The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 22:1-2 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to
him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land
of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I
will tell you.”

Revelation 22:14-15, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have
the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers
and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

The word “love” is mentioned some 740 times in the whole of Scripture. It’s possibly the most used word at Christmas time. Yet, like all words, its importance lies in how it’s used and also by whom. In Genesis, it is recorded that Abraham loved his son Isaac; thus, the LORD tested Abraham to see if he loved (????? aheb) and trusted Him more than his son.

Love is also mentioned in a negative sense in the Revelation verses above. There the Word speaks of loving and practicing lying, things we ought not to do.

The Biblical Dictionary says, “While the Hebrew and Greek words for ‘love’ have various shades and intensities of meaning, they may be summed up in some such definition as this: Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest in the well-being of the one loved.” In other words, we must have the other person’s interest in view above that of our own if we are to call it love.

There are three basic Greek words that translate “love”: ?????? agapao, the divine love that Christ Jesus had for us when He died on the Cross for our sins. Trench says that agape is “a word born within the bosom of revealed religion.” Closely aligned with agape is ????? phileo, which expresses affection for another person.

The third word for “love” is eros, sensual passion. It falls fully outside of everything pure. Trench speaks forcefully when he says, “I observe in conclusion that eros… never occurs in the New Testament (and) there is no trace of it in any heathen writer whatever.” Some words lie not only outside the realm of Holy Scripture, but completely outside of historical literature.

It’s unfortunate that English has but one word for love. We use the same word in reference to things holy and things unholy. God’s Love, however, is always pure. So, when we speak of “love, it should always be in the context of purity. “God loved us and sent His Son.”

Think about the purity of Jesus Christ in contrast to your own life. You long to be pure, and you can be. Just confess your impurity to Christ and He will wash you clean. God bless you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom