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God so loved





Love is complex. It is both a noun and a verb. The more mature one grows in this life, one finds that love gets more complex because the number of people in our lives are large and complex. Then imagine how complex can God’s love be with billions and billions of people to love. But God showed his love in one simple action, by giving. John says in his gospel chapter 3:16, “God so loved...that He gave..”.  God's love is explained in one simple act of giving Himself. John could not explain that love in a simple sentence, like God loved much or very much or God loved us in vast or great quantity. John knew he cannot quantify the love of God, and used the expression "God loved ... so that He gave his Only Son."

The great Christian author C.S. Lewis has written a book called “The Four Loves” that explains love in the Scriptures, based on four Greek words Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape. The first three are possessive and the fourth one is sacrificial.  Storge  or affection is not real love, but has some characteristics of love. It may not last. It is seen in friends, neighbors, schools and even in church. It is conditional based on location and controlled by forces outside of oneself. It can be compared to affinity. North and South poles of magnets, electrons etc attract when they are close. Intimacy is important, but there is no passion. I call it ‘charismatic’ love or ‘fanatic’ love (of fans). It may also be called mania (excitement). We see this affection during the baseball and foot ball game seasons. People get excited in love for teams that win, and then when things don’t look so good, they change their love to another team. It does not stand the test of risks or dangers..

Philia is comonly seen brotherly love and parental love.  They are still possessive or conditional. The city of Philadelphia gets its name from this word, city of brotherly love. We see this during mother’s day and father’s day a lot. It is seen in context of security. It can be as extreme as motherly love, but still has limits. An experiment done at an African zoo - where a mother chimpanzee was holding its baby, was placed inside a large glass chamber. Then they started filling it with water. When the water started to rise the mother held the baby up and above the water. When the water began to get up to her mouth and nose, and she started struggling to breath, she placed the baby in the water and stood up on the baby. There can be limits to motherly love. The Bible says, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15). Earthly relations have limits. Friends come and go, but there is someone who loves more than a friend or a brother.

Eros is love or lust of sexual or physical in nature. It can also be used for the love of money, fame, wealth etc. It is similar to mania. It happens on "love at first sight”. Most people don’t even love the person they think they are in love with. They fall in love with the idea of being in love. This is more of a lustful attraction and it wears off after a while. We can see that love around between boyfriends and girl friends. Some studies have suggested that erotic love is linked to the release of the chemical dopamine and maniacal love is linked to the release of serotonin.

Agape is the acrificial divine love. It is the self sacrificing love of God for humanity that we see in John 3:16. It is also used in places where Jesus said, "Love your God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:37-41). It is the love described in 1 Corinthina 13, also referred to as 'charity'. Science has still not explained what kind of chemical causes this. God has shown his Agape love through the blood that was shed on the Cross.

God’s love is gift of no return.  He gave His Son without expecting anything, rather to save the sinners.  Jesus said it is common to see people sacrifice for a good man, but God sacrificed His son for the sinners. God’s love is unconditional, not “because of” who we are, but “in spite of” who we are.

Many people envision God as a judge holding a balance in His hand and think that the scales tell all the stories. Some envision God as a teacher having a big book with our names on a page. God puts checkmarks on our good and bad deeds and grade us and whether we get into heaven or not depends on the number of good marks verses the bad marks. That’s not how God’s plan works. God’s love is unconditional. Jesus Christ who left the very image of God to become a human being, though He was in the form of God, left his heavenly place, and humbled himself by becoming a poor, homeless and suffering human being and gave himself to the point of death.


Blessings

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