Legitimate Love Lifts Up the Lord - Part Two
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” - 1 John 3:16 (KJV)
We are all familiar with the phrase: “Actions speak louder than words.” This is especially true when we scrutinize the sincerity and legitimacy of love in individuals or collectively as a body of believers. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, legitimate love lifts, glorifies and reflects the Lord. In order for us to grasp godly love we must look to His word.
To complement our comprehension, it will also be beneficial to consider the vocabulary of love among the ancient Greeks, who made a notable contribution when they gave us the original language of the New Testament. The Grecians employed four words to that encompass and expand the definition of our English word love: eros, storge, philia and agape.
The first word, eros, describes a sensual and erotic love. It is connected to sexual intimacy. This type of love was, according to the Scriptures, sanctioned by a Holy God. It is significantly sanctified, special and splendid in the setting of matrimony between a man and a woman. This type of love is denoted by the use of the word “knew” in the Bible.
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” - Genesis 4:1 (KJV)
“And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.” - 1 Kings 1:4 (KJV)
“And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” - Matthew 1:25 (KJV)
Contrary to the current culture whose conscience interprets what the Scriptures says about sexual intimacy contemptible, sexual intimacy should be showcased in subjection of scripture. It should be showered with the Spirit and shared between souls that are set apart with truth. Proponents of both heterosexual or homosexual sex outside the Creator’s design have destined countless souls to confusion, corruption, disillusioned disease and ultimately damnation. This expression of love is not an exercise of divinity but degeneracy.
Storge (stor-jay) the second word for love reflects a love that one would share with one's family member. For example, the kind of love there is between a parent and child, or between family members in general.
Philia is the third word for love and speaks of a brotherly friendship and affection. This word describes a feeling of deep friendship and partnership. This kind of love is portrayed by David and Jonathan in Scripture.
The last word for love is agape, which is a type of love that invokes immutability, a love that loves without changing. It is a selfless type of love that does not demand, dictate or require a reciprocating factor to function or forward. No soul is excluded from this type of love, either the unlovable or unappealing. It is so remarkable that it receives rejection and responds by rewarding the one that is doing the rejection! Agape love gives and loves because it is rooted in a divine dynamic! Agape love is impossible outside of the power of the Holy Spirit who equips us to love with God’s everlasting love.
Too often many people confuse these four definitions of love and end up deeply wounded mentally, emotionally and spiritually consequently misunderstanding and misapplying love. Poor understanding of love leads to looking for love in all the wrong places! It’s true that you can say to a girl, “I love you,” but truth be told, in your flesh what you are really saying is: “I want something. Not you, but something from you. I do not want to defer but to devour.” Please try to remember, true love looks to give first as opposed to gratify.
In this week’s text, the Apostle John clarifies and captures for us what perfect and unpolluted love looks like as displayed by God’s love for us. His love was clearly carried out by the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf when “He laid down his life for us.” The Master’s monumental motive of love should move us to lay down our lives for each other. Question to consider: is laying down your life a natural act or a supernatural act? What does it look like to lay one’s life down?
Join me again next week when we discuss the answer to this question in further detail.
For the Glory of God,
PBKSR