Love
Written By: Sarah Gordon
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.
John 3:16-17
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.
John 3:16-17
God loved us so much that He gave us His Son. Jesus loved us so much that He voluntarily took on the humblest of forms, a human baby, born in the lowliest of circumstances, to save us. Jesus loved us enough to to come and live as we live, to experience everything we experience. He came to show us how to live like Him and be with Him. He came to die for us. We can’t know the power of Bethlehem without understanding how it relates directly to the power of the cross at Calvary.
This idea that the creator of the universes, simply loves us so much that He came here to this marvelous and yet extremely broken world to become human like us, to save us from our sin is mind-boggling enough on its own. But add to it the fact that all we have to do is believe that He did it? We just have to believe to receive His love and salvation? Well, that’s enough to make your head explode when you really start to think about it.
Surely, it can’t be that easy? We believe it, and we receive it and we’re saved...and that’s it? Really?
Yes.
Really.
This idea that the creator of the universes, simply loves us so much that He came here to this marvelous and yet extremely broken world to become human like us, to save us from our sin is mind-boggling enough on its own. But add to it the fact that all we have to do is believe that He did it? We just have to believe to receive His love and salvation? Well, that’s enough to make your head explode when you really start to think about it.
Surely, it can’t be that easy? We believe it, and we receive it and we’re saved...and that’s it? Really?
Yes.
Really.
Sometimes, it is extremely difficult to wrap our brains around that simple truth. Surely, there must be more to it than that? Isn’t there a catch? Of course, there are the good works that God has created for us to walk in beforehand (Ephesians 2:10) but those works aren’t necessary to receive His love and salvation. Simple belief and faith is all we need to receive the fathomless love of God. That’s all. Just believe.
Believing can be hard in our world. We want facts! We want proof! Show us the evidence! We have a weird relationship with wanting easy answers but, at the same time, not trusting them. Sometimes, we just need to make peace with the mystery. Sometimes, reason and logic aren’t the answer. Sometimes, the “evidence” doesn’t look like we think it should and we miss it.
Believing can be hard in our world. We want facts! We want proof! Show us the evidence! We have a weird relationship with wanting easy answers but, at the same time, not trusting them. Sometimes, we just need to make peace with the mystery. Sometimes, reason and logic aren’t the answer. Sometimes, the “evidence” doesn’t look like we think it should and we miss it.
See 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
And that is what we are!
1 John 3:1
God loves us. Jesus loves us. God with us, Emmanuel. The Incarnation motivated by love. For God really, truly, deeply loved the world and wants us to be with Him so much that He took some pretty extreme measures to make it happen. Gabriel and his mic drops! Stars in the sky! Wisemen from the East! Virgin birth! Shepherds! Angel choirs! Prophetic dreams! Despot kings and infanticide! And that’s just in the gospels! This is some major drama. All for the love of the world. God wanted us to know that He was writing the story! We can’t make this stuff up!
One of the words for love in the Greek is agapos or agape love. Of the several words used for love in the Bible, agape is the word most associated with God. It is also the word used when we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and lay down our lives for one another. So what is this agape love? This kind of love is an act of will, it’s a choice to seek the greatest good of another. It is covenantal, selfless, sacrificial, pure and unconditional. This kind of love isn’t emotional or sentimental, it is a part of God’s character. When 1 John 4 says God is love the word love there is “agape.” The gold standard of the demonstration of agape love is Emmanuel. God with us. Jesus dying to save us from our sin. This love is powerful and life changing for us all.
I think we get glimpses of this truth, moments of revelation, but I think if we truly understood the enormity of love that God has for us, it might crush us. We are too small, too broken. If we got His love full force, all at once--the way He actually loves us--I am not sure we could handle it. I am sure I could not handle it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to give it a whirl, but I think it might shatter me.
One of the words for love in the Greek is agapos or agape love. Of the several words used for love in the Bible, agape is the word most associated with God. It is also the word used when we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and lay down our lives for one another. So what is this agape love? This kind of love is an act of will, it’s a choice to seek the greatest good of another. It is covenantal, selfless, sacrificial, pure and unconditional. This kind of love isn’t emotional or sentimental, it is a part of God’s character. When 1 John 4 says God is love the word love there is “agape.” The gold standard of the demonstration of agape love is Emmanuel. God with us. Jesus dying to save us from our sin. This love is powerful and life changing for us all.
I think we get glimpses of this truth, moments of revelation, but I think if we truly understood the enormity of love that God has for us, it might crush us. We are too small, too broken. If we got His love full force, all at once--the way He actually loves us--I am not sure we could handle it. I am sure I could not handle it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to give it a whirl, but I think it might shatter me.
When we get ensnared in our smallness, our sin, our self-orientation, on our own, we are not capable in this life of truly being able to understand and receive the fullness of God’s agape love. But as we seek His face and spend time with Him, our capacity to receive His agape expands. Our capacity to extend agape to others expands. It is a lifelong love affair with Him and the world around us. Hallelujah! Lord, have mercy and help us.
He loves us gently, as He pours out the right amount of revelation that we are capable of receiving. It might challenge us or stretch us, but we can take it.
Agape begins with God. He is the instigator of love. We love because He first loved us.
He loves us gently, as He pours out the right amount of revelation that we are capable of receiving. It might challenge us or stretch us, but we can take it.
Agape begins with God. He is the instigator of love. We love because He first loved us.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
...God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4: 7-12, 16-19
...God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4: 7-12, 16-19
Jesus is the personification of God’s love for us. The Incarnation. He is God’s “feet on the ground.” What does that look like? First Corinthians 13 defines agape as patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not dishonoring of others, not easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs, not delighting in evil, but rejoicing with the truth, always protecting, always trusting, always hoping and always persevering.
I think there are very few of us who can keep all those plates of love spinning consistently. But Jesus can, and Jesus did- for us. He loved us in this manner, and He showed us how to love others in the same manner, which is what we are called to do. Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us ask God for a fresh revelation of agape love. Let us ask for an encounter with Emmanuel. Let us invite His love to wash over us anew, filling us to overflowing so that we can receive His love as His children, and love one another in spirit and in truth. As times of uncertainty and shaking continue for the foreseeable future, let us agape. Let us choose to love the world around us selflessly, unconditionally and sacrificially- empowered by the Holy Spirit and fueled by Love.
I think there are very few of us who can keep all those plates of love spinning consistently. But Jesus can, and Jesus did- for us. He loved us in this manner, and He showed us how to love others in the same manner, which is what we are called to do. Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us ask God for a fresh revelation of agape love. Let us ask for an encounter with Emmanuel. Let us invite His love to wash over us anew, filling us to overflowing so that we can receive His love as His children, and love one another in spirit and in truth. As times of uncertainty and shaking continue for the foreseeable future, let us agape. Let us choose to love the world around us selflessly, unconditionally and sacrificially- empowered by the Holy Spirit and fueled by Love.