Love and God
Most people today when hearing the word “love” think of sexual intercourse. Love is not sex. Sex is a method of showing, expressing love in a marriage and any other use of sex than this is sin.
KJV Hebrews 13:4
4. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
So then people who think love is sex are of a sinful mind, carnal minded.
KJV Romans 8:5-7
5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
The carnal mind has no understanding of what love is and operates under lust and not love at all. Carnal minds mistake lust for love. God is love and is the only true kind of love that is not selfish or conditional. The word charity in the verses below is the word “love”.
KJV 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
In the Greek language the words for love are; agape, philia and eros. Agape is the love God and Jesus have, philia is human level love for friend and family and eros is love that includes sexual intercourse in a marriage. Both philia and eros love are a shadow of agape. Agape is what we need.
The scripture tells us that God loves the entirety of human kind and in order to provide for them a future that their minds cannot even imagine gave the only righteous human being that ever lived, His son, as our messiah. God wants to change us to be like Jesus. Jesus, when on this Earth, gave us the example of the kind of character and love God wants us to have and this is how Jesus was Gods image and one with God. Godly love was shown to us, demonstrated to us by Jesus.
Love your enemies, pray for your enemies, do good to your enemies and to those who treat you with hatred and persecute you.
If someone were to rape and kill your wife would you be able to respond to that person in the manner Jesus spoke about?
It is just not in our nature to have the mind to respond to these evils with love.
Jesus gave his life for people like this; Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Barack Obama, You and me. Many people think that since they have not committed the horrible sins of Hitler or Bin Laden they are “good people” but the truth is that all people sin and in the eyes of God sin is death to the sinner. If the prophets say that no one is righteous, no not one, then no one is good either. We are all evil and deserving death for the sins we do. This is where the love of God enters by the man Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his life for us while we were still sinning, still doing things worthy of death.
Our minds are not like the minds of God and Jesus that have a form or type of love that is as far above human love as heaven is above the Earth. In stark contrast our love when compared to God and Jesus does not even exist. This Godly love must be given to us, placed into our human spirit by the Holy Spirit of God. This Godly love is how Jesus fulfilled the law and enabled Jesus to be incapable of sin and shows to us what we must be changed into to be in the kingdom of God.
The saints of God, the elect, the 144,000 have been given a portion, a measure of the Holy Spirit and Godly love to the degree that we only have a beginning in this process of spiritual transformation to become like God and Jesus. This is the spiritual Genesis unlike the physical Genesis of Adam and is the true creation God desires of which Jesus was the first born. While saints we still sin and even though grace will cover the sin it remains that we are yet capable of sin our entire life in the flesh. Scripture says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and that all unrighteousness is sin. This means that in the kingdom of God sin nor the potential to sin will not exist at all. So then, how will the saints ever be in this kingdom if they are yet capable of sin all their lives?
The truth is that the saints die as sinners and while they were alive grace did cover their sins but in the kingdom there is no grace because there is no sin. This raises a very important question; How can sinning saints enter a kingdom where sin does not exist? There is an answer to this question and it is one of the many deep things of God.
It is necessary to define spiritual terms to understand.
Grace is the program under the new covenant in Christ whereby the sins of a saint are forgiven because of faith.
Faith is an unseen hope, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. The saints believe God and Jesus in the message of the gospel.
Salvation is when you are an immortal spirit being incapable of sin in the kingdom of God.
Righteousness is the character quality of being unable to sin and currently God, Jesus and the holy angels are the only beings with this quality.
Impute is to give something to another that is not their own as when God imputes His righteousness to the saints because of the faith and grace mentioned above.
Sin is whatever is not of Gods love. Sin is of the mind, it is thoughts and intents of evil and when the thought is acted upon reveals the sin but if not acted upon hides the sin in the heart of the sinner where it is still sin and worthy of death.
Gospel is the good news God sent Jesus into the world to preach which contains all the elements described above and many more.
Love is God and God is love. All things that are good and wonderful that have no evil at all given freely, by free will, from the one who loves to the one loved.
Godly sorrow is having our minds opened by God to see how short we fall from His love.
Repentance is the desire in us, once we experience Godly sorrow, to desire to be changed by God into the image of Jesus who God created in His own express image and likeness of love.
All these things combined in the saints is a beginning only and not the finish as we are yet like clay in the hands of the potter. If we live our lives to the end holding fast to them we can to a degree overcome some of the nature of the old man we once were and for God to build the new man in us, this is bearing fruit unto God. This process must be of our own free will choice as all of our heart, mind, body and spirit must desire Gods will for us and be in total agreement with God as to what God intends to do to us, the change He must make in us, so that we can be in the kingdom of God.
The way God created Jesus Christ was different from us as Jesus was born directly of God and not through the human reproductive act. Jesus was without measure filled with the Holy Spirit and was incapable of sin because he was the exact character of God in love.
God had to do this because the perfect life of Jesus would be the only acceptable sacrifice for sin. This is why Jesus was the first born. Jesus at birth already had the mind of what we hope to have to be in the kingdom. During his life on Earth Jesus did not have to struggle to not sin because he was the first born with a kingdom mind. God, through Jesus, has proven to us that He can change us if He already created Jesus as our example and it is extremely important to God that this change is what we ourselves desire with all our heart.
Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus; a mind like God Himself, of true love, incapable of sin. Jesus was created this way but we were not and must be changed. God can see our heart and our struggles with sin and our love for Him and even though we still sin and are weak God shields us with His grace so we can grow spiritually and bear fruit, change even a little, for he who is faithful in little is faithful in much. God can see that we want what He has offered us even though we are weak and have little understanding of it.
KJV Hebrews 4:13
13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
KJV 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
God, through Jesus, has provided for us everything we need for now and for the future while we yet remain in a weakened state still sinning.
KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
KJV 2 Timothy 1:9-10
9. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
KJV Romans 8:28
28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
KJV Romans 8:37-39
37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is not a one of us that by our own merit deserves this. This was all done by love.
Every time you and I sin all of these things should flood into our minds as a witness of the great love of God who is willing to forgive and keep us in this hope we have.
While the agape love of God may seem a far away thing from us that seed has been planted in us and while we are not able to see any growth in ourselves God can see all things. We have been commanded by God, Christ and the Apostles to love with a love that we have never had until receiving the Holy Spirit. What this love asks of us may seem impossible, but all things are possible with God.
KJV Romans 12:9-21
9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
11. Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13. Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
When we were carnal the love described above was impossible and even now with Gods spirit we struggle against our old man. Love is the key, the power and the knowledge to produce in us the will of God.
KJV Ephesians 3:16-19
16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
God is love and that is why He made us and what He is transforming us to become. We are only at the Genesis of this looking for the Revelation.
At that day when the sons of God will be revealed the human spirits of just men will be made perfect weather dead or alive and will be sealed in righteousness and placed into a glorified spirit body, immortal and unable to sin and we will be in the image and likeness of God and Christ.
This is the kingdom of love.
