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Adult Bible Study GuideApr • May • Jun 2009Adult Bible Study GuideApr • May • Jun 2009

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The Christian LifeAn Appeal

Reinder BruinsmaPrincipal ContributorContributorReinder BruinsmaPrincipal ContributorContributor

The Christian LifeWalking the Walk {180}

“The modern era,” is an era in which logic, reason, and science have formed the

foundation of all truth.According to this view, all reality can be

reduced to formulas, to laws, and to scientific predictions.

If it can’t be explained through logic, reason, and science, it isn’t real.

The Christian LifeWalking the Walk {180}

In recent years there’s been a backlash against this thinking. People don’t believe,

and rightly so, that all reality can be explained in cold rationality alone.

There is something about us that no formula, no test tube, no scientific law ever could

capture.

The Christian LifeWalking the Walk {180}

This backlash has spilled over into all realms of life, including religion; however, as with most reactions, it has in some cases gone

too far, even to the point of pushing aside or ignoring the concept of doctrinal truth.

What’s important, we’re told, isn’t teachingsor doctrine but experience. What does your faith do for you now—that’s what matters.

The Christian LifeWalking the Walk {181}

Truth is not just knowledge of doctrines and texts but something that influences the

believer on a personal level.There is a practical, life changing aspect ofour religion that never should be denied or denigrated. At the same time, the role of

experience never should take away from the importance of correct biblical teaching.

The Christian LifeContents

1. Love2. Faith3. Hope4. Life5. Revelation6. Sin7. Grace

8. Rest 9. Heaven10. Discipleship11. Stewardship12. Community13. Mission

The Christian LifeOur Goal {181}

We want to look at both aspects of our faith: doctrine and experience.

Not only to understand these themes betterbut also to have been enriched as far as

Christian experience is concerned.One focus: the One in whom “we live, and

move, and have our being.”

The Christian LifeLesson 1, April 4The Christian LifeLesson 1, April 4

LoveKey Text

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV“And now these three remain:

faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

LoveInitial Words {183}

God is Love. Whatever else God is, and whatever He has done, is doing, and will do—

everything is a manifestation of His love.This love is as comforting as it is difficult to comprehend. God’s love far exceeds what

human beings usually label as love, which is sometimes a mere shallow feeling.

God does not just have love. He is love.

LoveQuick Look

1. Needing Love (Genesis 1:26, 27)

2. Experiencing Love (1 John 3:1-3)

3. Reflecting Love (Matthew 22:37-40)

Genesis 1:26, 27 NIV“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in

our image, in our likeness….’

So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.”

Love1. Needing Love

1. Needing LoveLove—the Fabric of Life {184}

Life without love is a subhuman kind of existence. There is a built-in need in us to receive love. We need the love of parents,

of family and friends.But just as much as we need to receive love, we also need to give love. True love does not begin with us. This capacity is created in us

by our creator.

1. Needing LoveLove—the Fabric of Life {184}

God’s love always precedes our love.This point is crucial. True “love is not an

impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot

originate or produce it.Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it

found. ‘We love Him, because He firstloved us’.”—Acts of the Apostles 551.

Love2. Experiencing Love

1 John 3:1-3 NIV“How great is the love the Father has

lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! … We know that when he appears, we shall be

like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

2. Experiencing LoveThe Old Testament God {186}

God’s love is eternal. The words to His OT people apply to all times: “ ‘I have loved you

with an everlasting love’ ” (Jer 31:3 NIV).

• God’s love in creation (Gen 1:26-31, 2:21-25).• Providing solution for sin (Gen 3:15, 22:8).• The gift of the Sabbath (Exod 31:12-17).• The continuous gift of prophecy (Amos 3:7).

2. Experiencing LoveThe New Testament God {188}

• God’s gift of His Son (John 3:16).• The Son’s giving of Himself (Phil 2:5-8).• The Gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18).• The availability of spiritual gifts (Eph 4:11-13).• The certainty of salvation (1 John 3:1-3).• An eternal future in an environment of love

(2 Pet 3:13).

Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with allyour heart and with all your soul and with all

your mind. … Love your neighboras yourself.

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ ”

Love3. Reflecting Love

3. Reflecting LoveA Response of Love {190}

If we truly have been converted andbecome disciples of the Lord, the principle of

love will reign in our lives. Whatever our weaknesses, we will steadily grow in our love

for God and for our fellow human beings.In a very real sense conversion is

reorientation—a shift away from the love of self to the love of God and others.

3. Reflecting LoveLove Personified {192}

Jesus Christ is our ultimate Role Model.If we wonder what our love should be like,

we need to look only at our Savior. In Him we see the perfect example.

The love of Christ compels us, (2 Cor 5:14).When we grasp something of the magnitude

of Christ’s love, it will create a lovingresponse, and this will give us the intense

desire to share that love to others.

LoveFinal Words {191}

In John 13:34, 35 Jesus states: “ ‘A new commandment I give to you: Love one

another. As I have loved you, so you mustlove one another. By this all man will knowthat you are my disciples, if you love one

another’ ” (NIV).

The fulfillment of this directive was to be

the defining characteristic of the church.