Agape
The Divine Love
In many ways agape, the fourth and highest kind of love is in a class by itself. Because of its unique nature, this love needed a unique word to describe it. No ordinary word for love such as phileo, storge, or eros was sufficient to plumb the depths of meaning represented in this highest degree of love, so, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, New Testament writers coined the word agape to fill the need. Outside of the New Testament, agape is found in only one instance in ancient Greek texts, in a passage describing parents’ love for their only child. Essentially, agape is a uniquely biblical word for a uniquely biblical concept, which is in keeping with its unique spiritual nature. Agape refers to divine love, the love God has for His people as well as the love His people give back to Him. It is also the kind of love that the people of God are supposed to have toward one another. Unlike phileo and storge, agape carries no obligation, holds no expectations, and lays down no conditions. Agape is unconditional love. Unlike eros, which is the epitome of selfishness, agape acts first and foremost for the good and welfare of another. Rather than self-serving, agape is self-giving, a sacrificial love that pours itself out for the sake of someone else. Unlike EROS, which is the epitome of selfishness, AGAPE acts first and foremost for the good and welfare of another. The greatest example of agape in action was when Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, poured out His life on the cross for the sake of sinners (which includes all of us) that they might become children of God. This truth is encapsulated in one of the most well-known verses in the Bible: “For God so loved [agape ] the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). God alone is the source of agape. Apart from Him, it cannot be known. He has revealed it through Jesus Christ and gives it freely to all who become His children by faith who believe in and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord who then pass it on to others. God loves all people in the world with divine agape, but only those who are of the community of believers know that love by personal experience. To the world at large, agape is an unknown quantity. One of the best illustrations of the agape relationship between God and His people is found in the New Testament Book of First John: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.…This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.…We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.…This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:1,11,14,16-18).
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. 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 (1 John 4:7-12). These verses help us understand several important truths about agape. First, agape is not physical or chemical, nor is it an emotion or a philosophy. Agape is a Person. First John 4:8b says, “God is love.” When we know agape, we know the person who embodies it. As the Son of the God who is love, Jesus Christ was agape in human flesh. Second, agape is oneness. All those who know agape are one with God and one with each other in heart and spirit. Speaking, agape means that God became one with us. In Christ He took on our low estate, becoming like us so that He could make us like Him. Speaking, AGAPE means that God became one with us. Third, agape is others’ conscious, not self-conscious. Agape is constantly watching out first for the welfare of others, looking continually for opportunities to give. True love is not complete until it gives itself. Fourth, agape is self-initiating. Agape takes responsibility. It does not wait for others to act first. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Agape is proactive. It acts whether or not anyone else responds or reciprocates. Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk. 6:31). That’s just what agape does. Agape takes the initiative. Finally, agape is a choice. It is based not on emotion but on deliberate decisions. The Bible plainly states that God loves us but it never tells us why He loves us. There is no “why.” God loves us because He is love and it is His nature to love. God loves us because He has chosen to do so. His love is without discrimination. Agape does not choose who to love, it chooses simply to love. It does not matter who the object is. Because it is a decision and deliberate choice agape is constant. Unlike emotion-based “love,” agape never changes. AGAPE does not choose WHO to love, it chooses simply to love. Agape is the only “true love” in the world and the foundation for everything else we sometimes call love. Correctly understood and exercised in the proper environment, phileo, storge, and eros can all be legitimate and beautiful expressions of agape, but not one of them by itself is a sufficient base upon which to build a meaningful and lasting long- term relationship. Only agape is sufficient for that. Understanding agape is the key to understanding the secrets of the human heart. To do so we need to consider several facets of this glittering jewel that is agape: God’s love for us, our love for God, our love for ourselves, and our love for others, particularly as it relates to our spouse or potential spouse…
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