God’s Prepared Plan Part 2
God has wonderful things in store for those that believe. There is just one catch. They are prepared for those that will actually love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
Believing upon Christ and loving Him are two different things. Many times people say they love God but their lives prove otherwise. What does it mean to love Him? Jesus said it very plainly in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” To love Christ is to obey Him.
In the New Testament the word “love” appears many times. The NT was originally written in Greek. In the Greek there are many words for “love” and they all have different meanings. We still only have one word for “love” in English. So we need to do our studying to make sure we understand just what kind of love God wants us to love Him with because not all love is the same.
In the NT there are two words most commonly translated “love”. The first Greek word is “Agape.” This is the God-kind of love. It is the highest form of love there is. This word means that you bless somebody even when they do not provoke any tender feeling in you. That means you do not have any sentimental feeling towards them but you CHOOSE to be good to them anyway. We see this kind of love in what God did for us. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His love (agape) for us in this; even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That means there was no quality in humanity that made God feel tender or sentimental. He is completely perfect and we were completely sinners. Actually the Bible says in Genesis 6:6 that God regretted making man because of our wickedness. But He made a CHOICE to save us anyway by giving His Son for us. This Agape God-like love is not convenient. Do you think God FELT like killing His only Son? No. God did not make that decision based on feelings. Neither should we always treat people the way we feel. We have a CHOICE to walk in love.
The second word that is most commonly translated “love” in the Bible is the Greek word “phileo”. It is pronounced fil-`a-o. This has a different meaning than “Agape”. This word means a tender, affectionate, sentimental feeling. This love comes more natural towards people we like and people who are good to us. This love is easier for us because it really never inconveniences us in any way.
This is the trap that the Christian culture in our country has gotten into. We will sing songs, get sentimental about God, shed a tear or two, but then we will never inconvenience ourselves to obey the Word and to see His plans and purposes fulfilled. Never in the Bible are we commanded to love God with “phileo”. God does not want us to love Him only when we feel like it. It’s in those challenging times that staying faithful matters the most.
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
