Love of God

Greater Love has no one than this!

By Abraham Israel

The New Testament part of the Bible was originally written in Greek and it has four different words to describe different aspects of the same word ‘Love’ in English. The four different Greek words for ‘Love’ are 'Agape, Philia, Storge and Eros'.

Agape is the pure unconditional love that is only with God and from Him (Rom 5:5). The Holy Spirit pours out this God’s unconditional love in to our hearts who desire after Him. This is purely an impartation from God. God commands us to love Him and others only through this Agape love (Mark 12:29-30;Rom 13:8-10). This is the purest form of Love which is Divine Love. This can be received and expressed only when we have a spirit connection with God (1 Cor 6:17).

Philia is the cherishing love between a husband and a wife. It comes from the Soul of every human. This can be received and expressed only when there is a soul connection through commitment in marriage. It is a love based on similarities and commitment to one’s partner.

Storge is the love parents have for their children and vice-versa. This can be received and expressed only based on physical blood relationship. It is a love based on affection and obedience.

Eros is the love of physical passion. It is the ‘hot and unendurable desire’. It can only be expressed and received through the union of one man with another woman. It is designed by God to be used with in a committed monogamous boundary of marriage [i.e. between a husband and wife].

From this we know that God’s love for us never changes. God says in His word, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3). No matter who we are and what we have done and where we are from, the good news is God loves us continuously. Because of this everlasting love God sent His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ in to the world to free us from the power of evil through which we are bound naturally. God’s love for us is unique, precious and unselfish. It starts from the depth of our being. The world’s view of love is mostly Eros. Even the English dictionaries meant it that way. Eros is mostly without self control and always looking to fulfill its own strong desire which is called lust. This Eros should be ruled by us and it can be done only through the power of the Holy Spirit. The world [people who live in this earth] can realize and receive the Love of God only through the Holy Spirit who is from God, who acts as an executive agent in the God-head of the Trinity. We cannot receive it unless we turn to God’s love letter and operation manual of our Creator and see what He says about it.

The Bible is a love letter from God. The Bible says that God is in love with His creation. The God who is the creator of all things says that 'He loves us irrespective of our upbringing, status, race, tongue, regionality, nationality, color, religion…..' (John 3:16). Especially God says that He “…. is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18). If you are a broken man or a woman who has no one to look to or even speak to, good news is He is near you. If you take today’s world, the whole creation is suffering because of the curse of one man’s disobedience. The word of God says, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” (Acts 17:26-27). Every one of us come from our forefather Adam who disobeyed God and as a result of it, the whole humanity has lost favor of God and favor with God.

Even though our forefather Adam disobeyed God and lost the favor of God, still God loved humanity. His love for humans has never changed from the day He created human on day one. Though God loves man, man by his own choice of disobedience has taken the side of God’s enemy Satan who hates every human because God loves him so much [infinitely]. So God felt that the only way to make man understand that He loves man is to become one among them, so that man can understand God and relate to Him in love. When man voluntarily took the side of Satan by His own choice in the garden of Eden, man became sinful to the core of his being and became irrevocably sinful (Gen 3;Ps 51:5; Rom 3:23). Sin is lawlessness and anything that is less than perfect from the absolute lawfulness of God (1 John 3:4). God never has broken His Word even once in all ages [past, present and future]. And this is known as the lawfulness of God and His Holiness [set apartness] (Num 23:19). In fact, He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Man could not continue in this relationship with an absolute perfect God with his imperfectness of having sinful nature in him.

As a result God decided that if by one man the world has fallen in to sin trap, then by and through one perfect man [Jesus Christ], He decided to redeem [to make someone free from the power of evil] man from the evil of Satan and his tyrannical cohorts [demons] who have started influencing man in rebellion against a God who loves man. So God became a man in Jesus Christ.

In order for man to understand this concept He wrote His love letter to Humans and proclaimed it through many prophets He chose in the times past [i.e. before Jesus Came to this earth], before He became man two thousand year ago (Matt 11:13). And the prophets wrote all the Bible as a love letter from God your creator. The Topic of the Love letter is “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). In other words because God loved all the people of the world, He sent His Son [for what?] to die for your sins so that you can be forgiven from all your sins [past, present and future (Eph 4:32;Col 2:13)] by believing in Him [Jesus Christ] as your substitute sacrifice. What does Jesus the Son of God say about His Love toward you, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Simply Jesus is saying to you ‘I Love you’. This love He showed to everyone [i.e. before men and angels] by dying for you on the Cross publically. Oh what a Love!

Finally this love letter that this Father God who has been writing to his sons [us humans], got culminated when Jesus Christ God’s only Begotten Son visited this planet earth for one purpose, that is to restore back the love relationship between God and human that has been cut off, to be continued through Himself [Jesus Christ]. That why the Bible calls Jesus Christ as the repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12).

The only thing that this God-man Jesus Christ expected was for the people to believe Him as one sent from God to take away their sins, so that the same relationship that Adam our forefather had with God could be experienced through Jesus Christ (Matt 1:21; John 1:29; 14:11;3:17-21). Still today all we need to do is to believe Him as our substitute for all our sins and believe that we are forgiven through what He has achieved for us on the Cross. The Cross is a symbol of curse. Hence Jesus Christ on the Cross symbolizes that, He has taken all our curses that are rightfully ours because of the sins that we have committed against God and His righteous Law (Galatians 3:13). And now if we are presently a believer in the atonement [compensation that Jesus Christ paid for us on the cross to God] of Jesus Christ, we are blessed by God based on what Jesus Christ has achieved for us on the Cross (Galatians 3:14). Oh what a Blessedness! Thank you Jesus!

The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). This Word is none other than Jesus Christ our Mediator with God. He Himself is God who became man for the sake of us, out of love. Now we who believe in Jesus Christ are free from all the curses of Satan and his Demons [evil influence of rebellion against God] who are the instigators of such curses in our life (John 10:10), even though it is God’s law that justly curses a breaker of His righteous Law (Galatians 3:10;James 2:10). If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you don’t have to be fearful of any evil. Satan will not touch you as you keep yourself in a constant communion with God through His Spirit (1 John 3:8;4:4;5:18;Numbers 23:23). Satan does not touch you if you keep yourself in God through what Christ has achieved for you, because he does not have the right to touch you who is cleansed by the precious blood of the lamb (1 John 5:18;1:7,9;Numbers 23:21).

Now we can live a blessed life of having communion with God through Jesus Christ. Never forget that God our creator is a God of Blessing and not Curse (1 Peter 3:9-12). Good News! Those who have always considered themselves hopeless, weak and fearful can now live a hopeful, peaceful, joyful and a blessed life of love relationship with the God of Blessing through faith in His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 4:15-19). Never think that it is you who loved God first by choosing Him, it is by the love that he had for you that He sent His Son Jesus Christ for you and saved you from all the curses that are rightfully yours. Read His Love letter and know more and more about the Father God’s love for you. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

This love letter has no end because the God who wrote it is the end. And whatever has been written in the love letter is being fulfilled day by day. But there is a climax to this love letter which also says that there is danger ahead if you do not heed its warning and turn back and believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:17-21).

A loving father in this natural world will always warn his son if there is any danger in the way that he is going. If the son loves the father’s advice and turn himself from the dangerous path that he is travelling, he will be saved from that disaster ahead. Our heavenly Father God also has lovingly warned through His love letter the Bible ever since men were on earth to believe in Jesus Christ to escape the danger ahead. He is also a gentle Father who never forces His sons to submission as a tyrannical father does. Because He is full of love for you, He says in His word, “I [God your Father] do not behave rudely, [I] do not seek … [My] own, [I am]… not provoked, [I] think(s) no evil [about you or for you];” (1Cor 13:5;1 John 4:8, Paraphrased).

This is the reason in the times past God did not behave rudely when men rejected His love in the times past. God and His love never changes even for those who have rejected his love (Malachi 1:2;3:6). But the same loving Father God, who is Love, is also the God of judgment and justice who executes His Judgments without any partiality towards anybody (Malachi 2:17;Rom 2:11,2-3;Ps 9:16;Heb 12:25,29). Hence those who reject His love will be thrown in to Hell fire because of God’s righteous judgments, this hell fire was originally designed for Satan and His Demons, where the fire does not stop burning (Matt 25:41). There is a time that God has appointed for this judgment to happen and it is at the end of the ages and it is called as the white throne judgment, until then He waits patiently seeing what is happening because He has given the earth in to the hands of human beings (Matt 5:45;Ps 10:14;115:16;Prov 15:3;Eccl 3:18;Rev 20:11-15).God does not judge and slay any human beings now, but rather the wicked are caught up in their own wicked trap of their boss the Devil (Prov 5:22;2 Cor 4:4). The Bible is still the same Love letter that Our Heavenly Father has written to us as an operation manual for our lives. Your Heavenly Father is still saying, ‘I love you, Danger [death and eternal destruction] ahead because of sin in humankind’s lives My sons and daughters!’. Will you respond to His Love Today! If yes, you are a Blessed person to take such a decision believing in the Love of your heavenly creator who is God your Father! Praise the Lord!

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