The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly. (John 10:10) Christ came to earth and lived love to the full;
believers are called, created even, to do the same. I believe God is teaching
me about and challenging me to engage in all aspects of true love as He
intended it, from the most basic, unconditional form of love termed in Greek agape,
to the friendship-type loved called phileo, to the most intimate form of
love, eros. In doing so, the world may see what it looks like to truly
live in love — abandoned to Him, loving Him, and loving others with all we have
and all we are. This is also a distinguishing characteristic of Christ’s
disciples: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have
love for one another.�
Furthermore, love is a way to bring life to the world. God
commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and
subdue it.� He commanded them to bring life to the world through their
loving union by producing children to fill the earth. Likewise, believers are
commissioned and called to birth life in this world through love, producing new
children in the Kingdom by union with the Holy Spirit, who lives in the heart
of every believer. This is a more intimate love relationship than even two
humans can share; a comparable human love relationship between a man and a
woman is only a reflection of that which a believer shares with God. In
bringing life to the world through union with His Spirit, both the young and
old are brought alive and refreshed by His love. John 3:5-6 states, “Jesus
answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.� It is the role,
privilege even, of every believer to bring life to the world through living
love.
