Why should people love God? By grace God created us. We exist because God wanted us for companionship. Agapao is having the attitude, I am so grateful for being, that I honor my Creator. It is imperative that God be recognized as Creator in order to show love for Him. By denying Him as Creator, robs God of His Glory.
Glory means "fame" or "renown". God is Glorious because He has always Existed. What event is God famous for? Creating an existence for mankind. God's create. That's for what they are acclaimed. Thus, the most obvious thing mankind can do is appreciate God for creating them! That is an attitude. Taking our lives for granted is inglorious. or ignominious. Denying God his Creatorship is hatred. Miseo is "hate" in the Greek and according to Strongs' Dictionary means "to denounce". Thus, denying the Creator God is hatred because it denounces God - the Existence who is Supreme enough to Create.
Of course, there are reasons to denounce God. Strong's gives the reason: "to detest" but that detestation must have a reference. Scripture demonstrates that detestation comes from loving God less than other gods. It is not profundity but lessening. There are truly not "other gods". Those false gods were created by mankind. To love God means to accept Him as the One True God. I hope you see the problem here: God created mankind but mankind created other gods! In whom does the power lie? It is mankind who are "as gods" (Gen 3:5) or "like God" in the English Standard Version. Mankind are really not gods but Satan deluded mankind to think that we are. That was the original sin. Endeavoring to denounce God by stealing His Creatorship from Him is hatred.
There is nothing emotional about agapao-type love. It is the attitude, I'm not God... God Is! (That is born-again). The emotional response of love comes about when a person realizes that he nor anyone else shows God proper respect and is ashamed. Thus, coming to be ashamed of oneself is to love God!
Hatred of God is denouncing God's Existence. He is many things. He is Creator, Comforter, Savior, King, Goodness, and the like. Robbing God of any of His attributes is hatred. Because diminishing God is denouncing Him, rather than holding God in high esteem, that is hatred (miseo).
But we are to love others, not because they are gods, but because they are God's creatures. God created everyone, even evil people. Love of our fellow man is because that's who God created. Of course, we are to love animals because they are merely instinctual and are not evil. Even the serpent was not subtle itself; that was because it was Satan's mouthpiece.
On the other hand, mankind has more than instincts. We have souls. That is one of the three images of God. Some believe that soul and spirit are interchangeable. I do not. Spirit is from God. We are not gods. Thus, when mankind was created, God gave him a container for His Spirit. That container is the "soul". Analogous to that is the void into which creation was placed. The Creation is not e=mc² but Existence=Creation x Timelessness, or God made it all instantly!
God created in mankind that invisible vessel which holds His Power. Jesus referred to that vessel as his "cup". Thus, our soul is the cup for God's Holy Spirit! Those who wish to destroy that "cup" denounces the ones created in God's likeness. Thus the sanctity of human life is imperative to love. The Bible equates hatred and murder (1 John 3:15). Thus to denounce anyone is murderous. Denying one their livelihood is murder because it denounces their personhood - their image of God.
I am strongly pro-life. If you wish to call that anti-abortion so be it. That epithet was constructed in an attempt to make pro-lifers sound negative. There is nothing negative about being against hatred. One may say, I don't hate my baby, he is merely inconvenient at this time. That attitude denounces the developing human existence. That is the attitude that God's grace is not appreciated, and that convenience is of more importance than existence. God thinks the right to exist is paramount to anything, for both Him and His creatures. Of course, humans can come up with many ways to rationalize hatred. They denounce unborn babies as living creatures, and create by themselves fetal tissue. It's not funny the games even Christians play to placate their hatred for what belongs to God1
Hatred again is denouncing existence where it be God or people. It's not the intense emotional feelings, but the attitude of respect! Life is precious just because God made it. God is precious because He Exists! That attitude of God's magnificence is love, and respecting His creation is the same agapao-type love. We think of that as philio-type or friendship but loving others is more than being friends; it is respecting their right to exist because God created them! It all goes back to agapao-type love. When our founders expressed the :right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in the U.S. Declaration of independence, they were merely asserting mankind's purpose: to live and enjoy it. Abortion and any type of murder or hatred takes away those divine rights.
I thought of this notion because I have trouble emotionally loving God and people. We all do! I am not special in that attitude. I am, though, peculiar in that I elevate God high above myself and of course others. I know my place, and that is subservient to God! That attitude is agapao-type love. We need not be emotional to love but joy is an outcome of that attitude. Satan's angels often accuse me of not loving God. They want me to believe that when I am not joyous. They play games with my mind and attitude to create doubt. I stand firm in my faith. Faith is a demonstration of love.
Doubt is questioning God's Existence, Power, or Grace. That questioning diminishes God as our attitude becomes more dubious. Doubters don't have an emotional hatred, but essentially denounce God. That is hatred.
Some detest God because His authority keeps them from doing what they want to do. I don't believe atheists truly disbelieve but that they are in denial so that they can continue to do as they please. "Fortunately" denial of God does not make Him non-Existent but does denounce Him. That detestation is hatred. God becomes a mere barrier to pleasure, and if the Authority is removed from Existence, then fun can be obtained.
Denunciation of God is what Satan wants because Satan becomes de facto god. He cares little that humans perceive themselves as gods because he knows that they are his. Love is the attitude of the righteous; hatred of the unrighteous. There is no in-between - we are either for God or against Him. Those who follow the law of sin are haters and are guilty of murder. Those who follow the Law of God are lovers of God and man, and are protectors of life. Those who don't protect life side with Satan whether they admit it or not!
Jesus said simply, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15). The flip-side of that is, disregard my commandments and demonstrate your hatred of Me. That attitude - the willingness to obey God's commandments - is love of God but it also extends to others: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12). Look at what is implied therein: If you hate others, you hate Me. Mankind kills God by not loving others. We are they who crucified Christ. That confession is the start of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment