sonessi 2 god is loving - clover...

SeSSion 2

god iS loving

22 S E S S I O N 2© 2014 LifeWay

The PointGod’s love empowers me to love.

The Bible Meets LifeFor many people, love means whatever they want it to mean. They can express

a deep and profound love for someone or something, but later that love has

disappeared. Too often our examples of love disappoint or fail us. We see in God

a whole different example of love. He is the very embodiment of love because

He is love. The Bible shows us that we can know and experience that love

through Jesus Christ.

The Passage1 John 4:7-12

The SettingThe apostle John wrote this letter to encourage believers, to lead them to avoid

sin and false teaching, and to help them know they have eternal life. The topic of

love permeates this short book, leading us to focus on the love of God and our

need to love one another. One of the evidences that we have a relationship with

God is the presence and demonstration of His love in our lives.

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 23© 2014 LifeWay

1 John 4:7-12 (HCSB)

7 dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from god,

and everyone who loves has been born of god and knows god.

8 the one who does not love does not know god, because god

is love.

9 god’s love was revealed among us in this way: god sent his one

and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

10 love consists in this: not that we loved god, but that he loved

us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 dear friends, if god loved us in this way, we also must love

one another.

12 no one has ever seen god. if we love one another, god

remains in us and his love is perfected in us.

Key Words

Propitiation (v. 10)—This term refers to a sin offering designed to appease God’s wrath against the sinner. Since God alone can forgive sin, His righteous indignation against sin must be satisfied.

Remains (v. 12)—God lives within believers. His presence is sensed as believers love one another. He remains, abides, and dwells in the hearts of those who love Him.

Perfected (v. 12)—The biblical meaning refers to something being completed, accomplished, or finished. As we walk with God, we reach His goal of loving others.

What does the Bible say?

2 4 S E S S I O N 2© 2014 LifeWay

GEt iNtO thE StUDyDISCuSS: Use Question #1 on page

19 of the PSG to help launch the

group discussion: ”What makes you

love someone?”

GuIDe: Direct group members to “The

Bible Meets Life” on page 20 of the PSG.

Introduce the theme of the session by

reading or summarizing the text—or by

encouraging group members to read on

their own.

GuIDe: Call attention to “The Point” at the top of page 20 of the PSG: ”God’s love

empowers me to love.”

ACtIvIty (oPtIonAL): Supplement “The Point” by passing out a AA or AAA bat-

tery to each group member. Encourage participants to hold their battery throughout

the discussion, and even to carry it around during the week as a reminder that God’s

love empowers us to love others.

Note: You could also pass out the batteries after group members complete the

activity “Power to Love” on page 23 of the PSG.

enHAnCeMent: In order to reinforce “The Point” and introduce the first Scripture

passage, display Pack Item 2: “God Is Love.”

PRAy: Transition into the Bible study by proclaiming that God is love, and by thank-

ing Him for His extravagant love poured out in our lives. Ask that God’s Spirit would be

present with the group throughout the study and beyond.

10 minutes

Notes

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 25

thE POiNt God’s love empowers me to love.

© 2014 LifeWay

Notes

1 John 4:7-8

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and

everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who

does not love does not know God, because God is love.

ReAD: 1 John 4:7-8 on page 21 of the PSG. Read the text out loud or ask a

volunteer from the group to do so.

SuMMARIze: Call attention to the key themes from page 22 of the PSG. If time

permits, encourage group members to share their thoughts and reactions to these

important truths:

1. We were created to love and be loved, and our need for love can be truly

fulfilled only by God Himself.

2. It’s a great gift to discover that God not only has love and gives love, but that

He is love.

3. God intends for love’s transformative power to flow toward even the most

despicable people.

DISCuSS: Question #2 on page 22 of the PSG: “How does the statement

‘God is love’ differ from saying ‘God loves’?”

Do: Direct group members to complete the activity “Power to Love” on page 23

of the PSG.

To what degree have you experienced God’s love in recent months?

[Empty] ___________________________________________________ [Full]

Right now, how motivated are you to reflect God’s love to others?

[Not motivated] _________________________________________ [Motivated]

tRAnSItIon: Let’s move forward with verses 9-10, which contain a helpful

summary of the gospel message.

StUDy thE BiBLE

TIP: Keep your focus on spiritual transformation by intentionally praying for each of your group members by name throughout the week.

15 minutes


1 John 4:7-8 Commentary

Love is the dominant theme of these verses. As John penned the letter we know as 1 John, he instructed

his readers, let us love one another. John provided two specific reasons for commanding the faith

community to love one another. First, he reminded them, love is from God. The word love is the

Greek noun agape . From God identifies the source. Since God Himself is eternal and holy (see Session

1, “God Is Holy”), the love He provides for His people is eternal and holy also. God’s love is not the crude,

self-serving, exploitative emotion to which many people get addicted. God’s love is self-less, others-

serving, and involves far more than the emotions.

The second reason John commanded members of the faith community to love one another was

because everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Love characterizes those

who have been born of God. John here referred to the spiritual birth that occurs whenever someone

trusts Jesus as Savior by believing on His name (John 1:12-13). of God is exactly the same in the Greek

text as from God used of love. In other words, God is both the Source of love and the Source of spiritual

or second birth. Since both love and spiritual birth have a common source, namely God, love defines

spiritual birth and spiritual birth demonstrates love. John’s assessment, that this type of loving person

knows God, served as an assurance to faithful believers, a warning to false believers, and an invitation

to non-believers.

John examined the reverse side of the issue also. Anyone who does not love does not know God.

The effect of placing side-by-side the positive statement of 4:7 with its negative counterpart in 4:8

served to emphasize John’s point. Love, agape, is the defining characteristic of genuine believers.

To know God means to experience Him in a close and cherished way. Know renders a Greek verb

carrying the ideas of understanding, acknowledging, and interrelating with another person. In view

in this context is a genuine relationship between God and people through which God provides all that

people need. People offer themselves to God in humble and obedient service. Specifically, God’s love,

agape, is directed through believers to other people in the form of loving actions.

The one who allows God to channel His love through him to others does so because he knows God,

and therefore trusts Him. The one who does not allow God to direct His love through him to minister to

other people does not know God or even understand who He is. The final assertion of 4:8 provides

the reason John’s statements are true: God is love.



© 2014 LifeWay

Notes

1 John 4:9-10

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only

Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 Love consists in

this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the

propitiation for our sins.

ReAD: 1 John 4:9-10 on page 21 of the PSG.

DISCuSS: Question #3 on page 24 of the PSG: “What do you find remarkable

in verses 9-10?”

Note: Ask “Why?” as a follow-up question if participants don’t automatically

share their reasons.

GuIDe: Use the final paragraph of the commentary on page 29 of this Leader

Guide to clarify the kind of “love” John referenced throughout this passage.

SuMMARIze: Use 1 John 4:9-10 as an opportunity to briefly summarize the

message of the gospel:

1. All people are corrupted by sin, which separates us from God.

2. God sent Jesus as Messiah—the Savior of the world—to pay the price for our

sin by dying on the cross.

3. Jesus’ sacrifice atoned for our sin, which means those who accept the free gift

of salvation are “at one” with God.

DISCuSS: Question #4 on page 24 of the PSG: “When have you sensed God’s

love and power at work in your life?”

tRAnSItIon: Now that we’ve seen the power of God’s love, let’s explore how

we should respond to that love in our own lives.

StUDy thE BiBLE10 minutes

2 8 S E S S I O N 2© 2014 LifeWay


Having established his point that God is love, John then declared how God demonstrated His love to

humankind. God’s love was revealed among us in this way, is emphatic in Greek. In this way

employs the demonstrative pronoun and is positioned first in the sentence. Revealed is the passive

form of the Greek verb meaning to be manifested or to be made known. The passive voice places the

emphasis on what God has done, not on what people have done. The group represented by among

us is the community of believers John addressed in his letter. Accordingly, John demonstrated his

theological proposition that God is love with a tangible act of God.

How did God reveal His love among us? He sent His one and only Son into the world. John’s

identification of Jesus as God’s one and only Son is based on a Greek adjective meaning “one of a

kind.” In a real sense Jesus is in a class by Himself. While we can become children of God, no one except

Jesus is the Son of God. John emphasized Jesus’ uniqueness.

God sent Jesus for the purpose that we might live through Him. Jesus’ coming into the world of

sinful people from God opened the possibility for all people to return to God through Him. However,

purpose becomes result as we take God at His word, trust Jesus, and replicate His love in and through

our lives. Just as God loved us by sending (apostellō) Jesus to us, Jesus loves the people of the world by

sending (apostellō) us to them.

John’s phrase, that we might live, included ideas like having abundant life (John 10:10) and having

eternal life (3:16). However, in this present context, John referred specifically to the modus operandi of

the Christian life. Believers live through Him, through Christ Jesus. Apart from Christ, neither abundant

nor eternal life is possible. God demonstrates His love through Jesus Christ and it is only through Him

that we might live.

John further clarified the type of love he was writing about. When left to their own imaginations, people

have defined love in many self-serving and debasing ways. To counter this tendency, John shifted the

focus from what people do, placing it on what God has done. He began with an emphatic statement,

Love consists in this. John ruled out defining love in terms of human activity by stating, not that

we loved God. The type of soul-saving, life-empowering love John meant could never originate in

human activity; only God Himself could provide such love. Therefore, John clearly stated, He loved us

and sent His Son. The verb loved is accompanied by a second verb sent. What a beautiful reminder

that love is something we do; loving others involves tangible actions like giving (John 3:16), sending (1

John 4:10), and even laying down one’s life for others (3:16).



© 2014 LifeWay

Notes

1 John 4:11-12

11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and

His love is perfected in us.

ReAD: 1 John 4:11-12 on page 21 of the PSG.

GuIDe: Highlight the meaning of the word “perfected” in the “Key Words”

section of page 21 in the PSG.

GuIDe: Point your group members to these radical statements from the third

paragraph on page 25 of the PSG:

“This is one of the greatest truths of the Bible: God loves us. Let that truth sink

in. Our lives are in trouble if our relationship with God rests primarily on us. God

knows we are prone to wander. We do nothing to make God love us; He just loves

us. Our response is to love Him and love those He loves.”

DISCuSS: Question #5 on page 15 of the PSG: “How will being loved by God

shape the way you live?”

Note: If necessary, remind group members that this is a great opportunity to

think practically and specifically about the impact of God’s undeserved love in

our lives.

GuIDe: Refer back to “The Point” of this session: God’s love empowers me to

love. If time permits, encourage group members to share any final thoughts or

ask any lingering questions.

StUDy thE BiBLE5 minutes



Thus far we have seen that God is love (4:7-8) and that God demonstrates His love through Jesus Christ

(vv. 9-10). John then led his readers to the next logical step. If God is love, and if He demonstrates love

through Jesus Christ, then those who believe in Jesus can love others because of God’s love for them

and in them. Believers become more like God as they lovingly serve others. God’s love empowers

believers to love others.

To reinforce his point John once again addressed his readers as Dear friends. He refocused attention

from what God had done in demonstrating His love by sending Jesus to what believers should be doing

as a result. He began with a conditional statement: if God loved us. The word, if, does not question

that God loved us, but rather means since God loved us.

God’s love precedes and produces human response. The only appropriate response is for believers to

love one another. At this point, John used the infinitive form of the verb agapaō, prescribing love

as a constant characteristic of Christian relationships. To underscore his point, John employed a verb

meaning to owe, to be indebted, or to be obligated, and translated as must. Thus, John’s statement,

we also must love one another, carried a heavy sense of obligation. From John’s perspective, the

most legitimate human response to God’s indisputable love was an unfeigned love for others.

As he had done in his Gospel, John asserted, no one has ever seen God (John 1:18). Belief in the

unseen God is a matter of faith. Yet, what gives such faith expression or tangibility? John answered the

question for his readers by telling them, If we love one another, God remains in us. The verb

remains renders the Greek word meaning to stay or to dwell. Thus, when one believer loves another

believer, the unseen God is present in a tangible way. The unseen God is experienced in real ways as

believers love one another.

In this way, His love is perfected in us. What does perfected love mean? The Greek term means to

reach the goal or to be fulfilled. God’s goal in loving us is that we will love Him. By extension, we express

our love for God by loving others. This reciprocating love was necessary for the preservation and health

of the covenant community. In this regard, New Testament love (agape) parallels the Old Testament love

(chesed), which put a heavy emphasis on covenant loyalty.

John encouraged his readers to love God and to love others. He spoke of love as a noun (agape;

4:7,8,9,10,12), as a finite verb (agapaō; 4:7,10,11,12), as an infinitive (agapan; 4:11) and as a participle

(agapōn; 4:8). In other words, John wrote about and prescribed love in every way available to him.



© 2014 LifeWay

Notes

LiVE it OUtGuIDe: Direct group members to page 26 of the PSG in order to consider the

following responses to God’s love:

> embrace God’s love. Pray specifically for God to help you understand,

believe, and receive His love for you today.

> Reflect God’s love. Before the day is over, make an effort to express love to

someone in a way that mirrors God’s love for you.

> Seek reconciliation. Identify a relationship that’s been strained or broken

in recent years. Let God’s empowering love be the catalyst for you to request

or offer forgiveness in that relationship as a step toward reconciliation.

Wrap it Up

tRAnSItIon: Read or restate the conclusion from page 26 of the PSG: “Let your

power be God’s love. Let it be the motivator in your life—the force that influences

your actions and your behavior each day.”

PRAy: Conclude with a time of prayer. Encourage group members to speak with

God—either silently or out loud—regarding their responsibility to reflect His love

to those around them.

5 minutes


My group's prayer requests

Additional suggestions for specific groups (women, men, parents, boomers, and singles)

are available at BibleStudiesforLife.com/blog.

Love Is Greater than Our Sins

I want our kids to know that in our family, we mess up, we fess up, we own up, and we make up.

It’s just that simple.

to continue reading “love is greater than our Sins” from HomeLife magazine, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/articles.

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 33© 2014 LifeWay

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