The Greatest of These is
Love
Session 4
Agape: God’s Love
Feb 25, 2007
1
The Greatest of
These is Love
Class notes
• PowerPoint Presentations and notes can be found at:
http://www.tpcnc.org/SundaySchool/Love/
Feb 25, 2007
2
The Greatest of
These is Love
Review:
The Different Types of Love
1. Friendship
(Greek: φιλία philía )
Feb 25, 2007
3
The Greatest of
These is Love
Review:
The Different Types of Love
1. Friendship
(Greek: φιλία philía )
2. Romantic
(Greek: ἔρως érōs )
Feb 25, 2007
4
The Greatest of
These is Love
Review:
The Different Types of Love
1. Friendship
(Greek: φιλία philía )
2. Romantic
(Greek: ἔρως érōs )
3. Affection
(Greek: στοργή storgē )
Feb 25, 2007
5
The Greatest of
These is Love
Review:
The Different Types of Love
1. Friendship
(Greek: φιλία philía )
2. Romantic
(Greek: ἔρως érōs )
3. Affection
(Greek: στοργή storgē )
4. God’s Love, Charity
(Greek: ἀγάπη agápē )
Feb 25, 2007
6
The Greatest of
These is Love
Differences between
human loves and God's love
Feb 25, 2007
7
The Greatest of
These is Love
Differences
Natural
• Romantic love and Affection are both natural
• Preprogrammed into us for survival
• Romantic love for procreation
• Affection for raising family
Feb 25, 2007
8
The Greatest of
These is Love
Differences (continued)
Self interested
• All three can have self motivated interest.
• Can be either good or bad depending on the subject of
interest
• Sees others as they relate to our reality, our needs.
• Can become possessive, jealous
• Can absorb the beloved (assimulation).
Feb 25, 2007
9
The Greatest of
These is Love
Differences (continued)
Missing Divine Love
• In spite of the resemblance to Divine love, only an image,
or facsimile.
• Need Divine Love to be perfected.
• Can seek to replace God's love, and become, as Lewis
says, demons.
• They lack the Holiness, or Joy, of God.
Feb 25, 2007
10
The Greatest of
These is Love
Agape: God’s Love
• It is a rational action; a will, not an emotion.
• Recognizes who we are.
• Recognizes our worth.
• Loves us for our sake.
• Selfless and giving.
• Does not absorb our personality.
• Freely given as Grace.
Feb 25, 2007
11
The Greatest of
These is Love
Agape: God’s Love
“But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings
come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by
our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite
relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of
those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to
Him.”
C.S. Lewis “Mere Christianity” Book III, Chapter 9
Feb 25, 2007
12
The Greatest of
These is Love
Classic Text on God’s Love:
1 John 4:7-12
Feb 25, 2007
13
The Greatest of
These is Love
1 John 4:7-12 (New Living Translation)
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from
God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But
anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Feb 25, 2007
14
The Greatest of
These is Love
Classic Text on God’s Love:
1 John 4:7-12
• God is the Source of all love: 4:7-8
Feb 25, 2007
15
The Greatest of
These is Love
1 John 4:7-12 (New Living Translation)
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from
God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But
anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son
into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Feb 25, 2007
16
The Greatest of
These is Love
Classic Text on God’s Love:
1 John 4:7-12
• God is the Source of all love: 4:7-8
• God models what genuine love is: 4:9-10
Feb 25, 2007
17
The Greatest of
These is Love
1 John 4:7-12 (New Living Translation)
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from
God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But
anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son
into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love
each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other,
God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
Feb 25, 2007
18
The Greatest of
These is Love
Classic Text on God’s Love:
1 John 4:7-12
• God is the Source of all love: 4:7-8
• God models what genuine love is: 4:9-10
• God commands us to love others: 4:11-12
• God’s love is complete when if flows from God,
through us to each other.
Feb 25, 2007
19
The Greatest of
These is Love
How do we come to love God?
Feb 25, 2007
20
The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
Gradually
• Restlessness
• Craving
• Emptiness
• Awakening
• Will
Feb 25, 2007
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The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
“God is not perceptible, nor his goodness experienced, as long as we do
not come to a realization that the good things of this world are
unable to satisfy us. The good that God has done and the good that
God himself is, which are testified to by Christianity, do not move
us. Only if the seed of his love has entered us do we find ourselves
responding to this testimony. Otherwise the church's witness only
makes us see that we must give up a lot of things that we find
desirable, as well as do many things that are not attractive to us,
such as help the needy, support the church financially, and attend
worship services. There are many restrictions on the way we behave.
We are to control our passions and to come to terms with our desire
for prestige. In short, responding to God seems only to be tedious.”
Diogenes Allen, “Love”, p.122
Feb 25, 2007
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The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
Other ways…
• Christians
• Scripture and Holy Spirit
Feb 25, 2007
23
The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
What is it like?
• Starts small
• Our will changes
• Our focus changes
• Our goals change
Feb 25, 2007
24
The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
What happens to us?
• Interests change
• We are challenged
• We receive and respond
• Our lives are revalued
• Our priorities change
• We become pilgrims
Feb 25, 2007
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The Greatest of
These is Love
How we come to love God
What happens to us?
• Our loves change
“The natural loves are summoned to become modes of Charity
while also remaining the natural loves they were.
One sees here at one a sort of echo or rhyme or corollary of the
Incarnation itself. And this need not surprise us, for the Author
of both is the same. As Christ is perfect God and perfect Man,
the natural loves are called to become perfect Charity and also
perfect natural loves.”
C.S. Lewis, “The Four Loves”, p.133
Feb 25, 2007
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The Greatest of
These is Love
Next week:
Agape Continued…
Feb 25, 2007
27