Greetings! The Word of God is Life and Truth. Thank you for joining me today to spend these few minutes together in His Word. Eric

In our relationship with God, it is vital that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loves us and that His love for us in unconditional.

Since our topic today is all about God’s love, we will define it through His word. God not only expresses love, He is love! In 1 John 4:7,8 and 16 (NKJV) we read, “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ... 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” The word for ‘love’ in these verses is agape and used mostly in the New Testament concerning the divine love of God. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states that agape, when applied to God, describes, “God as wholly love and His nature is summed up in love.” It is pretty awesome to realize that we are loved by One Who is wholly love.

Various dictionaries define ‘love’ as a strong feeling of affection and concern for another. However, to accurately define love according to the Holy Spirit’s description of what love looks like, we must turn to what is commonly referred to as “The Love Chapter” in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 13:4 - 8a from the Amplified Bible reads, “ Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful and is not jealous or envious, love does not brag and is not proud, or arrogant 5 It is not rude; it is not self seeking, it is not provoked (nor overly sensitive and easily angered); it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail.] 7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening]. 8a Love never fails [it never fades nor ends].”

When we realize the Greek word used for ‘love’ in both 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 John 4:7 and 8 is ‘agape’, we realize that the ‘definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 actually defines God and His unconditional love. God’s love gives all that can be given. 1 John 4:10 states, “This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” John 3:16 reads, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” God gave His all when He gave His only begotten Son to die for us. Then, we definitely recognize the unconditional love of God when we read Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” He sent His Son, Christ to die for us while we were still sinners and totally unworthy!

The American Heritage Dictionary defnes ‘love’ as a strong feeling of affection and concern for another person rising from kinship or close friendship. I experienced love like this when I first held my infant sons. I was amazed at the depth of love I felt and continue to have for them. Holding your baby, knowing that it was God Who gave His life to him/her, through you and your wife’s DNA is mind boggling!

The Scripture reveals that ‘we are God’s children’ in 1 John 3:1a, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” and in verse 2a, “Dear friends, we are already God's children.” Then, we have further confirmation of this wonderful truth in Romans 8: 15-17a, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs.”

The ‘children of God’ are those who believe in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, come in the flesh, who sacrificed His life on the cross to pay sin’s penalty for those of us who could not pay. The only acceptable sacrifice for God was one who was without sin. Without Jesus, we would have no hope for reconciliation of right relationship with God! Through a sacrifice, the shedding of blood, from a perfect, sinless man, we have been redeemed and accepted into His family as one of His own! If you have accepted the sacrifice Christ made for you, for your redemption from the sin which separated you and God, then you are part of His family - His child in fact!

The Scripture goes on to tell us that if we have made that decision to accept Christ: we are special to our Heavenly Father, we are His beloved, we are the apple of His eye, and we are His special treasure.

Let’s look at Romans 1:7 (NKJV), “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated ‘beloved’ is agapetos which is rooted in agape and agapao and means: beloved, dear, favorite, and dearly loved. Being a word which is derived from agape gives the idea of divinely-loved or loved by God according to Helps Word Studies. You see, when the Lord inspired the use of the word ‘beloved’ to describe you, it holds great personal meaning!

We also note in Romans 1:7 those who were the beloved were called to be saints. Those He loves He calls saints. (The New Spirit Filled Life Bible uses the term, “holy people.) In Strongs, the Greek for ‘saints’ is hagios meaning: set apart by or for God, holy, sacred, and saint. Helps Word Studies states that the fundamental meaning of hagios is’ different’ (unlike others or set apart.) Then, we find in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon that ‘hagios’ means again, set apart for God, to be, as it were exclusively His. It is pretty exciting to realize that when you respond to the invitation of the Lord to accept Christ, you become a child of God, He sets you apart as His child, He calls you a ‘saint’ as in, one set apart, and you are beloved!

Another special phrase the Lord uses, to describe those whom He loves, is found in Zechariah 2:8 (NIV), “For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye--.” That phrase is: ‘the apple of his eye’. This is another of those verses which will cause you to be in wonder of how very much the Lord loves you! The Lord counts an assault against His children as an assault against Himself. (New Spirit filled Life Bible).

Then, in Psalm 17:8 (ESV) we read, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,” He protects those He loves.

‘Apple’ in the Hebrew is ishon. In the Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, ishon means: little man of the eye, i.e. pupil, in which as in a glass a little image of a man is seen, If you look closely into someone’s eye, you will see your own reflection in their pupil. In the English, the most common meanings of the phrase, “apple of my eye”: indicates ‘someone that one cherishes above all others’ or ‘the object of my affection’. As a loved one of God, when He looks into your eyes, He sees a reflection of Himself!

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) declares that we are His own chosen and special people. Who are those who are part of God’s chosen and special people? The church!

Exodus 19:5, “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.”

John 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.” He laid down His life for you!

A song from the past came to mind near the beginning of my time spent in preparing for this post.

Janny Grein sang, “Covenant Woman”.

“I got my feet planted deep in the good, good Word, Standing on the promise that I’ve heard . Signed, sealed, delivered by the blood of the Lamb. I’m not moved by what I feel, I’m only moved by the Word that’s real. The Word came to life, He came to me.”

There is no greater knowledge and revelation to have in your relationship with God than to truly know and understand that God loves you unconditionally. He is the friend Who sticks closer than a brother.

You are His beloved!

You are His dear one!

You are His favorite!

You are chosen!

You are His special treasure!

You are divinely loved by God!

Hallelujah! When you have these truths embedded in your soul, you will not be moved, or shaken, or fall away because of those things which you see or feel. You will have your feet planted on the Solid Rock!

Unless noted the Scripture used is the New Living Translation.

NKJV New King James Version

NIV New International Version

ESV English Standard Version