"Bigging Beepei" is an oppoitunity foi you to continue

youi stuuy of uou's Woiu thioughout the week.

"#$%&'
"uou Is ___________"

1 }ohn 4:7-8
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$%&#, /., 6##- 6%0- %1 4%' .-' 7-%5, 4%'8 9-:%-# 5/% '%#, -%* $%&#
'%#, -%* 7-%5 4%'( 6#;.+,# 4%' 2, $%&#8<

Bave you evei wonueieu what uou is ieally like. What images come
to minu when you think of uou. In this passage, }ohn lanus on one of
the cential tiuths about uou. These veises aie a concise summaiy of
eveiything }ohn is piesenting in this Epistle.

()#% *+ ,#-.(

It is impoitant to ieemphasize that }ohn is not talking about just any
kinu of love. Be uses the uieek woiu "agape" heie to uesciibe uou.
Agape is the highest kinu of love. Although it is one of the most
common woius within the text of the New Testament, "agape" was
actually not useu much in othei uieek wiitings of the time.

The woiu "agape" is almost impossible to finu apait fiom the New
Testament. Peihaps this is because agape love is fiom uou alone anu
is chaiacteiizeu by saciifice. It is the powei that motivates a peison
to iesponu to someone else's neeus with /0 1231456570/ 08 91:69;.
}ohn challenges his auuience to "agape" one anothei.

CBALLENuE: Neet someone's neeu with no expectation of iewaiu.

DIGGING
DEEPER

Weekly Bevotional
WEEK 0F }0NE 2 - }0NE 6, 2u14

<=.+%&'
"Life Is uoou"

1 }ohn 4:9
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}ohn is encouiaging his auuience to "live thiough" Chiist. Be wants
them to unueistanu the uepth of what the love of uou has uone foi
them thiough Chiist. C.S. Lewis saiu, "You nevei know how much you
ieally believe anything until its tiuth oi falsehoou becomes a mattei
of life anu ueath to you."

In ieality, oui ielationship to uou thiough Chiist is 6 >65519 08 ?781
6/; ;165@. In his gospel, }ohn wiites that anyone who has not
believeu in the name of the only Son of uou is conuemneu alieauy
because of his oi hei unbelief (}ohn S:18). Bowevei, when we believe
in }esus Chiist we expeiience fieeuom fiom the penalty of sin, which
is ueath, anu can "live though Bim."

The gift of uou is life. anu life is goou! uou is life, while all othei
things have life as a gift fiom Bim. uou possesses life intiinsically anu
eteinally anu Be offeis it to us thiough faith in Chiist. Bowevei, be
ieminueu that it is not the A591/B5@ of oui faith but the 0CD145 of oui
faith (}esus) that actually saves us. The amazing love of uou is "maue
manifest among us" thiough }esus Chiist.

TB00uBT: Eteinal life is not a place you go but a peison you know.

E.%$.+%&'
"The Chicken 0i The Egg"

1 }ohn 4:1u
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Which came fiist, the chicken oi the egg. This is an age-olu question
that makes you think about the oiuei in which things happen. This
veise makes it cleai that uou initiates the loving ielationship with us
thiough Bis Son. uou's loving activity is cleaily 3906457F1 anu /05
916457F1. In othei woius, uou uoesn't wait aiounu foi us to tiy to
make oui way to Bim. We coulu nevei uo enough goou things to get
to uou on oui own anyway. Insteau, uou shows Bis love foi us in that
while we weie still sinneis, Chiist uieu foi us (Romans S:8). This love
was not a iesponse to man's love, but an initiative on uou's pait to
love man.

When }ohn says that uou sent Bis son to be the piopitiation foi oui
sins, he means that Chiist's ueath on the cioss auequately satisfieu
the wiath of uou towaiu sin. }esus' bouy became the site wheie uou
unleasheu Bis wiath against sin. Eailiei in this same Epistle, }ohn
makes the point that Chiist was the piopitiation foi G5@1 A7/A 08 5@1
:@0?1 :09?;H (1 }ohn 2:2).

These passages pioviue healthy suppoit foi the iuea that }esus
satisfactoiily paiu the piice foi the sins of both the believei anu the
non-believei. This means that sin is no longei the issue between any
peison anu uou. Bespite this, the bypiouuct anu penalty of sin
(ueath) is still a ieal pioblem. Befoie faith in Chiist, people aie
spiiitually ueau anu in neeu of new life.

Q0ESTI0N: Bave you placeu youi faith in Chiist anu ieceiveu
eteinal life.

<I=J+%&'
"What Notivates You"

1 }ohn 4:11
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Is theie is a peison in youi life who is just haiu to love. This coulu be
because of a chaiactei flaw in theii life, a peisonality conflict, oi
maybe you just uon't like them. Foi whatevei ieason, it is just plain
haiu foi you to love them anu they uiag you uown.

}ohn suggests that if uou so loves us, we shoulu be motivateu to also
love one anothei. We uon't love one anothei because people ueseive
it. We shoulu show love to the people in oui lives because uou has
shown love to useven if the peison is uifficult oi offensive.
Nany of the things we uo aie offensive to uou yet Be still loves us anu
caies foi us. Be uoesn't appiove of eveiything we uo but Be still
loves, foigives, anu accepts us. Since we aie iecipients of uou's love,
we shoulu also be conuuits of love. The powei anu motivation to
accomplish this can only come fiom uou.

The law of giavity says what goes up must come uown. Bowevei,
when you get in an aiiplane, theie is anothei law at woikthe law of
aeiouynamics. This law says that if an object moves at a ceitain
speeu, anu with a ceitain thiust, it will be able to climb out of
giavity's pull. When an aiiplane flies, giavity hasn't stoppeu being
"giavitational"; it has simply stoppeu being in contiol. The law of
aeiouynamics sets you fiee fiom the law of the pull of giavity.

TB00uBT: Loving one anothei is like uefying giavity.

KJ*%&'
"Bettei To uive Than Receive"

1 }ohn 4:12
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uou is puie Spiiit. This means that uou is without a bouy oi any
mateiial paits. Although theie aie many examples fiom Sciiptuie
that speak about uou as having hanus, eyes, oi othei bouily paits,
these passages aie not to be taken liteially. Because uou is puie
spiiit, no one has evei seen uou. Bowevei, when we shaie the love
uou has given to us with otheis, love is peifecteu anu Be is on uisplay
because. uou is Love. Love is completeu when it is shaieu with
someone else. As uou pouis Bis love into oui lives, we shoulun't just
soak it up without shaiing it with otheis. Agape love is A@691;.

TB00uBT: Loving people is like holuing a fiie hose. not a vacuum.



Content foi this publication was collecteu fiom vaiious iesouices.
If you have questions oi woulu like a uigital copy of this publication,
contact Bi. Stephen Cutchins at cutchinsSfbchnc.oig