Agape: Why Love Came Down
Love.
What does it mean? What does it mean to the world? What does it mean to you?
Dictionary.com defines it as:
A strong feeling of warm personal attachment
A profoundly tender, passionate affection or desire
An active, self-giving concern for the well-being of others
A strong enthusiasm or liking for anything
And humourously, in tennis, “love” means a score of zero, nothing.
But what does this profound word mean to God?
I did a search for how many times the word “love” appears in the entire Bible (yes, Pastor John is rubbing off on me, too). The answers varied, depending on which version of the Bible was translated into.
KJV 310 times
NIV 574-686 times
NLT 645-801 times
“The variation occurs because translators use different English words for the original Hebrew and Greek terms.”
Here are the four main types of the Greek word “love” :
ἀγάπη (agape) ~ unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love
φιλία (philia) ~ deep affection and friendship, loyalty between equals
στοργή (storge (stor-gay)) ~ familial love, bond between family members
ἔρως (eros) ~ romantic, passionate, physical love
In John chapter 15, Jesus speaks of loving us as the Father has loved Him. Agape is the word Jesus uses. The deep, selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love “to show God’s love for humanity.”
John 3:16 has always gripped my heart. And I’m sure we all know it so well….
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
How do we comprehend that? That God gave His only Son?
God looked down upon His creation and grieved over our brokenness. Our corruption. Our rebellion.
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 and then “For the wages of sin is death….” Romans 6:23
God looked at His Son and said, “It’s time.”
And Jesus obeyed and entered into humanity.
The Lord of all creation became flesh and blood. And why? To offer us a way. The Way.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free Gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For just a moment, can you imagine a Father looking upon His Son as He sends Him on a mission? A mission, an offering of ultimate forgiveness. Knowing how this earthly mission would end. Can you imagine God, handing down His perfect, precious Son to redeem a world so full of disobedient, reckless, greedy, corrupt, mocking children?
If I were asked to hand over my only son to be executed in exchange for prisoners on death row, could I do it?
To watch my son be sacrificed so that sinners could be set free….
I cannot even bear the thought. That is just too painful to even consider.
Yet, our Father in Heaven did just that. Because of love for His children….
An incomprehensible, overwhelming, indescribable kind of love. Agape. Completely selfless and sacrificial.
The love that gently placed that Newborn Baby in that cold, hard, ”feeding trough” manger.
The love that flowed through that little Child’s heart. That small, so very precious, obedient Child that would pour out His love over all creation. His love that would embrace, heal, forgive, feed, comfort and redeem.
Jesus.
“I have loved you even as The Father has loved me. Remain in My love. When you obey me, you remain in My love, just as i obey My Father and remain in His love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.” John 15:9-12
This Christmas, as we grow ever wearier with our overwhelming To Do lists of shopping, wrapping gifts, cooking, baking, attending parties and hosting family dinners, let’s pray for our Heavenly Father to give us pause. To make small windows of time so we can look upon that so very precious child, the Son of God and marvel at the incredible gift of love that was given for us. For our redemption.
May our hearts be overflowing with gratitude, and may this love—God’s sacrificial, unconditional, selfless love—saturate our very souls as we “remain in Him” so that as much as we can, we may “love one another as He has loved us.”
Written by:
Pat O’Keefe
