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| Brett Kavanaugh and his family with Chief Justice Roberts. |
Yesterday, American
history and government were at the forefront of U.S. news as Judge Brett
Kavanaugh was sworn in to become the newest justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. But this article is not simply about politics.
It is about what is increasingly absent
from politics—and from our culture. It
is about LOVE. It’s about what Hal David
was lamenting about over one-half century ago when he wrote the lyrics to the
song, “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Last month, in “LOVE:
Part 1 - What the World Needs Most,” I responded to Hal David’s
lyrics by noting that, according to the Bible, God has provided unlimited love. The problem is we tend to look for love in the
wrong places.
All of us want to be loved, but many enter relationships that end in
selfishness, rejection, and abuse. When we
fail to find loving arms to embrace us through thick and thin, we settle for
less in a pursuit of love in the wrong places.
For example, when Christine Blasey Ford’s letter alleged that she was
sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh, many other hurt people looked to the U.S.
Senate to rule against Judge Kavanaugh as a way of bringing an end to their
hurt and the hurt of many others. What the world needs now, is love, sweet
love. But the ultimate source of
love is not the U.S. Senate or the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, love is not even from this world!
Imagine while you are out hiking that you spot an object with an eerie glow that radiates from what appears to be a machine with many complex parts. What would you do with this alien-like phenomenon? Your decision could change your whole life.
This imaginary scenario is not unlike what has happened to many of us who have had a personal, spiritual encounter with God. We too have discovered something of great value--something that is not from this world. It is God’s love. But those of us who have discovered it did not do so because we were smarter, more handsome or beautiful, or more powerful. In fact, we had heard the word “love” used in so many different contexts that it was humanly impossible for us to find it on our own. Consider the following examples:
“I just love cherry pie.”
“I love it when I hear that song.”
“From the instant he first saw her, he loved her.”
“If you really loved me, you would/would not….”
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 13)
“Love” can mean a strong preference for a certain dessert, or an emotional high we experience from music, or the passion that is stirred by physical attraction for the opposite sex. Love can also be “leverage” to get our own way with another person.
Thankfully, there is a “greater love” that represents more than a response to our favorite tastes, sounds, or sights; or the passion that motivates us to do selfish things. The Apostle John defines ‘love’ from God’s perspective: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15: 13). This love is more than something that brings inner joy or a pleasurable feeling. The Apostle John reveals that “greater love” becomes evident in the self-sacrificing behavior of a lover toward one who is loved—even to the point of death if necessary.
But where does this “greater love” come from? Why is it that some people are overflowing with this love while others are very unloving and suspicious of anyone who offers to love them? According to the Apostle John, this love ultimately comes from God (emphasis mine):
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4: 7).
According to the Bible, love is an integral quality or attribute of God’s character and personal nature. God’s love is expressed through many of His attributes including mercy, grace, and forgiveness—attributes that cause God to pursue a personal relationship with us earthlings. God assures us of His great love for us by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, His greatest “Love Gift,” to die on a Roman cross to purchase us for eternity.
God’s unselfish, sacrificial love for His creation and for mankind is expressed in the Greco-Christian word, agape. Jesus explained that God so (agape) loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus] that whoever believes in Him should not perish [be separated from God forever] but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).
Jesus and His followers used a second Greek word for love. The word phileo means “brotherly love,” the generous and affectionate love that seeks to make a dear friend happy with no expectation for the kindness to be returned. In 1 Samuel 18: 1-3, we see phileo love on display in the friendship of David and Jonathan where we read that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. …then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.”
A third Greek word for love, eros, refers to the physical attraction that arises from our God-given capacity for romantic and sexual feelings. Although the word eros does not appear in the Bible, the Scriptures do include very clear teaching about physical love and sexuality between a husband and wife. The best example is found in a book by Solomon, called “Song of Solomon.”
Both phileo (brotherly love) and agape (sacrificial love) were used to describe the love of the Father for His Son Jesus; and, to describe the love Jesus has for His followers. In John 3: 35, Jesus declares, “The Father (agape) loves the Son….” But, in John 5: 20, Jesus is recorded as saying, “The Father (phileo) loves the Son….” Think about this! Before the beginning of time, God the Father (phileo) loved His Son Jesus as a “dear friend or brother;” and, the Father (agape) loved the Son, sacrificially and unconditionally.
When the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth, He was sending the very
embodiment of agape and phileo love. Jesus expressed this love as He built
relationships with His disciples and others.
The Apostle John under inspiration of the Holy Spirit humbly uses both
Greek expressions of love when he describes himself as “the disciple whom Jesus
loved” (agape, John 13: 23; phileo,
John 20: 2). Many years later, an aged
John wrote, See [Just look!] what great love the Father has lavished on
us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are (1
John 3: 1)!
So far, we have defined love on the
basis of the original Greek language from which we received the New Testament. We have also noted that this love originates
from God, not from us. The Apostle John
knew first hand and wrote about this love
the Father has lavished on us…(1 John 3: 1).” This love of God can transform even the most
hateful person into a loving person by a total, spiritual change in his or her disposition.
How is this possible?
No one is “made loving” without a responsibility or action on his or her part. This is because love is a quality of relationship. Phileo and agape love are only realized between two or more persons. Because love is from God, when God speaks through His Word and the Person of His Holy Spirit to an unloving, self-centered person, the person must choose whether or not to respond to God’s love. But how does God’s love actually bring about this transformation?
Romans 6: 4 states, Therefore we have been buried with Him [Christ] through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
When a person responds in faith to God’s “Love Gift” of salvation from sin, he or she surrenders their self-centered life and is “born again” with a new heredity. He or she is delivered from the penalty of the sin nature and becomes a “child of God” (John 1: 12). The love that God lavishes upon the child of God ignites their spirit within to respond to God’s Spirit. The person is drawn to love and obey God—i.e. to become a disciple, or “Christ-follower.” God’s Spirit, in turn, enables Christ-followers to commune with the Father in Heaven, and to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12: 30). Romans 8: 15 teaches that we have …received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. This expression is like that of a girl or boy saying “Daddy, Daddy” to their earthly father. This tender intimacy, formed by shared agape and phileo love, is sustained through regular Scripture-fed, Spirit-led prayer. In this way, the very life and love of God is nourished in us.
To summarize, in “LOVE: Part 1,” we emphasized that we
need to stop looking for love in the wrong places and recognize that there is a
“greater, sweeter love” freely given to
us by God (1 Corinthians 2: 12). God’s
love comes from “another world” as expressed through the Life of His Son,
Jesus. But unlike the alien machine in
our imaginary story, we discover God’s love when we encounter that crudely fashioned,
splintery, wooden cross on which Christ gave His life so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the
flesh, but made alive in the spirit… (1 Peter 3: 18). There we find the true loving arms of God
stretched out to embrace us. There, we
find the true love that cannot be found through politics, government, or social
justice movements, important as they may be.
At the cross, we are freed from the curse of sin and embraced by God’s transforming power and love. Personally, I do not want to forget the warmth and relief I found in God’s love and forgiveness when the Living Christ and His cross became real to me. In “LOVE: Part 3 - Because He First Loved Us,” we will examine how it is that a Christ-follower becomes both a lover of God and lover of others.
Imagine while you are out hiking that you spot an object with an eerie glow that radiates from what appears to be a machine with many complex parts. What would you do with this alien-like phenomenon? Your decision could change your whole life.
This imaginary scenario is not unlike what has happened to many of us who have had a personal, spiritual encounter with God. We too have discovered something of great value--something that is not from this world. It is God’s love. But those of us who have discovered it did not do so because we were smarter, more handsome or beautiful, or more powerful. In fact, we had heard the word “love” used in so many different contexts that it was humanly impossible for us to find it on our own. Consider the following examples:
“I just love cherry pie.”
“I love it when I hear that song.”
“From the instant he first saw her, he loved her.”
“If you really loved me, you would/would not….”
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 13)
“Love” can mean a strong preference for a certain dessert, or an emotional high we experience from music, or the passion that is stirred by physical attraction for the opposite sex. Love can also be “leverage” to get our own way with another person.
Thankfully, there is a “greater love” that represents more than a response to our favorite tastes, sounds, or sights; or the passion that motivates us to do selfish things. The Apostle John defines ‘love’ from God’s perspective: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15: 13). This love is more than something that brings inner joy or a pleasurable feeling. The Apostle John reveals that “greater love” becomes evident in the self-sacrificing behavior of a lover toward one who is loved—even to the point of death if necessary.
But where does this “greater love” come from? Why is it that some people are overflowing with this love while others are very unloving and suspicious of anyone who offers to love them? According to the Apostle John, this love ultimately comes from God (emphasis mine):
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4: 7).
According to the Bible, love is an integral quality or attribute of God’s character and personal nature. God’s love is expressed through many of His attributes including mercy, grace, and forgiveness—attributes that cause God to pursue a personal relationship with us earthlings. God assures us of His great love for us by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, His greatest “Love Gift,” to die on a Roman cross to purchase us for eternity.
God’s unselfish, sacrificial love for His creation and for mankind is expressed in the Greco-Christian word, agape. Jesus explained that God so (agape) loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus] that whoever believes in Him should not perish [be separated from God forever] but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).
Jesus and His followers used a second Greek word for love. The word phileo means “brotherly love,” the generous and affectionate love that seeks to make a dear friend happy with no expectation for the kindness to be returned. In 1 Samuel 18: 1-3, we see phileo love on display in the friendship of David and Jonathan where we read that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. …then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.”
A third Greek word for love, eros, refers to the physical attraction that arises from our God-given capacity for romantic and sexual feelings. Although the word eros does not appear in the Bible, the Scriptures do include very clear teaching about physical love and sexuality between a husband and wife. The best example is found in a book by Solomon, called “Song of Solomon.”
Both phileo (brotherly love) and agape (sacrificial love) were used to describe the love of the Father for His Son Jesus; and, to describe the love Jesus has for His followers. In John 3: 35, Jesus declares, “The Father (agape) loves the Son….” But, in John 5: 20, Jesus is recorded as saying, “The Father (phileo) loves the Son….” Think about this! Before the beginning of time, God the Father (phileo) loved His Son Jesus as a “dear friend or brother;” and, the Father (agape) loved the Son, sacrificially and unconditionally.
No one is “made loving” without a responsibility or action on his or her part. This is because love is a quality of relationship. Phileo and agape love are only realized between two or more persons. Because love is from God, when God speaks through His Word and the Person of His Holy Spirit to an unloving, self-centered person, the person must choose whether or not to respond to God’s love. But how does God’s love actually bring about this transformation?
Romans 6: 4 states, Therefore we have been buried with Him [Christ] through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
When a person responds in faith to God’s “Love Gift” of salvation from sin, he or she surrenders their self-centered life and is “born again” with a new heredity. He or she is delivered from the penalty of the sin nature and becomes a “child of God” (John 1: 12). The love that God lavishes upon the child of God ignites their spirit within to respond to God’s Spirit. The person is drawn to love and obey God—i.e. to become a disciple, or “Christ-follower.” God’s Spirit, in turn, enables Christ-followers to commune with the Father in Heaven, and to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12: 30). Romans 8: 15 teaches that we have …received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. This expression is like that of a girl or boy saying “Daddy, Daddy” to their earthly father. This tender intimacy, formed by shared agape and phileo love, is sustained through regular Scripture-fed, Spirit-led prayer. In this way, the very life and love of God is nourished in us.
At the cross, we are freed from the curse of sin and embraced by God’s transforming power and love. Personally, I do not want to forget the warmth and relief I found in God’s love and forgiveness when the Living Christ and His cross became real to me. In “LOVE: Part 3 - Because He First Loved Us,” we will examine how it is that a Christ-follower becomes both a lover of God and lover of others.
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