THE VITAL GROUPS

MESSAGE EIGHT

LOVE PREVAILS

OUTLINE

1. God is love; we love because He first loved us—1 John 4:8, 19.
2. God's predestination of us unto the divine sonship was motivated by the divine love—Eph. 1:4-5.
3. God's giving of His only begotten Son to us that we may be saved from perdition judicially through His death and have the eternal life organically in His resurrection was motivated by the divine love—John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10.
4. God's love is the source of the grace of Christ dispensed to us through the fellowship of the Spirit—2 Cor. 13:14.
5. God's love motivates us, His children, to love our enemies that we may be perfect as He is; He loves the fallen human race, who became His enemies, by causing His sun (signifying Christ) to rise on the evil and the good indiscriminately and sending rain (signifying the Spirit) on the just and the unjust equally; thus, we may become the sons of the heavenly Father who are sanctified from the tax collectors and the Gentiles—Matt. 5:43-48.
6. Love builds up—1 Cor. 8:1b.
7. Love is not jealous, is not provoked, does not take account of evil, covers all things, endures all things, never falls away, and is the greatest—1 Cor. 13:4-8,13.
8. Love is the conclusion of all spiritual virtues and the factor of fruit-bearing that supplies us bountifully with the rich entrance into the kingdom of Christ—2 Pet. 1:5-11.
9. The Body of Christ builds itself up in love—Eph. 4:16.
10. The spirit that God gives us is of love; hence, it is of power and of sobermindedness—2 Tim. 1:7.
11. He who does not love abides in death—1 John 3:14b.
12. Pursue love while you desire spiritual gifts—1 Cor. 14:1.
13. To overcome the degradation of the church we need to pursue love with those who seek the Lord out of a pure heart—2 Tim. 2:22.
14. Loving one another is a sign that we belong to Christ—John 13:34-35.
15. The love of God makes us more than conquerors over our circumstantial situations—Rom. 8:35-39.
16. Love is the most excellent way—1 Cor. 12:31b.

In the previous two messages we saw that shepherding and teaching are the obligation of the vital groups. In this message we want to see that love prevails. Regardless of how much we shepherd and teach others, without love everything is in vain. First Corinthians 13 is a chapter covering one unique thing, that is, love. This chapter tells us that even if we prophesy in the highest way and give everything for others, without love they mean nothing (vv. 2-3). Both shepherding and teaching need love, not our natural love but His divine love.

I. GOD BEING LOVE

We are God's species because we have been born of Him to have His life and nature (John 1:12-13). We have been regenerated to be God's species, God's kind, and God is love. Since we become God in His life and nature, we also should be love. This means that we do not merely love others but that we are love itself. As His species we should be love because He is love. Whoever is love is God's species, God's kind.

God is love; we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:8,19). God does not want us to love with our natural love but with Him as our love. God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26), which means that He created man according to what He is. God's image is what God is, and His attributes are what He is. According to the revelation in the holy Scriptures, God's first attribute is love. God created man according to His attributes, the first of which is love. Although created man does not have the reality of love, there is something in his created being that wants to love others. Even fallen man has the desire to love within him. But that is just a human virtue, the very expression of the divine attribute of love. When we were regenerated, God infused us with Himself as love. We love Him because He first loved us. He initiated this love.