Our culture is saturated with the idea of love. Can love make you do crazy things? The Trojan war ; Romeo and Juliet; Boldt Castle; Taj Mahal; Jodi Foster & John Hinkley
What is the fruit of someone in love? How do you know if someone is in love? Is all love equal? NO.
The word love was used 697 times in the NIV Bible. The word love is translated into 3 different terms in the Greek:
Phileo: Brotherly love- philanthropist, Philadelphia (city of brotherly love)
Eros: sexual intimacy-Erotic
Agape: self sacrificing all encompassing love
John 15:9-17 9“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.
The Bible says the reaction of someone who is in love should be of :
1. Obedience: If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…
A. Do you obey your parents?
B. Do you care about those around you?
If you say No to either one of these questions, YOU DO NOT LOVE GOD.
2. Sacrifice: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
A. Being in love means I am willing to sacrifice.
B. John 3:16 says: For God so loved(agape)the world, that He gave his only son.
Within these terms we realize that love is more than just a romantic notion. Love mandates response.
Two stories
The story of St. Valentine
“The most plausible story surrounding St. Valentine is one not centered on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion. Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270 AD.”
- The Holidayspot.com
The love story that began in the beginning
Genesis 3:1-7 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
This may offend some but ponder this: Adam knew for certain what God had said about the tree. Yet he chose to die with his wife than to live without her. We all know that love will make you do crazy things but this is Ridiculous.
This is the first example of the Gospel in the Bible.
1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (The Message) 45-49We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual—a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven. The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly. In the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends.
Jesus knowing no evil chose to die on our behalf because He loved us so much . He died for us so that we may live. A Valentines day card, chocolates, dinner, do not compare to the amount of grace, mercy and love that we have received in Jesus death and resurrection.
Conclusion: To experience the love of Christ it requires obedience and a willingness to sacrifice.
Matthew 10:38-39 (New International Version)38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.