We are told in 1John 4:8 that “God IS Love”. A few verses later we are told in 1John 4:19 that “we love because God first loved us.” The TRUTH and POWER of those two verses alone should be enough to draw anyone into a relationship with God. But in the collective-psyche of today’s culture, I imagine those two verses are often misread as “feel-good statements”. And why do I think that? Because in today’s culture, the term “love” has gotten watered-down to the point of being almost meaningless. For instance…we love our pets; we love our job; we love chocolate; we love this song, or that event, or that person. And why do we love them? Because they make us “feel good.”
The TRUTH and POWER of the above verses become a reality only as we begin to grasp the enormity and the nature of God’s love for us. His love IS unconditional, unending and unfailing, and it is on that truth that the foundation of our faith can be built.
But unfortunately, our culture’s view of love is certainly NOT unconditional; nor is it unending or unfailing. All we have to do is look at the current divorce statistics to see the unspoken “if” that surrounds today’s concept of love.
In the original Greek language of the New Testament, there were four different words used to describe four different levels of love. “Eros” referred to physical attraction; “Philia” referred a deeper kind of “friendship” that develops after the initial attraction; “Storge” was still a deeper love such as a parent would have for their children, or siblings would share with each other. But the highest form of love was (and is) “Agape” love. This is self-sacrifical love, meaning we love the other person more than our self. That is the love Jesus demonstrated when he was here, and it is the love we are called to emulate as Christ-followers.
Apostle Paul describes Agape love beautifully in 1Corinthians 13:4-8. The stark contrast between this calling and the love we see demonstrated in our current movies, TV shows, and romance novels is blatantly obvious.
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous, or boastful, or proud, or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love is never glad about injustice but rejoices in the truth. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.”
When I first read this, it left the same helpless impression on me as did the beatitudes when I first read them? How can I rise to this calling. I mean…patient? Not jealous or proud or rude? Keeps no record of wrongs? Always rejoices in the truth? Never gives up, always hopeful?
Well, the answer to this dilemma is found in God’s unconditional love for us. We are told in Ephesians 1:3-4; 9-10 that “even before the world was created, God had a plan in place and that plan center on Jesus Christ. At just the right time he would bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” Romans 5-6 reveals the implementation of that plan. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”
Did God wait for us to clean up our act before he bestowed his gift on us? No! The right time for his planed redemption for “us sinners” was our state of being utterly helpless. He knew that we would never be able to rise above our “sin nature” (or as our culture calls it…our “human nature”), so he did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He provided a Savior to pay the price for our redemption. Did we deserve it? No! Did we do anything to earn it? No! That is why it is a Gift of Grace, and this demonstrates God’s unconditional, unending, unfailing love for us.
So, you may be saying to yourself, it is well and good to know that we are called to rise to the level of Agape love as Christ-followers, but how do I do it? I mean…we are called to love our neighbors as our self; to love and forgive our enemies; to pray for those who have harmed or been unjust to us? I gotta tell ya…I can’t do that!
Well, the fact is, neither can I. None of us, of our own volition, can achieve that calling. But we must not forget that “God knows we are only dust.” (Psalm 103:14) Therefore, his plan for our redemption is perfect. Not only is our eternal destiny sealed when we accept his Gift of Grace, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be his light in this fallen world…right here… right now. Regardless of the circumstance we are facing, when we call on the Holy Spirit to empower us with wisdom, courage, strength, patience, perseverance, whatever it is we need, to face our problem in a way that brings honor and glory to God, his promise to us is…he will answer our plea. That is the only way we can rise to the calling of Agape love.
To a non-believer, achieving Agape love is as impossible as jumping over the moon. Without the Holy Spirit directing our thoughts and actions, we will give into our sin nature and fall into the enticements of our culture. The truth of this statement is reinforced in Galatians 5:17-23. “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to your sin nature. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
God’s unconditional love for us was demonstrated by his Gift of Grace. No “ifs” or “buts” about it. When that reality gets from our heads to our hearts, we want to show our gratitude to Him for what he did for us by passing His love on to our fellow man. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can rise above this fallen world and achieve His higher calling.
Thank you God for your unconditional, unending, unfailing love for me.
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May God bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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