“For the Love of God”

by Grant Gaines

Do you remember learning about the four forms of love found in the Greek language: storge, philia, eros and agape? “Storge” typically describes the affection a parent has for their child. “Philia” describes a brotherly love. “Eros” describes a sexual love. And “agape” describes an unconditional love and is the love most often spoken of in the Bible. This is the love that we are told God has for us in John 3:16. But do you know the origin of the term “agape”?

At the time of Jesus’s life on earth, there were only three Greek words for love: philia, eros, and storge. These three forms of love pretty much covered every situation the Greeks came across…until the birth of the Church in the early first century. You see, as the Greeks tried to relay to others the way the early followers of Christ cared for each other, they couldn’t think of a word grand enough to describe what they saw. Their love for each other was literally indescribable. And as a result, the word “agape” was created to describe a love that redefined the Greek language.

Is that the type of love you see among Christians today? Or maybe a better question, is that the type of love you have for other Christians today? Does the way you love others cause those who are watching to stumble for words when describing the affection you showed? If you’re anything like me, the unfortunate answer to that question far too often is, “No.”

So what stirred up this love the early Christians had for each other and what motivated them to love with so much passion? Obedience to Christ’s commands.

In Matthew 22, as we talked about last week in “Ground Zero”, Jesus was bombarded with questions from the Pharisees. Eventually, Jesus was asked what the single greatest commandment in Scripture was, to which Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command” (Matthew 22:38, NIV). But Jesus didn’t just stop at the single greatest commandment, He went on to state the second greatest commandment as well, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, NIV).

Now why would Jesus include the second greatest commandment when He was only asked what the first greatest commandment was? You could certainly argue that loving God naturally creates a desire in us to love others as well. 1 John 4:11 (NIV) backs this idea up by saying, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

But loving others is not just a natural response to loving God, it is a requirement of loving God. 1 John 4:20 (NIV, bold mine) says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”

After reading that verse, I think we can agree that loving others is a vital part of our faith, but what does this love look like? To find our answer, we look again to 1 John. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18, NIV).

It is not enough just to say we love others, we must show it. One of the greatest examples of this type of “active love” is found in 2 Samuel 23:13-17. In 2 Samuel 23, we find King David and three of his mighty men in a hideout trying to conceal themselves from the advancing Philistine army. In a passing comment one day, David, worn-out from constant battles, longingly said, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem” (2 Samuel 23:15, NLT).

I imagine David was simply expressing his heart-felt desire to be at peace and at home once again as he made this comment because he knew the impossibility of the request based on the fact that the Philistine army was not only currently surrounding them, but there also was a Philistine garrison (or military stronghold) right in the heart of little ole Bethlehem. But in the name of love, David’s three mighty men broke through the Philistine line and through the Philistine garrison just to bring their king a small cup of high quality H2O.

You see, there’s a difference in knowing something and knowing something. You may know that completing a marathon would be hard, but you don’t truly know how hard it is until you actually complete one. In the same way, David may have known that his companions loved him, but until they actually risked their lives for a cup of water, he couldn’t have really known the depth of their love and devotion to him.

That’s the type of love we are to display to others. Not just a superficial, surface level “hey-how-are-you” love, but a true love that is willing to suffer for what it believes. That’s the type of love Jesus calls us to as He lists off the 1^st and 2^nd greatest commandments in Matthew 22. And that’s the type of love Christ displayed for us on the cross.

Is this the type of love others find in you? For the love of God, let’s hope so.

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