Plumbing the Depths of the Love of God (part 3)

Plumbing the Depths of the Love of God (part 3)

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Plumbing the Depths of the Love of God (part 3) ------------------- Date: 3/3/2001
Keywords: "love of God"
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Passage: 1 John 4:9-10*

9. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

Questions

1. How did God show His love for you? (v. 9)

2. God sent His Son to the earth for what purpose? (v. 10)

3. Why do you think the apostle John explicitly says that love is NOT defined by our love for God, but by His love for us?

Practical help

John helps us to see the nature of love AND to see how God demonstrated that love for us.

First, he says that love takes the initiative. The reason why our love for God doesn't best demonstrate the nature of love is that our love for Him is always a responding love. We love because He first loved us.

Second, he says that love is a sacrificial thing. The one who love gives, even to the point of allowing himself to be hurt. God did that when He sent Jesus to suffer and die for us.

Friends of eXXit, God loves you! That is the best news you will ever hear. God took the first step toward you. He didn't wait for you to clean up your act to show you how much He loves you. He initiated a self-sacrificing act of love while you and everybody else were in rebellion against Him. And nobody was forcing Him to do it. He simply chose to set His affection on you.

As you travel through your day today, remember that you are the special object of God's love. Especially as you may be tempted to search for smut on the Internet, remember God's great, sacrificial love for you. In your struggle to stand strong against sexual temptation, nothing will prove more powerful than a firm grasp of God's love for you.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLEŽ, Š Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."