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All His Benefits - Week 2 Love
- 1. All His BENEFITS Week 2 - Love
- 2. What are some of the different ways, right or wrong, that we learn what “love” is? What are the first things that come to your mind when you think of “the cross”?
- 3. 1 John 3:16 This is how we KNOW what love is - Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- 4. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
- 5. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
- 6. Eph. 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
- 7. Ephesians 3:14-19 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
- 8. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.
Editor's Notes
- This lesson is foundational to all of the others, but is also one of the hardest to teach. We have all heard “God Loves You” enough that we tend to miss both the importance of this truth and the life-changing power that this revelation will bring.
- When we talk about ‘love’ everyone has a different understanding of what that means. It is important for the group members to have a better understanding of how they ‘really’ interpret what love is, and where we learned it. In particular, you will probably get insight into what they learned about love from their parents, as they are one of the main influencer, for good or bad, of how we view what it means to love someone. This question gets the group thinking about the cross and what images they may have concerning the cross.
- In these two verses we get a very clear definition of what love is. Jesus redefined the word love by what he did on the cross. It is the eternal picture of what love really is. The greek word for love here is ‘agape’ and it was not widely used before this time. The emphasis in this word for love is the idea of ‘giving’ or ‘sacrifice’. In some translations you will see that it is translated as ‘charity’. Note that the word ‘know’ here is an experiential love – not just a head-knowledge. It is the same word that is used in Luke 1:34 when Mary is saying that she is a virgin: “"How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?" or “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” It is an intimate knowing or experiencing of what love is when we receive what Jesus did on the cross for us. In the second verse, we begin to understand that love is NOT something we do for God, but what God did for us. Anytime the Bible mentions love, we need to remember this verse and realize that we can only love others or God to the extent that we know the Love that God expressed at the cross. From now on, when reading you see the word ‘love’ in scripture, you can translate it to ‘the cross’.
- Different dimensions of love are seen in the context of different types of relationships. Here we see a picture of love in the Father/Child relationship. The Father expressed His love by giving up His Son to die that we might have life. He ‘sent’ His Son to us so that we might be saved through Him. Earthly parents can understand that there is no more powerful expression of love than the Father being willing to send His son away and to watch Him suffer and die for us. Many people have a wrong perception of how God our Father loves us because of the failures or shortcomings of our earthly fathers, so it is critical to our relationship with the Father that we get a new revelation or understanding of how great His love is for us. Another helpful verse is Matt 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” He is a much better Father than even the best father you have ever seen or imagined.Also, you will be surprised at how many people have heard John 3:16 but never really heard John 3:17 – that God did not send Jesus to judge us but to SAVE us.
- Another dimension of love is displayed by Jesus as our friend and brother laying down his life for us. There is no greater expression of love than laying down one’s life for someone else. There are many powerful examples of this in books and movies, especially in a military context as someone risks their life or lays down their life for another member of their unit, or for the people they are committed to protecting. If you have a favorite movie or story along these lines, share it with the group.
- One more dimension of love is displayed in the context of marriage. This verse is often used in marriage counseling and even in the ceremony, but it is easy to miss the powerful picture of the love of Christ for us demonstrated in these verses. He gave himself up for us, like a husband for his wife, and He cleanses us so that we are presented to Him in splendor, holy and without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Picture a royal wedding where everything about the bride is meticulously cleansed, pressed, and prepared for the wedding ceremony. You may have thought that it is our job to get cleaned up for Jesus, for the wedding, but Jesus did that for us at the cross.
- This is an amazing prayer that Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus. He is saying first of all that we need to be strengthen in our inner man by His spirit SO THAT Christ can dwell in our hearts – through faith. And then, he prays that they would be rooted and grounded in love. Love is to be the basis of everything that we are and that we do. Love (the love of God, displayed at the cross) is the foundation. It is the lens through which we now view God, ourselves, the scripture, our circumstances – our new worldview. He prays that they would be able to comprehend how great God’s love is – how broad and long and high and deep. Whichever way you look or move, you will see God’s love there. And notice that He is prayer is for a miracle, something supernatural – that we would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we would be able to comprehend a love that is beyond comprehension. Meditate on this prayer, and ask God for a greater revelation of His love for you.
- A final prayer for you - may the Lord “direct your hearts into the Love of God”. His love cannot be grasped in our heads – it is at the heart. So ask Him to direct your heart INTO His love.