Expressions Of A Love Unfailing
Song of Solomon 2:16
My beloved is mine, and I am his.
His veins, blood and heart,
were made from the Lord's tears;
To love with the gift of everlasting life.
His eyes, ears and voice,
were made from the Lord's song;
To spread the word of prophecy.
His ribs, shoulders and arms
were made from the Lord's armor;
To embrace, nurture, protect and defend.
His feet, legs and back,
were made from the Lord's throne
To light the fire of Christ in their spirit!
He is the eternal Christian man!
Blessed is he, Bruce C. Goldstine Jr.
Serena Picard Goldstine
Copyright ©2004 Serena Picard Goldstine
Dedicated to My Husband – With ALL MY LOVE, TILL DEATH
DO US PART!
LOVE: Old
Testament. It is the deepest expression
of the personality and of the closeness of personal relationships (Genesis
22:2; 37:3)
In its
non-religious sense the word is most commonly used for the love of man and
woman, reaching its most sublime expression in the Song of Solomon. God is said to love his people, usually in a
collective sense (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:37).
Only on three occasions are individuals said to be personal objects of
his love (2 Samuel 12:24; Nehemiah 13:26; Isaiah 48:14). God’s love is deeper than that of a mother
(Isaiah 49:15), his faithfulness being illustrated in the story of Hosea and
Gomer (Hosea 1-3). Love is part of his
character so he cannot be swayed by passion or diverted by disobedience (Hosea
11:1). His love is selective; he
especially chose Israel to be his people for no other reason than his love
(Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6). In response de
demands love from the whole human personality
(Deuteronomy 6:5),
a relationship of personal devotion created and sustained by God’s work in the
human heart (Deuteronomy 30:6).
It consists of
communion with God (Psalms 18:1) worked out in daily obedience (Joshua
22:5). Love is also to be the norm for
human relationships (Leviticus 19:18); even enemies, while not loved, are still
to be helped (Exodus 23:4)
New Testament. The
commonest word for all forms of love, agape, was one of the least
frequent in classical Greek where on the few occasions it was used it denoted
the highest and noblest form of love which sees something infinitely precious
in its object. It was used by the LXX
for 95% of the Hebrew occurrences of love.
Another word, phileo (friendship), is also used, with some
overlap of meaning.
Love describes the
relationship between God the Father and God the Son (John 3:35; 14:31;
15:9). Jesus himself did not use the
word to express God’s love for people, but revealed it in his compassionate
healing (Luke 7:13), his teaching about
God’s acceptance (Luke 15:11), and by showing himself a friend to the outcasts
(Luke 7:34). John declares Jesus’
saving activity to be a demonstration of God’s love (John 3:16). As in the Old Testament, his love is
selective, its object being the ‘new Israel’, the church (Ephesians 5:25), and
under the new covenant his love is extended to the individual members of the
church (Galatians 2:20).
God’s love for
mankind is intended to transform man’s natural state of being God’s enemy
(Romans 5:10) into a loving relationship
(1 John 4:19). Jesus expected people to love God (Luke
11:42) but he preferred to speak of the man-God relationship in terms of faith
(Matthew 9:22),
perhaps because ‘love’ did not convey sufficiently the attitude of humility and
trust. Love for one’s neighbor, said
Jesus, was not to be limited (Luke 10:25); even enemies were to be loved
(Matthew 5:44). This new attitude
springs from the work of God’s Spirit within a person (Galatians 5:22). Christians are to love one another with
‘brotherly love’ (Romans 12:10), which is not so much brother-like as a special
relationship of unity with fellow-members of God’s family (Luke 22:32; John
13:34; 15:12). It is an outworking of
Jesus’ love (Ephesians 5:1), revealed in common ways of thinking (Romans 15:5)
and in helping one another (Romans 12:9).
It proves the genuineness of the Christian’s faith (1 John 2:9; 3:10; 4:20).
Loving-Kindness. A
rendering of a Hebrew word mostly occurring in the Psalms, frequently rendered
by the Revised Standard Version of the Bible as ‘steadfast love’. It is closely connected with the idea of
covenant and faithfulness.
Taken
from: New Concise Bible Dictionary
Editor:
Derek Williams
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