Agape: God's Kind of Love

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.   2nd Cor 13:14

The above text alludes to the three distinct trinity of the Godhead (God the father, the son and Holy Spirit), which, in Genesis, is referred to as 'Elohim', meaning Creator and Judge, and their attributes.

Paul opens this construction with the grace or (unmerited favour) of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there are several meanings of the word grace.

Grace means 'ultimate in beauty'. The Greek enjoyed the pursuit of beauty through philosophy, sports, poetry, drama, sculpture and architecture. When the beauty of something gave joy to the viewer or hearer, the Greek said it was full of grace.

Also, Grace is the limitless kindness and mercy of God that is freely given to man undeserved and it came through Jesus, (John 1:17), for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ). But for Grace, no one could be saved,-by grace are ye saved through faith.

Love of God
There are two words translated love in the New Testament, Phileo and Agape.

Phileo: comes when people have a bond, often through a common interest or activity. Phileo love occurs when the connection is felt strongly. This sort of love relishes to be in the presence of another, it has to do with feeling that comes and goes with intensity.

Picture this: The cook, Nora, had announced her engagement to a frequenter at the kitchen, named Mike. But a year passed and nothing was heard of the wedding. So, one day, the owner inquired.  "When are you to be married, Nora?"  "Indade, an' it's niver at all, I'll be thinkin', mum," the cook answered sadly.

"Really? Why, what is the trouble?"
The reply was explicit:
"'Tis this, mum. I won't marry Mike when he's (drunk), an' he won't marry me when he's sober."

Love of God (Agape): Agape  is God's kind of love. It means: 'seeking the welfare and betterment of another regardless of how we feel'.

Agape is not expressed through emotion, it shows up in action. Agape is not a feeling, feeling is not the evidence of Agape. Love is a person and action is the evidence of it. It is selfless and unconditional.

Communion of Holy Spirit:  The word communion comes from the Greek word 'Koinonia' (fellowship, partnership, contribution, distribution, communication).

A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.

These three attributes - Grace of our Lord Jesus Chirst, Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Spirit - are all interlinked.

You see, God's love ushered in grace .  Grace formed the basis of Christ's substitutionary work. His substitutionary work and ascension ushered in the Holy Spirit.

God's love ushered in grace :
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16,)

John 1:17, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Juxtaposing (place side by side): first part of John 3:16 and later part of John 1:17and the entire 2Corinthian 8:9 scriptures:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son… Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ…For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ….. that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.

  To be continued!!!
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe