DAY 1: Amazing Love
It’s obvious when you think about it. We love God because He first loved us and we give because God first gave to us. Our whole lives are a response to a loving, generous God.
So we start our five weeks of study on the theme of giving with the character of God. It is only as we immerse ourselves in the character of God that we realise that all we are and all we have comes from the generous God who is our provider and sustainer.
During the week we will look at the amazing love of God revealed in Jesus, God’s generous daily provision such that we lack nothing and the values that God sets for the world.
Reading: John 3:11-21 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son’ v16
Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Where else could we start? As Christians we worship a loving and generous God, whose nature is to give, freely and without measure, to the whole world. Jesus is His love gift to the world. If we measure the value of God’s love by the value of the gift then it could not be greater. He could not have loved more.
So the familiar verses from John’s gospel come to us as a reminder that while we might try to reach God through our efforts, it is God who reaches out to us through His Son.
He gave Jesus to the world that through him we might have eternal life and to have eternal life is to know God in a way that without Jesus it would not be possible. So, as we meditate on who God is and on His character, the call to be like our heavenly Father challenges us
to emulate his generosity. Such love knows no boundaries and will challenge us as much as it will challenge and bless those around us.
For Further Reading: Psalm 103 - the love of God.
To Ponder: As you set out on the course of Bible study what do you hope to gain from it?
To Pray: Almighty God, whose generous love transforms all people, create in me a heart to seek your will, that formed in the image of your Son I may give myself and my possessions in response to your call. Amen.
So we start our five weeks of study on the theme of giving with the character of God. It is only as we immerse ourselves in the character of God that we realise that all we are and all we have comes from the generous God who is our provider and sustainer.
During the week we will look at the amazing love of God revealed in Jesus, God’s generous daily provision such that we lack nothing and the values that God sets for the world.
Reading: John 3:11-21 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son’ v16
Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Where else could we start? As Christians we worship a loving and generous God, whose nature is to give, freely and without measure, to the whole world. Jesus is His love gift to the world. If we measure the value of God’s love by the value of the gift then it could not be greater. He could not have loved more.
So the familiar verses from John’s gospel come to us as a reminder that while we might try to reach God through our efforts, it is God who reaches out to us through His Son.
He gave Jesus to the world that through him we might have eternal life and to have eternal life is to know God in a way that without Jesus it would not be possible. So, as we meditate on who God is and on His character, the call to be like our heavenly Father challenges us
to emulate his generosity. Such love knows no boundaries and will challenge us as much as it will challenge and bless those around us.
For Further Reading: Psalm 103 - the love of God.
To Ponder: As you set out on the course of Bible study what do you hope to gain from it?
To Pray: Almighty God, whose generous love transforms all people, create in me a heart to seek your will, that formed in the image of your Son I may give myself and my possessions in response to your call. Amen.
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