The Greatest Love Story

The greatest love story:

Explanation of the types of love:

According to the Bible love is of different kinds. There are three principal Greek words which can be translated as “love” in English, each with different connotations. The two most common were 1) Eros, which refers to sexual love (Eros love - known as 'erotic love', is based on strong romantic feelings towards another. This is the love between a man and a woman)

And 2) philos, which means friendship or brotherly love (Philos love - a love based on friendship between two people who share a mutual, 'give-and take' relationship). Eros does not appear in the New Testament, but philos does. And the third kind of love in the Bible is Agape love.

3) Agape love – Agape (ah-gah-pay) is the main word used for “love” in the New Testament. Unconditional love that is always giving and impossible to take or be a taker. It devotes total commitment to seek your highest best no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not. This is the original and only true form of love.

How is "agape love" different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. Agape does not mean charity, a term which the King James translators carried over from the Latin. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character.

Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself. The Apostle John affirms this in 1 John 4:8:“God is love.” God does not merely love; He is love itself. Everything God does flows from His love. But it is important to remember that God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental love such as we often hear portrayed. God loves because that is His nature and the expression of His being. He loves the unlovable and the unlovely (us!), not because we deserve to be loved, but because it is His nature to do so, and He must be true to His nature and character. God’s love is displayed most clearly at the Cross, where Christ died for the unworthy creatures who were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), not because we did anything to deserve it, “but God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The object of agape love never does anything to merit His love. We are the undeserving recipients upon whom He lavishes that love. His love was demonstrated when He sent His Son into the world to “seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), and to provide eternal life to those He sought and saved. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for those He loves.

Now let us go to the Bible and look at the greatest love story.

Genesis 1:26-29 (Contemporary English Version)

26God said, "Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures."

27So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. 28God gave them his blessing and said:

Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.

29I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat.

Genesis 2:7-9 (Contemporary English Version)

7The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man. [b] God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. 8The LORD made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there. 9The LORD God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life--the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.

Genesis 2:15-17

15The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 16But the LORD told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 17except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!"

Genesis 2:21-25

21So the LORD God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, 22the LORD made a woman out of the rib.

The LORD God brought her to the man, 23and the man exclaimed,

"Here is someone like me!