January 17, 2015
Love is a Verb - Agape
Love is one of the most important themes and most repeated theme in the Bible. If you can boil the entire Gospel down to one word, it would be love.
The word "love" shows up:
319 times in the Old Testament,
232 times in the New Testament
So what does love mean?
If you look in an English dictionary, you’ll find things like:
“feeling an intense feeling of deep affection”
“feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone”
“caring deeply for someone”
“to find pleasure in”
The New Testament was written in Greek, and Ancient Greek has 4 root words for love:
Agape - God’s love for us, our love for God, selfless brotherly love
Phileo - deep friendship, very emotional love
Eros - sexual passion, intimate love between a married man and woman
Storge - natural love, usually between parents and children or family members
1. Agape Love from God to Us
Agape is by far the most used word for love in the New Testament
Selfless / brotherly / unending love
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Agape love is a love of action. God loved you so much, that he gave his son away. The agape love that God gives to us is not a light hearted or simple love and its not a love driven solely by feeling. Its a love driven by identity, sacrifice, and action.
2. Agape Love from Us to God
When we understand agape love from God to us, we cant help but reciprocate it. The primary thing God asks for is that we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
That is our first step to respond to His agape love, but it is also consistently putting action to the love you have for Him.
Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
3. Agape Love from Us to Other People
The 3rd place that AGAPE LOVE has is from us to other people. We are commanded to be people who love other people unconditionally.
One of the hardest ways to live this out is in Matthew 5:44:
Matthew 5:44
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
Jesus is not saying to have a good feeling about your enemies, but to actively love your enemies or obey God concerning them. We are supposed to love people regardless of how we feel - its not about us, its not about how we feel, and its not about how our morning went. It is based on the consistency and the reality of the character of God.
Communication Card
1. I’m going to spend time soaking in God’s (agape) love this week.
2. I will take up my cross daily this week to give God the (agape) love He deserves.
3. I will chose to (agape) love my enemies this week.
