Agape...understanding revealed from within the heart...by Faith...
God the Father is the first Person of the Trinity, which includes his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Do you believe there is one God who exists in three Persons. This mystery of the faith can be understood by the human mind but is a key doctrine of Christianity. While the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, several episodes include the simultaneous appearance of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, such as the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist;
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to
be baptized by John. But John tried to deter
him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is
proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was
baptized, he went up out of the water. At that
moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice
from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him
I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17).
God the Father is the perfect example for all
earthly fathers. He is holy, just and
fair, but his most outstanding quality is love:
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God
is love...Dear friends, let us love one another, for
love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of
God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know
God, because God is love. This is how God showed his
love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. This is love: not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends,
since God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete
in us.
This is how we know that we live
in him and he in us: He has given us of his
Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has
sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone
acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in
them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the
love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives
in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love
is made complete among us so that we will have
confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are
like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We
love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love
God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever
does not love their brother and sister, whom they have
seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he
has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must
also love their brother and sister... (1 John 4:7-21)
God set a plan in place to save humanity from
itself. Left to ourselves, we would spend eternity in
hell because of our sin. God graciously sent Jesus to
die in our place, so that when we choose him, we can
choose God and heaven. God the Father's plan for
salvation is lovingly based on his grace, not on human
works. Only Jesus' righteousness is acceptable to God
the Father. Repenting of sin and accepting Christ as
Savior makes us justified, or righteous, in God's eyes.
God the Father is omnipotent (all
powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent
(everywhere). He is absolute holiness. No
darkness exists within him. God is just yet merciful. He
gave humans the gift of free will, by not forcing anyone
to follow him. Anyone who rejects God's offer of
forgiveness of sins is responsible for the consequences
of their decision. God cares. He intervenes in the lives
of people. He answers prayer and reveals himself through
his Word (the Bible), circumstances, and people.
God is sovereign. He is in complete control, no matter
what is happening in the world. His ultimate plan always
overrules humankind. Simple observation shows that
people who do not have God are lost, both figuratively
and literally. They have only themselves to rely on in
times of trouble, and will have only themselves--not God
and his blessings--in eternity.
God the Father
can be known only through faith, not reason alone.
Unbelievers demand physical proof. Jesus Christ supplied
that proof, by fulfilling prophecy, healing the sick,
raising the dead, and rising from death himself, but
most people in his own time would not believe their own
eyes. God has always existed. His very name, Yahweh,
means "I AM", indicating that he always has been and
always will be. The Bible does not reveal what he was
doing before he created the universe, but it does say
that God is in heaven, with Jesus sitting at his right
hand.
The entire Bible is the story of God
the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God's
plan for salvation. Despite being written thousands of
years ago, the Bible is always relevant to our lives
because God is always relevant to our lives. God the
Father of the Brotherhood, is the Supreme Being, Creator
and Sustainer, deserving of human worship, honor, and
obedience.
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take
off your sandals, for the place where you are standing
is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God
of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was
afraid to look at God.
The Lord said,
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in
Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their
slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a
good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and
honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of
the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way
the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites
out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I
that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out
of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with
you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who
have sent you: When you have brought the people out of
Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites
and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to
you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what
shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who
I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I
am has sent me to you.’”
God also said to
Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the
God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This
is my name forever, the name you shall call me from
generation to generation.
“Go, assemble the
elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of
your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you
and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I
have promised to bring you up out of your misery in
Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land
flowing with milk and honey.’
Considering the amount of lying that exists in our world, I ponder that this constant lying poisons our relationships to each other. I think there are good reasons why we are commanded to not lie, because most lies erode our ability to love, indeed to use language to share faith not only in God but in each other.
John's first chapter describes Jesus as "full of Grace and Truth as well as the Word. Again, I don't mean to stray off the topic. I think that whatever we mean by philo or agape in John 21 must make us also understand the nature of language and of truth. Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life in John 14:6. Life grows out of love and truth.
If one would understand a discussion rightly, Agape means to love not by giving what is deserved, but by giving regardless of how much we deserve. As "Elder Dad," said so well Agape moves us from an equal exchange of friendship to the mysterious all forgiving and all knowing Divine compassion which even serious transgression cannot end as Desdemona also shows us in her dying love for Othello's stupid lack of faith.
Luke 23: Then shall
they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to
the hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do
these things, what shall be done in the dry? And there
were also two other malefactors led with him to be put
to death.And when they were come to the place which is
called Calvary, they crucified him there; and the
robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the
left.And Jesus said: Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.
But they, dividing his garments, cast lots. And the
people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided
him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if
he be Christ, the elect of God... ...And one of those
robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou
be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering,
rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing
thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our
deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to
Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy
kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this
day thou shalt be with me in paradise. And it was almost
the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the
earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened,
and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And
Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said: Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, he gave
up the ghost. Now the centurion, seeing what was done,
glorified God, saying: Indeed this was a just man.
We are challenged by Jesus to become those who love unconditionally like Him, to give agape love in a world that clings to violence and hate and lies and doubt. Cultivate a steady relationship with Christ and allow His love to pour through us no matter what situation we find ourselves in.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no
one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born
again.”
“How can someone be born when
they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot
enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be
born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of
water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be
surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The
wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but
you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is
going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are
Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not
understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak
of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen,
but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have
spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came
from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the
snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be
lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal
life in him.”
For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because they have not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is
the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people
loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were
evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will
not come into the light for fear that their deeds will
be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they
have done has been done in the sight of God.
John's whole Gospel teaches us that truth, but especially his teaching about agape in John Chapter 21.
