I started writing this topic on “Discovering God as a Lover” in two previous articles, which some have found to be either hard to grasp or accept, and so I wanted to continue the topic. So much of people’s Christian faith is anchored in the notion that knowing facts about God is all that is required to have a satisfying Christian experience. From a Biblical position, this is the farthest thing from the truth.
We first talked about the scripture from 1 John 4:7-8 which identifies God’s very nature. God’s nature is defined as love, and unfortunately that word in the english usage has so many different meanings today. We use the same word to say, “I love steak” or “I love tacos”. With the same word we say,”I love my dog” and “I love my kids”.
When the New Testament was written, the writers used Greek to describe love. Greek had 4 major types of love: Phileo, related to brotherly love; Agape, related to God’s kind of love; Storge, related to a devotion one has towards a child or natural affection; Eros, related to sexual love. What I want to focus on is agape, as this is the kind of love that Jesus propositioned mankind with. You may think the word proportioned sounds odd or even incorrect, yet it is the word the Jesus used to define his love and the love we are challenged to embrace. After 45+ years as a believer, I have seen over and over again a type of “feeling love” for God that many think is what Christianity is all about, and which they have stacked their faith on.
Let me ask this question:
If I sell you flood insurance for $100 a year, from a company that is well-known, and you purchase this insurance from me for the $100, but fail to read the agreement which states, “$100 will be used as a “Down Payment” for this flood insurance, which requires a full payment of $10,000 dollars within 30 days of signing this agreement, are you covered in the event of a flood? The answer is no, even though you thought all you needed to do was pay the $100.
John 14:23
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves (agape) Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
Jesus defines the type of love that he is after. It is the same type of love he identifies in John 3:16 which so many quote and embrace as a key passage of faith.
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
The apostle Paul reinforces this idea of walking in agape love when he challenges the believers to become imitators of God and the way He loves. Again, in our culture, all to often the word love is so generalized that it has lost its real meaning. It has become a word that really means “I like” or “I enjoy”. God does not use word arbitrarily, but with specific intention. Ever wonder why the Bible is so big? May be it’s because God wanted to repeat and illustrate what He meant so we didn’t misunderstand Him.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Jesus, after the resurrection, is speaking with Peter and asks him if he loves (agape) him.
John 21:15-17)
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
Jesus is asking Peter if he loves (agape) him and Peter says I love (phileo) you. In other words, Jesus is asking Peter what kind of love do you have for me Peter? Do you have a friendship love or a sacrificial love? The love God is looking for is not a fair-weather kind of love. He is expecting a love that’s like the one he ha for us – sacrificial. The average Christian gives 2.43 percent to their local church. When the average professing Christian can’t seem to honor God with tithing their income, how can they say they love God unless it’s just a feeling kind of love?
The apostle John, at the end of his life around 95 AD, wrote the book of Revelation. In this book he addressed major problems in the New Testament church that had contaminated their thinking and their lifestyle. In seven churches he wrote about their strength and weaknesses. To the church at Ephesus, he first talked about their deeds and toils, in other words, they were an active, happening church. After complimenting them for their behavior he spoke these sobering words:
Revelation 2:4
“But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
Having a love affair with God, is a love that encompass the whole person, not just our thinking. It is a love that is so captivated with God that He always has first place in our hearts and souls. Let me close with a passage of Scripture that Moses gave to the children of Israel. This is still God’s heart for his children today.
Deuteronomy 6:5
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Questions:
- What kind of love are you walking in today? …………. Is it agape love or phileo?
- Do you need the Holy Spirit to fill you with agape love? ……. You are just a prayer away!
Loving God as he deserves is our calling and our choice.
Pastor Dale
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