Monday, October 24, 2016

An Atmosphere of Love

Right now the air we breath is primarily O2 blended with other gases. Although we can't see it, air is contaminated with the by-products of life such as CO2. The plants need that, but we don't. However, they have it because they depend on us for their own livelihood. There are other things in the air which are inert, and even other gases which kill, mainly CO (carbon monoxide).

When the CO2 is great, as we all exhale, it can suffocate because the O2 is diluted. Plants would grow extremely well in the air of a crowded room.  If a fire was burned in a crowded room without proper ventilation, the carbon monoxide would kill everybody therein.

All these components in the air are classified as matter. Matter are things which take up space and has mass. Matter is what fills space. As you see our space is filled with good things (oxygen) and things which can insidiously harm (carbon dioxide). Then there are killers unseen and without odor, namely carbon monoxide. These are the things of the world.

All is well as long as humans breath pure clean air even though they contaminate it with their own breathing as they convert oxygen into carbon dioxide. It's when fuel is burned without enough air that the killer carbon monoxide is produced.

Now, let an analogy be made.

Without others we can breath pure air and produce only small amounts of carbon dioxide. Humans contaminate all that they come into contact. Without mankind the air is akin to love because it's good.

Psalm 33:5 "He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."
Without mankind all was right and without need for judgement. As such the earth was full of goodness of the Lord. In the beginning the earth was all about love. Even the love which we breathed was good for the plants because mankind tended to the garden as they were assigned to do. As Adam walked alone he was breathing God's love and producing love for the plants as carbon dioxide was expelled.  In essence he was sharing a little love with his garden.

Then Eve was created. At first they both breathed pure love! They were of the same world and that world was full of goodness. Their atmosphere was pure love, the love of each combining with the love of God for harmony. In that initial atmosphere was philia love and agape love combined with storge love.

Agape love was the base atmosphere supplied by God. Love is all about him! In the beginning as now, all God ever wanted, because he loved mankind so much, is that we love him back. That is the Greatest Commandment! The atmosphere in the garden was full of agape. It was breathed and was life.

Then God created Adam. He and God were alone with each other and the animals. God loved Adam and Adam loved God, but an additional type of love was a by-product of breathing this pure love. As Adam bonded with the animals storge love was added. That's the kinship between family members and even the animals. As dogs are now man's best friend, with Adam all the animals were his friends, and each had affection for the other! You dog lovers know that kind of love! Adam didn't have one of his kind as the animals did, but God, out of agape, created a woman for Adam.

When Adam looked upon the woman, agape love was still there. He still loved God, but also loved this woman. He loved God as his own self, and Eve in the same degree. The atmosphere was still pure and full of love.

Eve was Adam's sister! They were both made from the same matter and God was their Father. Don't think of that as incestuous because eros love was not part of the atmosphere. Eros is sexual love. God immediately told them to multiply, but it was for reproduction, not enjoyment, so it was not erotic in nature.

As sister and brother their type of love was philia. They had not lost their first love, God, nor their godly love for each other (agape), nor their love of the fellow beings (storge), but gained philia or brotherly love. Philia and storge were both by-products of agape. So far they breathed and exhaled love! All the air is love and the atmosphere is righteous.

Then a third entity entered the picture. Angels can take on any form. Lucifer appeared as a serpent. If anyone has walked through the woods they know that some poisonous snakes have a stench about them. As long as it's over there, wherever there is, the stench is insignificant because love abounds. However, the serpent presented his tree and the stench went undetected because of the beauty and pleasure it offered. Eve breathed it first! The appearance of the good fruit was attractive, but it was without aroma.

However, this fruit was carbon monoxide in this previously pure atmosphere. The world of Adam and Eve right there in the garden collided with supra-natural worlds. Whereas the air they breathed had been one of love, now dirty fatal gases were released into the air. Rebellion was the valve and pride was it's gauge. With one bite of the fruit, hate filled the air and it became contaminated. Adam and Eve, once immortal, began to die right at that moment because hate was released.

We think of hate as being mean-spirited, but hate is merely failure to love with agape.  No longer did godly love temper storge, and philia love, the three in one. Another type of love filled the air. It was eros. Thereafter, rather than multiplication being all about storge, it was now erotica. This is revealed by the covering of the flesh with fig leaves.

Worlds collided that day. The putrid stench from the realm of darkness invaded paradise. Erotica filled the air and all manner of things came about. Pride and licentiousness came on Adam and Eve as their spiritual flesh decayed. The aroma of hate that comes from rebellion filled the air. Ludus love came on their children. Even infants played erotically since has all humankind thereafter. As each came into contact, their interests became more selfish. Rather than Eve pleasing Adam by being his help-mate, now pleasure was all about her! Philautia, or self love, came on each of them. Now love was off God and on each other, but more about self. Each of us have that type of ungodly love from birth. Love of self is hate of God because it's failure for God to have his rightful and due love.

Philautia love displaced agape love, and then philia and storge love were poisoned. Eros and ludus came to be all about self. It was then that Adam and Eve became other gods before God and their flesh became their idol. Pure love was replaced by self-love and hate contaminated the pure air.

Men and women still have colliding worlds with Satan, but he does it with stealth. The world of one person collides with the world of another, both seeking philautia. It's not without odor now as carbon dioxide is, but has the foul odor of sulfur dioxide, the aroma of hate manifested. As each person clings to their love of self, corrosion occurs and the putrid air of two self-worlds intermingle and explode. Pride ignites the toxic gases and anger is the explosion.

People don't get along because love is not in the air. We say that we love God, but then allow our world's to collide. Jesus said to love thy neighbor. Doing that is philia love, but can be done only through agape love. With love of others, air become pure because God changes discord to accord! Love is breathed again, overpowering the stench of the oxide of hate.

Praga, or longstanding love comes about with deep understanding of each other. Long married couples exhibit this. Their air becomes pure as their world's cease to collide. Friends can do that too as they begin to understand each other. However, praga can only be in the atmosphere of agape because God is the author of this type of love!

As such mature Christians love without condition because they realize how the devil silently operates. He poisons even holy air and Christians flail about as if fanning away the ripples of hate penetrating the air. As one world collides with the other, only one person smiles; that is Satan. Those with praga love understand what's happening and don't let it happen. World's need not collide. Satan need not have pride in his destruction.

We shall always have hatred and colliding worlds in this atmosphere. It has already been tainted, but as we enter the kingdom of God, as we're born again, the Christian allows God to freshen the air. Meekness is the air freshener which is used and love is its aroma.

Christians, if they allow him, have an invisible shield around their world keeping it from colliding with other worlds. It's a hedge which God provides and is his invisible armor. It contains the hate and allows love to be breathed by all who will breath of it. How do Christians inhale the pure air of love? It's by reconciliation because only through accord can one experience the love of God! Let God take care of the carbon monoxide. All we need to do is breath what's his with a meek spirit.




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