God Created Love
Day 6
by Gini Crawford, MSW
2/1/2021
The creation of love
God created everything, yes, even love. This means our need for, thoughts of, and feelings from love came from Him. God made us to want to be loved and to love, so that we could be loved by Him and to love Him and others. Sorry to those of you who thought cupid invented love.
God's love is unrelenting toward us - it started before He created us, and it has not let up or weakened but has stayed constant and determined throughout human history. God's love will also be with us throughout eternity if we believe in the One Who loves us. (Psalm 25:6, 109:21, 26; Lamentations 3:21-23; John 3:16; 1 John 4:10).
A young girl in a small island country had witnessed her parents fighting, which lead to her father leaving and her mother trying to kill herself. While her mother was in the hospital, she stayed with a neighbor that took her to a Christmas Party Club. As the teacher of the club shared about God's love through the birth of Jesus Christ, the girl started yearning for God’s type of love - that will not give up on you or leave you no matter what you do. The girl received Jesus at the party (John 1:12-13). When her mother returned home from the hospital, she saw her daughter was happy again, and not traumatized like she had left her. Obviously curious, she asked her daughter, "What was she happy about?" Her daughter responded by telling her mother about the Christmas story (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20). As time went on, both parents came to know the God of love and were reunited.
In the book of Job, Job shares that he knows God created him, giving him life and love. Where would humankind be without God’s love?
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Job 10:11-12 ESV®
God's love covers history
I used to think God's love was not emphasized until the New Testament. However, studying the word hesed in the Old Testament made me realize how rich the Old Testament scriptures are with the idea of God's eternal loyal love for us. If we look at the definitions of - hesed love and agape love that you learned about in days four and five, you see they both are an eternal, loyal, and sacrificing love that values the one loved. Both loves radiate from the God of love and cover all of history.
The principle of agape love in the Old Testament: Agape expresses a love that springs from the reality that we are highly valued, very much cherished and treasured by God from eternity past - so He unselfishly chooses to love us unconditionally and sacrificially. This allows us to be in a relationship with Him. The best example of agape is when Jesus Christ became our sin offering – to deliver us from the consequences of sin. This act of selfless love was first talked about in the Old Testament.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. / "In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer (deliverer)... "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 53:5-6, 54:8,10 ESV®
Hesed is a love based in the New Testament too. It's an eternal, faithful and loyal love that abundantly gives us His kindness, mercy, and grace. God's hesed would always love us, even though at times we aren't faithful in our relationship with Him. Nothing can separate you from God's love! Wonderful promise, isn't it?
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:34-35, 37-39 ESV®
God's great love has covered humankind since the beginning. Just think how awful the world would be without God's tireless love.
Life Application
You are more than a friend to God
The Greek word phileo is another love word in the New Testament. Phileo is a love that we all understand and practice because it is a love that expresses friendship or relationship. Phileo love comes from feelings and emotions. It is an affection for, a fondness for, pleasure in or having common interests with. It is characterized as a warm comfortable bond that exists between old friends.
Here are some verses with phileo love in them: Read John 5:20, 11:3, 36, 16:27, 20:2; Titus 3:15. Write down any insights.
Comparing agape and phileo. God's love for us is described through both words - agape and phileo – in the New Testament. Agape is used in its verb, noun, adjective forms 320 times and phileo occurs 45 times in the New Testament. As you know, Jesus Christ lived on the earth during the time of the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament) around 1 AD until 33 AD. During that time, He did phileo His friends and all who had a friendship with Him because they believed in Him (John 16:27). However, the main love God used to express His love for us is agape. Agape love does not depend on the world's criteria for love, such as a common bond or interest, emotional attachment, attractiveness, warm feelings, or pleasure, but phileo does. God's agape love allows us to love our enemies because agape chooses to highly value the unlovable but phileo loves the lovable. Agape is love of cherishing the object loved, where phileo love is liking the object loved.
Quickly explain phileo and agape loves.
Ponder this: The God Who created all things, wants a deeper and richer relationship with you than just being a friend with you.
Describe your feelings for God. Be honest.
Reflect on John 16:27.