Lesson Two: COVENANTAL LOVE
Introduction: God’s love is profoundly relational. A loving and intimate relationship with God cannot exist without human reciprocity in response to His loving benevolence. Upon accepting God’s love, we’re called to love one another in the same way.
Memory Text: John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
SABBATH; Aside from the misconceptions about agape love, this kind of love not only refers to God’s love but also human love as well even when it is misdirected sometimes. God also expresses brotherly love to us as well, and this love is not any less important than agape love. Furthermore, God calls us to have deep relational love with Him in response to His love, for His love is not unilateral. (READ 2 Timothy 4:10; John 16:27)
SUNDAY; God’s lovingkindness, compassion and mercy extend to all the earth and every individual. God loves every individual and He equally wants everyone to be saved for He does not wish anyone to perish. God gave us the freedom to choose, and the acceptance of His gift of salvation is entirely dependent on each individual or to reject it. One thing remains, God’s love for each of us never runs out for it is everlasting. Personally knowing God’s love for us can make a whole difference in the way we relate to others as well.
(READ Psalms 33:5; 145:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4; Ezekiel 33:11)
MONDAY; God exhibits a special kind of love for His people and it also entails expectations that people will accept this love and will love Him and one another in return. God’s love is not conditional. He desires to have a loving relationship with human beings individually and this relationship implies conditionality; in that it cannot be established without a loving human response to the love of God. Furthermore, the reception of the benefits of God’s lovingkindness is dependent on the willingness of His people to obey and maintain their end of the relationship. (READ Deuteronomy7:6-9; 2 Samuel 22:26)
TUESDAY; Appropriate respondance to the call of having a loving relationship with God involves obeying God’s command to love Him and fellow brethren. In addition, accepting God’s love, which involves the willingness to be a vehicles of this love, opens one to enjoying the saving benefits of this relationship.
(READ Hosea 9:15, Jeremiah 16:5; Romans 11:22; Jude 21 )
WEDNESDAY; God’s love is everlasting and there is nothing that we can do to earn this love. Our love for God is a response to what has already been given to us even before we asked for it. Therefore, it remains our choice to accept it or reject it. Following through with the parable of the unforgiving servant, his master pardoned him for a debt that he could never pay off even after working for over 200,000 years. However, he decided not to pardon a brethren who owed him less. This shows how disregarding he became of his master’s mercy. However, we ought to forgive our brethren because we receive pardon from God, however undeserving we are.
(READ 1 John 4:7-20)
THURSDAY; The parable of that same servant is a call for each of us to reflect God’s love, through having compassion for our fellow brethren. We have been given infinite love by God, we should love and praise God for this chance and work towards living with love and grace towards others, and this is achieved through urgently sharing the message of hope and salvation to our brethren, in both word and deeds.
(READ John 15:12, 1 John 3:16; 4:7-12 )
FRIDAY; There is nothing that you and I can say that can burden God. He is interested in our thoughts, deeds, fears, joys, sorrows and cares. He is concerned with all that perplexes us. He loves each of us individually and He wishes for us to acknowledge and accept the sacrifice that His Son, Jesus Christ offered at Calvary.
(READ The Privilege of Prayer pp 93-104 by Ellen G White)
CAPTIONS:
SUNDAY; The everlasting love of God
MONDAY; Covenantal Love
TUESDAY; Conditional relationship
WEDNESDAY; Mercy forfeited
THURSDAY; You have freely received; freely give
FRIDAY; Further thought
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS;
- In light of this week’s lesson, how do you understand Psalms 103:17 and 18? What does it reveal about how God’s love is everlasting, and yet how the benefits of a relationship with God are dependent upon whether we will accept His love?
- In what ways does knowing this make a difference in your relationship with God? How does it affect the way you think of the sorrows of others?
