Very soon it will be St Valentine’s Day and cards, flowers, chocolates etc will be bought and given in large quantities all with the intention of declaring or confirming love to someone.
Over the years there are estimated to be over 100 million songs about love and perhaps one of the most well remembered is the Beatles’ song ‘All you need is love.’ The implication in the song is that whatever you want to do the answer is simply ‘All you need is love.’ Of course the song was written during the summer of love of 1967 and there have been other influences at work.
It is certainly true that the world would be a far better place if everyone loved one another, but what is love? Dictionaries list four main types of love:
Eros: Erotic, passionate love. We might as well get that one out of the way first.
Philia: Love of friends and equals. It’s where Philadelphia gets its name as the city of brotherly love.
Storge: Love of parents for children. Almost everyone has experienced and continues to experience this type of love.
Agape: Love of mankind. This is the strong message of Biblical love God has for His people.
Agape love is the abiding theme of the Bible where it shows the love God has had for His people since the beginning of time. The Jewish people were a fickle group of people loving God when they thought fit and loving other people, other things, other gods when they rebelled. Throughout the time of the Old Testament, God’s love is shown as time after time God draws the Israelites back to himself with an endless love.
Just over two thousand years ago God sent His only Son to be born into a Bethlehem stable, into the ignominy of a smelly manger surrounded by cattle and strangers. Why would the King of kings and Lord of lords subject His only Son to such a lowly beginning? The answer is found in the most well-known of all the verses in the New Testament. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”God has always loved the world, firstly through the Jewish people and secondly reaching out to the worldwide Gentile people. Look at what God said through the prophet Jeremiah:
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
I will build you up again,
And you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Israel swung from rebellion to love and back to rebellion so many times and yet God says He has loved them with an everlasting love.
That love, that Agape love, still reaches out to each and every one of us today. God doesn’t keep a count of how many times we have tripped and fallen. He doesn’t turn away in disgust when we have been so far from His truth as to seem unreachable. God reaches out in Agape love and gently draws us back to Himself. God’s love is everlasting. This from the beginning of time to the very end of time, God loves me and He loves you.
Do you want to know more about this love that will not let go? Why not come along one Sunday and see for yourself this love in action? We meet at 11am in the Event Room above Trevi Bar, Camposol B. We would love to see you.
