has ever seen God” (v. 12), believers reveal God through the way they love one another. The very fact that “we love one another” serves as evidence that “God lives in us.” We see a perfection, a completion to love when this happens. We embrace God’s love, He comes to live in us, and His love pours out of us as we love others. And the mutual love brothers and sisters in Christ display reveals God’s love to the world. We point to Christ, and those around us also have the opportunity to embrace the love of Christ.
Our love for others is proof of God’s love in us. Love is the fruit of His indwelling Spirit. God is perfect in His love; He lacks nothing. But God’s “love is made complete” only when that love flows through us. He has chosen to use His people as channels of His love. We are to present ourselves to Him daily as instruments of His continual love. Therefore, when we love others, we cooperate with God’s redemptive plan for the world so that others can be sure of God’s love for them.
Question 3:
How does God’s love help us love others?
1 John 4:19-21
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
John left no gray areas, nor did he sugar-coat his words! “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar” (v. 20). A true Christian will not be filled with selfish hatred toward another brother or sister in Christ. To believe otherwise completely contradicts the gospel. A true Christian cannot hate another believer because God’s Spirit abides in him. It is an utter impossibility. To claim faith in Christ while harboring hate is an insult to the character of God. God is love.
To further stress this truth, John said, “For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” John’s logical statements strike to the core of the issue. Of course, some would say it’s easier to love God because “he first loved us.” However, John argued just the opposite. Logically, it’s easier to show love to people who are visibly present, rather than God, who is an invisible Spirit (John 4:24). A failure to love people whom we can see is a failure to love God whom we cannot see.
Question 4:
Where do you see evidence of hate
on display in our culture?
We are to walk in love. Our lives ought to be characterized by daily, tangible acts of kindness. And our acts of loving service must have gospel intent; that is, we serve in order to share Christ’s sacrifice that gave us salvation, which was the world’s greatest display of love. To love someone is to seek after their highest good. God’s love not only seeks to meet needs, but it also aims to meet needs in the name of Christ.
Love overcomes hate. With so much hate in the world today, it is paramount that Christians love one another. But our love should not stop with other Christians. Love must go out into the world and seek to win the lost to Christ. Commit to love like Christ, who unselfishly gave His life for others. This kind of love changes the world. And let’s help others be sure of God’s love for them.
Question 5:
How has our group helped us learn to love better?
A PICTURE OF LOVE
Use the space below to communicate what love looks like to you. Draw a symbol, tell a story, make a list, create a definition, and so on. If time allows, share your creation with others.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
MARK 12:30-31
LIVE IT OUT
God’s love is seen when we love others as He has loved us. Choose one of the following applications:
Examine your life. Are there people in your life whom you have a difficult time loving? Make a list and begin to pray for them.
Align your life. Following up on your prayer list, look for ways to demonstrate love by serving those individuals. Write an activity, a time, and a place. Then invite someone to hold you accountable for loving action.
Make a difference in someone’s life. Lead out this week in helping your group do something for someone in need. You could put together care packages for the homeless, volunteer at a local food pantry, or find a family in need and minister to them.
There’s plenty of meanness in this world today. But that just means there’s more opportunity to put our love on display. Let’s allow God’s love to flow through us to reach others for Christ!
Teacher's Note:
Sure
of God’s Love: Wedding Song - There is Love
This
was featured on Noel Paul Stookey's first solo album, which he'd recorded after
Peter Paul & Mary disbanded in 1971. He wrote it for ex Peter Paul &
Mary bandmate, Peter Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator
and one-time presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Paul Stookey's name does
not appear as the author either on the record or the sheet music. Neither does
he receive any of the royalties. That is because he says that after he
prayed he was "given" the song. All he was required to do was
to "allow the pencil to move across the page." The song is a celebration of the love of a newlywed couple and their union
with God. On his website, Stookey says, "Into every songwriter's
life comes a song, the source of which cannot be explained by personal
experience."
How Is
Marriage an Example of God's Love for People?
Marriage
is a mystery full of so much more spiritual meaning than we often attribute to
it.
· For some it’s a lifelong union between a man
and a woman.
· For others it’s a lifelong commitment between
two people who love God more than each other, and in doing so, love one another
more profoundly than they could any other way.
· Marriage mirrors God’s unconditional love for
man. Husband and wife must grow to love each other unconditionally.
1 John
4:7-10
Dear
friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God,
because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one
and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.
How do
we know God loves us?
1. God
loves us in Jesus
· The very essence of God’s character is love.
God is the source of love. Love marks one as a child of God and one who knows
God. God took the initiative to reveal His unconditional love. God revealed His
love by sending His Son. The Son came to give us life and to atone for our
sins.
Q: I
have a hard time believing God loves me. I know you’ll say He does, and
sometimes I believe it, but most of the time I don’t (although I wish I did).
If you knew all the bad things I’ve done, you’d understand why I can’t believe
God loves me.
A: If
God treated us the way we treat other people, then you’d probably be right. If
someone insults us or hurts us, we usually don’t want anything more to do with
them. We may even want to strike back at them and hurt them in return.
But
God isn’t like this! Even when we ignore Him or insult Him by the way we live,
He still reaches out to us and wants us to come back to Him. He doesn’t love
our sin—but He still loves us, and He still yearns for us to love Him in
return. The Bible says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah
31:3).
So, how
do we know God loves us?
· If He didn’t love us, He never would have sent
His only Son into the world to die for us. But Jesus Christ did come into the
world, and He did die on the cross for our sins. Why did He do this? The only
possible explanation is because God loves us. The Bible says, “This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
· Don’t trust your emotions; they can deceive
you. Instead, trust Christ and what He has done for you. Invite Him to come
into your life today, and then thank Him every morning for His unchanging love
for you.
Billy
Graham
1 John
4:11-13
Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has
ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has
given us of his Spirit.
How is
love for others evidence of knowing God?
· For as we show love for others, we indicate
that God abides in us. God’s love is shown to be real to believers when they
give it appropriate and practical expression in their relationships with one
another.
2. God
expects us to love.
·
God expects His love to be expressed.
The
Christian life of love is a supernatural life.
· It is not produced by merely human forces. It
takes resources that we do not have. This is very crucial for us to admit. It
is humbling. Left to ourselves we cannot love. But this is very encouraging.
Because what it means is that, if you are sitting there and feeling: I am not
by nature a loving person, you are not at a disadvantage, because in fact,
nobody is by nature a loving person. If we were, love would not be a fruit of
the Holy Spirit; it would be a fruit of our personality or our upbringing or
our chromosomes. In fact, you may be farther along than a person who feels that
love is a natural thing. They will have a harder time learning how to love
because they may not look for the resources in the right place.
So if
you ask, what can I do to become a more loving person this afternoon, the first
answer is have the Holy Spirit fill your life with his power and fruit. Love is
the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is not the product of our hard work for God.
It is fruit.
Love /
Joy / Peace / Patience / Kindness / Goodness / Faithfulness / Gentleness /
Self-Control
But
how do you do that? How do you bear this fruit? What receives and releases the fruit-producing
power of the Holy Spirit in your life? The answer is faith. God supplies the
Spirit to us and works miracles among us (of which love is the greatest) by
faith.
But
faith in what? What practically do I do? Paul says it is a hearing with faith.
That means there is a message that you need to hear and believe. There is a
word that you need to hear with faith. So if you want to receive and release
the Holy Spirit in his love-producing power, listen to the word and believe it,
rest in it, bank on it, rely on it, depend on it.
1 John
4:19-21
We
love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother
or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom
they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us
this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
What
does it look like to obey these verses each day?
3. We
must not hate.
· John left no gray areas, nor did he sugar-coat
his words! “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a
liar”. A true Christian will not be filled with selfish hatred toward another
brother or sister in Christ. To believe otherwise completely contradicts the
gospel. A true Christian cannot hate another believer because God’s Spirit
abides in him. It is an utter impossibility. To claim faith in Christ while
harboring hate is an insult to the character of God. God is love.
THE
POINT: God’s love is seen when we love
others as He has loved us.
What
is the link between Christ’s love for us and our love for each other?
The
answer is the fruit-bearing Holy Spirit, released in our lives by faith, which
is begotten and sustained by the word of God. And at the center of that word is
the portrayal of Christ crucified for our sins — all the promises contained in
that love.
“‘Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
MARK
12:30-31
