50 Bees to Honey

Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.

I have explained how my search of scripture has shown me that agape love in the Godhead is an attitude, not a feeling, meaning that it is a constructed approach motivated by God’s value system, not a reaction driven by sensation.

And if you search, you too can see that scripture does not show God distributing agape love solely on the basis of either worth or affection, but rather always as an act of His Will under the influence of His generous and pure goodness. You’ll see that He distributes agape love out of His wealth of pure goodness because He and His Will are governed by His own eternal commitment to pure goodness.

That being said, frequently He is also found expressing concern, compassion and affection in company with His willed act of agape love. And you can see that in scripture, too.

Yes, gentle reader, it is absolutely essential to note that scripture also reveals that agape love in the Godhead is frequently seen in the company of various feelings.

If you remember from Blog #47, Encarta defines agape love as “In Christian belief, the mercy, grace and charity shown by God to humanity.” And Agape love can indeed be understood by emotion-laden demonstrative acts of agape love such as mercy, grace and charity, but the emotion associated with each act is not why God acted. He acted out of His reasonable Will, what He wanted to happen, His desires. He acted out of His agape love, agape love in company with emotion.

Think on this little analogy I made up: If God’s acts of agape love were honey, and bees were emotion, fascinated reader, emotion-laden acts of agape love would be bees with honey. Bear with me here. Bees are not the honey, they are separate and distinct from honey, but they are important to and good company for the honey, don’t you agree? So by analogy that means when you see a demonstration of God’s agape love, you’re likely going to encounter emotion also, and for the same reasons.

Like bees to honey, agape love attracts emotion.

To be continued . . .

49 Beautiful

Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.

Today is a day to enjoy, tender readers. Today we will see four faces of the beauty of agape.

One, agape love is 100% pure Will.

By definition.

God organizes His will under the principle of love-as-an-act-of-the-will, and love reigns—forever.

Beautiful.

Two, word study alone will not define agape love

Vine’s relates that “Agapao and the corresponding noun agape present the characteristic word of Christianity, and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown (sublime will—author’s note), inquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the NT. . . “ (Vine’s, p 381)

One must look to Christ for the teaching on agape love, thoughtful tour companion, to His Apostles, to Christian codified doctrine. Devoted faithful of the church have spent centuries under the influence of Holy Spirit bringing out this teaching—an act of pure goodness for which I eternally thank the Godhead.

Beautiful.

Three, agape love, love as an act of the will, is the essence of God’s nature, of His pure goodness.

Agape love is the distillation of the superior value system fashioned by the will of the Godhead— by what He chooses, what He sees fit to happen—and it forms His attitudes, His position, His approach, His point of view, His mind-set behind everything He thinks or does. This value system is dedicated to pure goodness. This love is totally dedicated to long-term good. When one so rightly hears it said, “God is love (1 John 4:8),” it means first and foremost this love—agape love, love that is based on enduring, un-interrupted good will.

Beautiful.

Four, agape love has no basis in sentiment. It is a love, a high regard, esteem, born out of the will of God, out of His unlimited bounty of pure goodness and good will for an unworthy object. It is what we understand as “good will” and it is love that issues from the very goodness of His heart (soul).

Sentiment is valued in the Godhead, oh yes. It is demonstrated in the Godhead. But God’s tender affections are reserved for His precious personal relationships, relationships made possible in Christ Jesus by His agape act-of-the-will love for humankind.

Beautiful.

To be continued . . .

48 Agape vs. Châshaq, Ahab & Hesed

Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.

In addition to the Greek word for God’s feelings, phileo, found in the New Testament, studious reader, there are various Hebrew words for God’s feelings found in the Old Testament.

For example: Deuteronomy 7:7, 8 “God did not set His love (châshaq) on you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves (ahab) you and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers . . .”

The Hebrew verb ahab (to love) is used of God in Deuteronomy 7:8 as is châshaq in the same verse.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew noun ahabah, love, comes from the verb “to love,” ahab, a word which conveys feeling and represents the emotional connotation of love at varying degrees of intensity and application. It appears in all periods of Hebrew history and around 250 times in the Bible. (Vine’s, pp. 141-142)

Châshaq means (figuratively) to love, to delight in (Strong’s #3836).

Yet another Hebrew word is laced with nuances of love as a feeling.

For example: Psalm 136:5-9 “To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy (hesed) endures forever; To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever—The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever; The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures forever.”

Love with a sentimental component combined with more dominant features is found in the Hebrew noun hesed, “loving-kindness, steadfast love; grace; mercy; faithfulness, goodness; devotion.” This word is used 240 times in the OT, most frequently in Psalms. It is used of God in Psalm 136:5-9 where even the Creation is a result of God’s hesed. (Vine’s, pp. 142-143)

All these words have emotional overtones.

Agape has none.

To be continued . . .

47 Agape & Phileo

Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.

To begin our exploration of ultimate love in the Godhead, patient reader, I find it most interesting, startling even, that this ultimate “emotion,” this ultimate love originates in God’s will.

How does that work? I am inclined to wonder.

And when I wonder something about God, I’m sure you know exactly by now what I therefore do—I go to the scriptures of Old and New Testament and search out an explanation (but not without first praying for special assistance in my effort from Holy Spirit, of course).

Here is what I found.

From the New Testament, love as embraced in the Godhead in its most exalted form is the Greek noun agape, verb agapao.

Vine’s describes apape as an act of the will, an act of God’s will (Vine’s 381-382).

Encarta defines the noun agape (love) as God’s love for humanity: In Christian belief, the mercy, grace and charity shown by God to humanity; love that is wholly selfless and spiritual.

In general, the verb agapao, to love, means to adopt an attitude or behavior demonstrating a high regard, esteem or selfless concern for and commitment to the valued, though unworthy, object of that love.

Vine’s states (p.382), “In respect of agapao as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant ‘love’ and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential ‘love’ in them towards the Giver, and a practical “love” towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver.”

Then Vine’s states, “Agape and agapao are used in the NT . . .

(a) to describe the attitude of God toward His Son, John17:26; the human race, generally, John3:16; Romans 5:8: and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly, John 14:21;

(b) to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one toward another, John 13:34, and toward all men, 1 Thess. 3:12; I Corinthians 16:14; 2 Peter 1:7;

(c) to express the essential nature of God, 1 John 4:8 (Vine’s, p. 381).”

For example: Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love (agape) for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Romans 5:8, Love (agape) is an “exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself, CF. Deut. 7:7,8 (Vine’s, © 1985, p. 382).”

Agape is not a word used for feeling.

Other words suffice for that.

The Greek noun phileo, (also of the New Testament), “tender affection” conveys feeling and is the love we considered in our tour of emotion in the Godhead. (Vine’s, pp.381-382)

Phileo love is a beautiful emotion in the Godhead and a prominently and liberally displayed emotion in the Godhead, often existing distinct from but in conjunction with agape love. But it is not agape love. As an act of His will, agape love is what God wants to happen, resolves to happen. It is not a reaction or response. It is an initiative. It is an initiative He undertakes.

Vine’s (p.382) sums discussion of agape and phileo up by saying, “Phileo is to be distinguished from agapao in this, that phileo more nearly represents ‘tender affection.’ The two words are used for the ‘love’ of the Father for the Son, John 3:35 (No.1, and 5:20 (No.2); for the believer, 14:21(No.1) and 16:27 (No.2); both, of Christ’s ‘love’ for a certain disciple, 13:23 (No.1), and 20:2 (No.2). Yet the distinction between the two verbs remains, and they are never used indiscriminately in the same passage; if each is used with reference to the same objects, as just mentioned, each word retains its distinctive and essential character.”

To be continued . . .

46 Ultimate Emotion

Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.

I told you there would be place for emotion in the context of later blogs, and here-we-are-already, drawn back to the role of emotion in the Godhead. Well, almost, that is, for you see, the emotion we will discuss in this blog is not really an emotion at all.

Let’s recap: this much we already know from explanation in previous blogs--emotion is always subject to and constrained by reason and the pure goodness of the persons of the Godhead.

Conversely, we know that emotion in the Godhead fashions reason and pure goodness, too.

Emotion is allowed to affect the outcome of God’s thinking because emotion adds information to God’s thought processes, enriches God’s person, and adds dimension to His range of behavior. This we know we know. And we have talked about various feelings in the Godhead—anger, sympathy, love and how they contribute and how they are edited. Safe ground, huh?

Well, I think so because, edited or not, this love as felt in the Godhead is the kind of love I think I know something about. I mean, after all, I reflexively think of love all the time. And when I think about it in my life, or your life, and now in God’s life, it’s always love as an emotion. Don’t you think something like that, too, dear reader? This is natural enough thinking— that me, you, or God, we have feelings—one of which (thankfully) is love.

Actually, I think I hardly think anymore about what exactly I am thinking when I think about love. Love is love, right? Love is a feeling, right?

Wrong.

Love is not just love the feeling, at least not in the Godhead.

In the Godhead, love is of TWO kinds: The first love is the love we have talked about in our tour of emotion—the feeling, the emotion of love. But love of the second kind (what I call ultimate love, ultimate emotion), that is love that is an act of the WILL, and it is a subject we have not touched.

It’s really easy to forget, even if one has earlier learned it, attentive reader, that there are two types of love alive and well in the Godhead. So let’s now look into this ultimate love as an act of the will.

To be continued . . .