"Love"
Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope
Full Class Notes: http://ssclassnotes.blogspot.com
April 4, 2009
Larry R Evans
Introductory Reflections
What is love? How does it come about? Can love really exist if it isn’t shared? Is it possible for love to exist if it is only one way? When Scripture tells us that “God so loved the world” (Jn 3:16) and that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8), is the Bible suggesting that this kind of love is possible to obtain and practice by God’s children—a one way kind of love? This suggests that God loved us before we were able to love back. Can we do the same with those who do not love us back? Is it possible to reveal love when the possibility for it being returned is unlikely?
This week’s lesson isn’t about sentimentalism. It is about a kind of love that is unnatural in our world . . . nevertheless it is present. There are evidences today that God has poured out His Holy Spirit and that godly love does exist. I’ve seen glimpses of it. Have you? While sin seems to abound we must not become so pessimistic as to suggest that there is no evidence of God’s love shining through His followers. It does exist but unfortunately not as consistently as it should be. Let’s begin our study believing in the power of God’s love to change us. The next step is to let that love show itself to others unconditionally – whether our love is returned or not. Such love begins with our deepening understanding of God’s love. This must be our starting point!
Reflective Quiz
1. God can best be described as “having love.” [1 Jn 4:8] False
Love is not an attached attribute of God. It permeates every quality God has and is the motivating force behind all that He does. This is an important point when it comes to the kind of relationship we have or can have with God.
“. . . when we learn that God is love, fear is replaced by trust, and we confidingly place ourselves in the hands of our heavenly Father, knowing that He careth for us (1 Peter 5:7).”
“That God is love also implies that there is no time when He has not been or will not be love.” . . . And when sin came, only Love could have the patience and the will to devise a plan that would enable the universe to come to a full understanding of the basic facts in the great controversy between good and evil, and thus ensure against any further uprising of self-seeking and hate.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p.664
2. God needs love. [1 Jn 4:8; Jn 3:16] False
“God’s love differs from our love in that He loves infinitely, indiscriminately, unconditionally, and unselfishly. The Lord does not begin to love on the premise that there must be a response if He is going to continue loving. He does not operate on the basis that He will love some of His creatures more than others, simply because some happen to be more lovable. Neither is His love subject to any sudden mood changes.” (Reinder Bruinsma in Key Words of the Christian Faith, p. 14)
Deep in the heart of the Old Testament we find God’s character described in Jer 31:3
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (NIV)
And the extent of God’s love for us is amazing—and in the face of our rejection of Him!
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (NIV)
God desires love in return but His love is not a “need” in the same sense that we feel the need to be loved.
3. Conversion is a shift away from the love of self to the love for God and to the love of others. [Rom 7:21-25; Gal 2:20] True
Is it possible to keep God’s commandments for the wrong reason? We could even ask the question if it really possible to “keep” God’s commandments because of wrong motives. In Deut. 5 what is the reason given for keeping the commandments?
And just before the Ten Commandments are given in Ex. 20 the following preamble is given:
Ex 20:2
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (NIV)
Why do these verses precede the Ten Commandments? What does this say about the kind of love God has for us? John states it well in 1 John 4:19
“We love because he first loved us.” (NIV)
What does this action of God in the past have to do with our response today and for future generations?
Deut 6:5-9
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (NIV)
4. A truly converted person will not be “anti-homosexual.” [Jn 3:16-18 and 19:38-40] True and False (Depends what is meant)
Research by the Barna Group “found the three most common perceptions of present-day Christianity are antihomosexual (an image held by 91 percent of young outsiders), judgmental (87 percent), and hypocritical (85%). These ‘big three’ are followed by the following negative perceptions, embraced by a majority of young adults: old-fashioned, too involved in politics, out of touch with reality, insensitive to others, boring, not accepting of other faiths, and confusing. When they think of the Christian faith, these are the images that come to mind. This is what a new generation really thinks about Christianity.” (David Kinnaman in Unchristian, p.27.)
Have we learned how to separate the sinner from the sin?
John 3:16-18
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (NIV)
Our question really isn’t meant to focus upon homosexuality as much as upon how we relate to unacceptable behaviors we see in others.
The Barna Group has observed that “Being hurt by Christianity is far more common among the young than among older outsiders. . . . Whatever the reason, compared to their predecessors, younger adults are forming greater resistance to Christianity in less time. . . . The important thing to remember is that these experiences have deeply affected outsiders, and the scars often prevent them from seeing Jesus for who he really is.” (Kinnaman, Ibid, p.32)
Of ourselves we cannot love those who have wronged us or whom we dislike because of their behaviors, yet the test of a true disciple is if we love one another. What does God’s love for us tell us about how we should love others?
Rom 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)
Matt 5:43-48
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (NIV)
1 Peter 1:22-23
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (NIV)
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (NIV)
5. The true test of a servant is how one responds when being treated like a servant. [Lk 21:1-4; 11:14-16, 27-28; 2 Cor 5:14-17] True
What principle did Jesus highlight when He saw the widow give her offering?
2 Cor 5:14-17
14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)
Luke 23:32-37
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals-one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." (NIV)
Concluding Reflections
God is love. It is not some attachment to His character. He is love. The New Testament uses four different words to express human love. Agape is the highest form of love. It is a reflection of God’s unselfish love for us and is the kind we are to show to others. Other words used for love express love for our spouse (including sexual love), and love for our parents and children, for a friend, and for things. This indicates that “we love in different ways and at different levels. But whatever love we are able to give, it must be touched by God’s love if it is to be the kind of love that befits a follower of Christ.” (Reinder Bruinsma, Key Words of the Christian Faith, 15)
When all is said and done the words of Jesus say it all:
"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another.
This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples--when they see the love you have for each other." (John 13:34,35, Message)
As spiritual leaders we must remember that it isn’t nearly as important to see things eye to eye as it is to keep our eyes focused on Jesus!
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