I have been doing research on three books that I am asking God to let me finish. Their working titles are FAITH, HOPE, and AGAPE. From time to time I intend to give you glimpses of each of these books in my blog posts. This is the first.
In the introduction to my book, Joy, I said that whole book was to some extent a definition of joy. That is not the case with AGAPE. In this book I would like to show you powerful elements of love and help you develop genuine love in your life. But love is much more difficult to define. That is primarily because of its infinite personal source. Agape comes from God and God alone.
Look with me at 1 John chapter 4:7 and 8.
"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."
Do you get the force of this statement? "God is Love!" "God is agape!"
In the same context verses 16 and 17 say,
"And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
This gives us a glimpse into the nature of the triune God. Love is not something God developed later. He did not create us so He would have someone to love. Love is the very nature of the infinite God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved one another eternally. The first lines of this poem on John 1:1 reaches for this truth.
In the beginning, from before the beginning
There was God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
In perfect union, eternal love communing."
So verse 19 of 1 John 4 concludes that we love because God loved us first.
Love comes from God. We love out of relationship with Him.
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