RCCG Sunday School STUDENT Manual 20 September 2020 – Lesson 3
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TOPIC — The Great Commandment: Love [RCCG Sunday School STUDENT Manual 20 September 2020]
MEMORY VERSE: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” – Song of Solomon 8:7
BIBLE PASSAGE: Matthew 22:35-40 KJV (RCCG Sunday School STUDENT Manual 20 September 2020)
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
INTRODUCTION: The bible says that “love is of God” and “God is love” (1John 4:7-8). In other words, love is a fundamental characteristics you of who God is. Everything God does is driven and influenced by His love (John 3:16). Our Lord Jesus Christ emphasised this by identifying the commandments to love God and the first and general law, after which He declared the directive to love fellow human beings as the second most important law (Matt. 22:25-40). The Holy Spirit sheds more light on the link between these two aspects of love (1John 4:20).
In Song of Solomon 8:7, love is said to be unquenchable and has more worth than all of one’s possessions because it satisfies like nothing else can.
Outlines
- Love Towards God
- Love Towards Fellow Humans
1. LOVE TOWARDS GOD
The bible says that our love for God is related to the fact that God first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is also related to our obedience of Him (1 John 5:3; John 14:15). God’s love for us enables us to obey Him freely, without the burden or guilt or the fear of punishment (1John 4:18).
Loving God requires knowing Him and that knowledge begins with His word (1 John 2:5).
To love God is to worshiping and praising Him only (Exodus 20:3).
To love God is to make Him our priority (Mark 12:30). To love God is to desire Him, to yearn for His righteousness, His word, and His grace (Psalm 42:1). To love God is to obey Him (John 14:15, 23; 15:10; 1 John 5:3). However, this is not a matter of merely following rules and registering good deeds. It is about having God’s love written permanently on our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5).
2. LOVE TOWARDS FELLOW HUMANS
We can express our love for God through those who are created in His image – our fellow humans (1 John 4:20; Mark 12:31). God’s kind of love is that which gives to those who did not deserve it including our enemies (Romans 5:8; Luke 6:32-35). The bible says we are to love others the way God loves us (1 John 4:7).
We are to love the family of God (Romans 12:10). As we show benevolent and selfless love, we reflect God’s love to a lose and dying world.
One practical way to love others is to imagine ourselves in their shoes (Luke 6:31). Loving others does not mean agreeing with everything they say or do, not does it mean acting in ways that always gain their approval. Loving our neighborhoods means attending to their needs both physical and spiritual (Luke 10:29-37). We love our neighborhood best when we share God’s truth with them. Jesus alone can save (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and He alone can meet people’s every need. We love our neighborhood out of an overflow of God’s love for us and as a way of demonstrating our love towards God (1 John 4:7-12; Col. 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15-16).
CONCLUSION: The love towards our neighbours is an evidence of love towards God. Let the love of God fill your heart. (Romans 5:5).
QUESTIONS:
- How should believers express their love towards God?
- Believers are to love one another. Explain.
ASSIGNMENT: Mention five (5) ways believers can demonstrate love for God and their fellow humans.
RCCG Sunday School HYMN
- O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Thy friendship suits me well,
Both young and old will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?