August 2, 2009 1 John 4:7-12

August 2...  "A Spiritual MRI" 1 John 4:7-12

ICEBREAKER: Were you ever motivated by a physical check up? Explain.

                We have some amazing medical devices that allow doctors to peer inside our bodies.  God also has given us a way of seeing deep within our soul.  This section of John's letter functions as a spiritual MRI allowing us to see what God has done in us.

1 John

 ⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹By 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. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

                The "test" of love has been mentioned twice already, but this is by far the most searching of its applications. It is not just that love is commanded, or shows that one has eternal life, but now that God revealed Himself in Jesus as sacrificial love. It is the character of God Himself that motivates sacrificial love of each other and is proof of one's being born of God.

"God is love" is a popular saying. What exactly demonstrates His love? (Consider His character, grace and mercy) 

V7 - In 1 Peter 1:3&4, Peter uses the word "lust" to describe the corruption of the world. How is lust contrary to love described in this passage? (Consider the focus of each)

V9 - Is there a difference between loving someone and having deep affection for them? What is the difference? (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

If God is unsearchable and unknowable, what importance does this play in the lives of Christians here on earth?

Today's pluralistic ideas as to who God is share foundations with Gnostic teachings of God being immaterial spirit and light. By accepting all truths, we stand for none. How does this philosophy damage the meaning  of love?