Sunday School Lesson March 8, 2026

Subject: God Is Love

The Point: We can only truly know love by knowing God.

Scriptures: 1 John 4:7-19

Study The Bible: 1 John 4:7-10

1). Love is of God for God is love.

7. Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9. God’s love was revealed among us in this way; God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Lasting truths from: 1 John 4:7-10

* The very essence of God’s character is love.

* God is the source of love.

* Love marks one as a child of God and as one who knows God.

*  God took the initiative to reveal His unconditional love.

* God revealed His love by sending His Son.

* The Son came to give us life and to atone for our sins.

2). By remaining in God, His love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:11-15

11. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.
12. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.
13. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us; He has given us of his Spirit.
14. And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior.
15. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God.

Lasting truths from: 1 John 4:11-15

*  God expects His love to be expressed.

* In our love toward others, we show that God abides in us.

* God’s love is shown to be real to believers when they give it proper and practical expression in their relationships with one another.

* We confess Jesus is the So of God and Savior in a faith response to the gospel witness of others and the witness of the Spirit who lives within us.

3). We love because God loved us first.

1 John 4:16-19

16. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and remains in him.
17. In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
18. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears in not complete in love.
19. We love because he first loves us.

Lasting truths from: 1 John 4:16-19

*  Love originates in the way essence of who God is.

* God loves us because it is His nature to love.

* We stand in confidence before the Father now and in the judgment because we stand in the love of Christ.

As you reflect on this session, respond to the following questions:

1. In what sense are love from God, love for God, and love for others inseparable?
2. God revealed His love in sending His Son to atone for our sins. What other examples do you see in the life of Jesus that reveal God’s special kind of love?
3. Name a person you find most difficult to love. What are some actions you can take that will allow God’s love to show itself through you to that person?

4. Do others see God’s love in you by the attitude, disposition, and actions you take toward others?