Love 101 Part 4

Me

I personally have really enjoyed the Love 101 series that Pastor Jonathan has been doing. If you haven’t been here or haven’t seen them I would encourage you to get on Worship House Cafe’s Facebook page and watch them.

“I want to know what love is.” Foreigner

There are an amazing amount of songs on love. Movies and tv shows about “love” are abundant. Do a Google search and you will get over 18 billion results.

But do any of these things truly explain what love is?

We

We tell people all the time that we love them. I have used the word love for many things. I love my wife, my children, my car, my phone, and I even love tacos.

Now Pastor Jonathan touched on this but if we are using the same word for our spouse and tacos, I believe we better know what we are talking about.

There are multiple versions of the word love in the original languages in the Bible. The word love is different for the love for my wife and my sister. It’s different for a brotherly love and the ultimate love that God has for us.

God

I want to touch on two times the word love is used in scripture. The first time and the last time. I will give you a preview of the last time - you don’t want to be there.

Genesis 22:1–2 CSB

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

In verse 1 please notice that this is God testing Abraham. It is a test and not a temptation. James makes it clear that God does not tempt us but He will test us.

Test are proof that we have achieved something, that we understand something. A test is to prove the quality of something.

Passing a test will prove to us and to others that we are ready for the next step.

I believe this is the greatest test that Abraham could face. He was to give God back Isaac after Abraham waited so long for God to give it to him in the first place.

This is a test to prove faith and to be a true test it had to be a test that wouldn’t make sense to the average or normal person. If it made perfect sense to us or was easy then it wouldn’t be a true test.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 22:1–2

It is one thing to claim to trust God’s word when waiting for something; it is quite another thing to trust and obey His word after it is received. This was a test of how much Abraham would obey God’s word. Would he cling to the boy now that he had him, or would he still obey and return him to the Lord? In other words how far would Abraham go in obedience? Did he really believe that God would still keep His word and raise the seed of promise?

Genesis 22:11–12 CSB

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” 12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

Genesis 22:

You want to really love God? I’m seriously asking. If you want to truly love God then don’t hold anything back from Him.

Now let’s take a look at the last time the word love is used in scripture.

Revelation 22:

Revelations 22:12-16

Revelation 22:12–16 CSB

12 “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Revelation 22:16 CSB

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Revelation 22

“the dogs” = the unsaved

“the sorcerers” = practicing sorcery and trying to find answers outside of God

“the sexually immoral” = sex outside of marriage - looking for love where it is not meant to be

“the murderers” = I believe this one is pretty evident even in our culture today (Though I do believe this includes abortion.)

“the idolaters” = worship something (including ourselves) other than God

“and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” =

I teach 5th grade and in my class we have 4 rules.

1 - follow directions quickly

2 - raise hand to ask for permission to speak or leave your seat

3 - make smart decisions

4 - Glorify God

You see, that last rule is there for anyone who is looking for a loophole in the first three. If is doesn’t glorify God, don’t do it.

I believe that is what we see here

“everyone who loves” lies of this world.

That truth is found outside of God.

That love is feeling.

That life is all about you.

“everyone who practices”

Lives like there is no God.

Love is for you when and where you want it. (that is not love, that is lust)

Living selfishly. Christ came to serve and not to receive.

You

Like I told you, you don’t want to found in the area of the last time the word love is used in scripture.

We

We want to live love like Abraham did. We want to give it all back to the Lord.