The Love of God
I Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
To better comprehend God and the things He has done for us, we must be able to comprehend love; for God is love (1 John 4:8). The world is sinful and not of God, therefore it is no surprise that the world's perspective on love - God's greatest trait- is warped. This warped perspective that is forced upon us by our own desires and our cultures infects our minds so that we do not know the meaning, nor application, of real God-like love. This can cause us many problems, including very damaging relationships that can leave us hurt, angry, rejected, insecure, unfulfilled and empty (the list goes on!).
As humans we are made with a desire to have relationships. We were not created to be alone, on the contrary we were created to have a relationship with the Lord God, however through sin we have been separated from Him, and whilst we are on this earth it is not possible to be truly one with God. If you are a Christian, then one day such a relationship will be a reality. If you are not a Christian, then you will never experience such a relationship. Earthly relationships are very important to us, and are even a picture of things to come. For example God has given us the gift of marriage; the joining of one man and one woman, for us to enjoy and to give us a glimpse of the glories of the relationship we, as Christians, will one day experience with God our Father. We must have relationships and connection if we are to feel any sense of humanity; friends, family, husband and wife, God.
What is love:
To understand love, we must look to God, for God is love. Two Greek words are used for love in the NT:
1. Phileo.
2. Agape.
Phileo:
Phileo love is ruled by our emotions. It is common amongst humans and is usually conditional and may even possess traits of selfishness. Phileo love is 'doing something for something'. It is pleasurable and beneficial to phileo love. It is shallow and unrooted. For certain relationships phileo love is sufficieent, however for more serious relationships such as husband and wife, if only phileo love is present, a relationship is likely to bring with it a lot of trouble.
Agape:
Agape love is selfless and unconditional. Agape love describes God. It is willing to give for nothing in return and indeed continue to give, give, give without expectation or stipulation.
Agape love can best be described by Grace: Romans 5:8 "8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Even though we have rejected God and do terrible things that break His heart, God does and always will love us. No matter what we do, God loves us.
The book of Hosea is a fantastic and sobering picture of God's love for us. God instructs the prophet, Hosea, to marry a harlot - somebody who has known many men and had and still did committ adultery and be unfaithful; not the kind of woman you'd pick as your wife! How horrible and upsetting this must have been for Hosea. He must have felt so worthless and foolish, so helpless and insecure and rejected in this relationship. God then compares this relationship to Him and the people of Israel who constantly rejected their loving Father. What we do is very hurtful and upsetting to God, yet He loves us anyway - strong agape love, not conditional and shallow phileo love. Even though we hurt Him, still He sent His only son to die for us, so that whoever may believe upon Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life with God (John 3:16).
As humans phileo love comes so natural to us. We are so often ruled by our eyes so phileo love is easy for us. This love and these relationships are nothing special. They are unrooted and do not possess qualities needed for strong serious relationships such as marriage or a relationship with God. Agape love on the other hand is rare, difficult to give and special.
Most relationships are based on phileo love, which can me mildly satisfying for a time, but will probably end in tears. But for God and serious relationships, there must be more. We must have agape love. This kind of love is foreign to our sinful selves. We are only able to possess it through the help of our saviour Christ Jesus. ("We [are able to] love Him, because He first loved us." [brackets mine] (1 John 4:19)).
Through the renewing of our minds and love for Christ we are able to show agape love. ('With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26)).
Matthew 18:21-22:
"21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
1 Corinthians 13 describes true Biblical love. Is it a hard love to keep, especially because whoever we reserve it for on this earth is not perfect, therefore there will be things that they do that are not beneficial to us or hard to come to terms with. However, if we are to be imitators of Christ, this is the standard of love we must give, for God gives it to us, despite the fact that, as we have seen in Hosea, we constantly hurt and reject Him.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
To better comprehend God and the things He has done for us, we must be able to comprehend love; for God is love (1 John 4:8). The world is sinful and not of God, therefore it is no surprise that the world's perspective on love - God's greatest trait- is warped. This warped perspective that is forced upon us by our own desires and our cultures infects our minds so that we do not know the meaning, nor application, of real God-like love. This can cause us many problems, including very damaging relationships that can leave us hurt, angry, rejected, insecure, unfulfilled and empty (the list goes on!).
As humans we are made with a desire to have relationships. We were not created to be alone, on the contrary we were created to have a relationship with the Lord God, however through sin we have been separated from Him, and whilst we are on this earth it is not possible to be truly one with God. If you are a Christian, then one day such a relationship will be a reality. If you are not a Christian, then you will never experience such a relationship. Earthly relationships are very important to us, and are even a picture of things to come. For example God has given us the gift of marriage; the joining of one man and one woman, for us to enjoy and to give us a glimpse of the glories of the relationship we, as Christians, will one day experience with God our Father. We must have relationships and connection if we are to feel any sense of humanity; friends, family, husband and wife, God.
What is love:
To understand love, we must look to God, for God is love. Two Greek words are used for love in the NT:
1. Phileo.
2. Agape.
Phileo:
Phileo love is ruled by our emotions. It is common amongst humans and is usually conditional and may even possess traits of selfishness. Phileo love is 'doing something for something'. It is pleasurable and beneficial to phileo love. It is shallow and unrooted. For certain relationships phileo love is sufficieent, however for more serious relationships such as husband and wife, if only phileo love is present, a relationship is likely to bring with it a lot of trouble.
Agape:
Agape love is selfless and unconditional. Agape love describes God. It is willing to give for nothing in return and indeed continue to give, give, give without expectation or stipulation.
Agape love can best be described by Grace: Romans 5:8 "8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Even though we have rejected God and do terrible things that break His heart, God does and always will love us. No matter what we do, God loves us.
The book of Hosea is a fantastic and sobering picture of God's love for us. God instructs the prophet, Hosea, to marry a harlot - somebody who has known many men and had and still did committ adultery and be unfaithful; not the kind of woman you'd pick as your wife! How horrible and upsetting this must have been for Hosea. He must have felt so worthless and foolish, so helpless and insecure and rejected in this relationship. God then compares this relationship to Him and the people of Israel who constantly rejected their loving Father. What we do is very hurtful and upsetting to God, yet He loves us anyway - strong agape love, not conditional and shallow phileo love. Even though we hurt Him, still He sent His only son to die for us, so that whoever may believe upon Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life with God (John 3:16).
As humans phileo love comes so natural to us. We are so often ruled by our eyes so phileo love is easy for us. This love and these relationships are nothing special. They are unrooted and do not possess qualities needed for strong serious relationships such as marriage or a relationship with God. Agape love on the other hand is rare, difficult to give and special.
Most relationships are based on phileo love, which can me mildly satisfying for a time, but will probably end in tears. But for God and serious relationships, there must be more. We must have agape love. This kind of love is foreign to our sinful selves. We are only able to possess it through the help of our saviour Christ Jesus. ("We [are able to] love Him, because He first loved us." [brackets mine] (1 John 4:19)).
Through the renewing of our minds and love for Christ we are able to show agape love. ('With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26)).
Matthew 18:21-22:
"21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."
Here, in the context of forgiveness we can see the phileo love and thinking of Peter. Seven times to us seems a very lenient and copious amount of times to forgive somebody who keeps committing wrong against us! If somebody was to do something against us for which we forgive them again and again, there would come a point (for me probably less than seven times!) when we would reach the end of our tether with the person. But, Jesus shows us the true standard for love and forgiveness. True agape love has no time limit, no conditions, not strikes one, two or three. It is everlasting and forbearing (patient).
The same ability to forgive seventy seven times seven is required to agape love. The only way to accomplish this and show such mercy is through the help of God.
Phileo love expects something and in earthly relationships, as nobody is perfect, you will always be dissapointed.
1 Corinthians 13 describes true Biblical love. Is it a hard love to keep, especially because whoever we reserve it for on this earth is not perfect, therefore there will be things that they do that are not beneficial to us or hard to come to terms with. However, if we are to be imitators of Christ, this is the standard of love we must give, for God gives it to us, despite the fact that, as we have seen in Hosea, we constantly hurt and reject Him.
How to show such a standard of love:
Looking in the context of marriage: To show and possess true agape love for someone as Christ does we must turn to Ephesians 5.
Ephesians 5:25-27 "25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish."
Isaiah 1:18 states: "...“Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."
Despite our imperfections, Christ dies for us and is able to present us without spot or blemish.
As we are sinners, we all come with a lot of baggage! If we are to marry someone we must be able to view that person as perfect and without baggage, as Christ does. That person may bring difficult things to the table, but take encouragement from the fact that Christ has already forgiven them (or if they are not Christians provided a way for them to be forgiven) for wrongs that they have committed against Him.
Pray for help from God that you may have the mercy and grace to agape love. Do not be proud and remember that you yourself are not perfect.
As children of God, we are witnesses to Him through the way we live, therefore it is vital that we are able to treat others as the Lord Jesus would treat them, showing them true agape love, not merely love that is given only when it benefits ourselves. You must learn to love in loss and in gain. You will not be free from dissapointment, however you should love others for who they are, not for what they have done or what they do, just as God loves you.
-BACChristian
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