Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…this is one of those mornings when I went to bed thinking I was going to write about one subject, but when I opened my eyes (way before dawn), I was immediately drawn to this subject. It was so strong I even had the title and the outline right before me – and the immediate realization this would be a two-part blog. But with a calling like this, how can I refuse? 🙂
In our culture today, the term “love” has gotten so watered-down to the point of being almost meaningless. I mean, we love our pets, we love our jobs, our cars, chocolate, this movie, that music… Let’s face it, Dear Readers, sometimes we even loved the Rams! Right?..which goes to show ya, we all need something that gives us that giddy-feeling or those goose-bumps which pretty-much describes modern-day “love”. To most people, love is a feeling; it’s an emotional rush. Ask someone how they know they are in love, and the number one answer is, “because I feel it”…or if they are particularly demonstrative, “because I feel it at the very depths of my soul, blah, blah, blah” The problem with that definition is…feelings change and emotional-rushes subside, then what’s left?
In the original Greek language of the New Testament, there were four separate words to describe four different levels, or depths, of love. The first level (or lowest level) was “eros”, from which comes the word “erotic” in our language. It simply means physical attraction. The next higher-level of love was referred to as “philio” love, meaning we invested time to get to know the person. Now we realize that “attractive” person has a brain that challenges us; a spirit that brings out the best in us, and we realize he/she is as beautiful on the inside as he/she is on the outside. (FYI: from this term comes the name “Philadelphia”, meaning city of Brotherly Love.) The next higher-level of love was referred to as “storge” love, which is familial love, or the love parents have for their children or siblings have for one another. But the highest form of love, “agape love”, is self-sacrificial love. It is the love Jesus demonstrated when he was here on earth, and is what the Bible refers to when the term “love” is used. Agape love cares more about the health, well-being and safety of the other person than “self”.
In the New Testament, “love” is the theme. When asked by the Pharisees which commandment was the greatest, Jesus’ response was, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) In other words, if you obey these two commandments, you will conform to the others by your actions, meaning you won’t lie, steal, kill, engage in adultery, dishonor your parents, forget the Sabbath, or take the Lord’s name in vain.
Apostle Paul addresses the importance of love in 1Corinthians 13:1-3,13: “If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making a meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? If I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. There are three things that will endure – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.”
God created man for a relationship with himself. We were created in his image; we were his proudest creation. Even when we turned our back on Him and put the focus on our self and lived for our self, God didn’t stop loving us. In fact, he let us take charge of our own destiny from Creation to 2016 years ago until we got to the pathetic state of being “utterly helpless.” Then he restored us to a relationship with himself by implementing his plan for our salvation (His Gift of Grace). Romans 5:6 boldly describes this action: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” And what was “just the right time”? When we became utterly helpless! That is God’s unconditional, unending and unfailing love for us manifested in his plan for our salvation.
Notice He didn’t wait for us to clean-up our act so we could become worthy of his Gift of Grace; nor did we do anything to earn His Gift. No…it was indeed a gift from a loving Father who wants us to spend eternity with him in Paradise. But in order for that to happen, we cannot be stained with SIN, because sin spreads, contaminates, kills and destroys. If you doubt that, just look at the world we live in. Does this look like Paradise? Well, it was at Creation until SIN entered the world. That’s why we must be sin-free to enter God’s Kingdom.
Jesus demonstrated this same love when he was on earth. He came for the purpose of being the sacrificial lamb, and even when the world was mocking, ridiculing and spitting in his face, he submitted to God’s plan and went to a shameful, painful death on the cross, paying the ransom for our sins. But even as he hung there, he cried out, “Father, forgive these people because they don’t know what they are doing”, thus demonstrating the same unconditional, unending, unfailing love the Father showed us.
At this point you might be saying to yourself, “This agape-love stuff is impossible”, and you would be right, especially when you add to the above scenario Jesus’ charge to us at the famous Sermon on the Mount. Here we were told not to seek revenge; to forgive those who have harmed us; and to love our enemies. How can we do that? It is totally contrary to worldly thinking and our human nature.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to live to a higher standard than the world around us; to be Jesus’ light in this dark world. And most challenging of all is the call to “love” others, especially when many times the “others” are down-right unlovable! But fear not! God’s salvation plan for us is perfect. He knows we’re weak…that we’re only dust. And he also knows the challenges we face in this fallen world because he witnessed its treatment of his Son. And…he knows we have a formidable Foe who is hell-bent on shipwrecking our efforts to become the person He created us to be. So let’s stand on the truth found in 2Peter 1:3, “As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a godly live. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness.”
Next week I will talk about the “secret weapon” God gave us so we can become the person he created us to be, and how our choices can bring honor and glory to him. I will focus mostly on relationships – especially on the marriage relationship. Don’t miss it. I promise it will be awesome!
Please feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share with other social media friends.
May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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