"Dear
friends, let us love one another …" (1 John 4:7a) The
Source of Love 1.
Read 1 John 4:7-21. John writes, "… for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7b, NIV).
"God is love" (4:8b, 16b). "We love because he first loved us"
(4:19). How do these words encourage Christians to love?
The
Demonstration of Love 2.
When you consider the arrest, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, what do
you think about? What are your impressions? Is "love" evident in these
events? Explain.
"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." (1 John
4:9-10, NIV) *
"But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us" (Romans 5:8, NIV). *
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us"
(1 John 3:16).
The
Practice of Love 3.
What is the appropriate response to God's demonstration of love? What motivates
us to respond? Why might we fail to respond appropriately? *
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another"
(1 John 4:11).
The
Completion of Love
4.
In what way does God "live in us?" (4:13) In what way is God's love
"made complete in us?" What does this mean?
*
"… if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete
in us" (1 John 4:12b) *
"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way,
love is made complete among us …" (1 John 4:16b-17a, NIV). 5.
What fears do you have? Do you fear the judgment of God (or the possibility of
God's judgment)? Why do you fear? How does "perfect love drive out fear?"
(4:16b-18)
Reflection/Application
†
Do you feel that you are lacking in love for others? Only through faith in Christ,
can we fully experience God's love. Only through faith in Christ, can we love
others as God commands.
†
In Christ, we "can do," because God lives in us. As followers of Christ,
we "ought to." As children of God, we should "want to." If
you are lacking "want to," you have not really understood and appreciated
God's love demonstrated through the cross. Reflect on Christ's "atoning sacrifice
for our sins," and ask God to help you understand and appreciate it.
†
Next, let us think of "how to." In what practical way can you show love
this week to a brother or sister in Christ, or to another person who needs the
love of God?
______________________________________________________________________________
The
"Atoning Sacrifice for Our Sins" (1 John 4:10)
*
What is "atonement?" Reconciliation between God and human beings through
the death of an acceptable substitute, one who is without defect.
*
Why is atonement needed? Why must an acceptable substitute die? Because all people
are sinners (1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:23). God cannot tolerate sin; sin separates
us from God (Habakkuk 1:12-13; Isaiah 59:2). Death is the necessary result of
sin (Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23). God must punish sin; forgiveness requires the
death of an acceptable substitute (Exodus 34:6-7; Hebrews 9:22).
*
Particular animals could qualify as acceptable substitutes, but only partially
and temporarily, for their purpose was to point toward the Ultimate Substitute
(Hebrews 10:1, 4).
*
Jesus Christ is the ultimate and final acceptable substitute. Only the Ultimate
Sacrifice could really take away sins (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19;
1 John 2:1-2).
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