Theos Agape

The title of this blog is "Theos Agape," a Greek sentence that means "God is love" and is found in 1 John 4:8 in the New Testament.  I chose this as the title of my blog because it gets at the heart of everything God is about, and thus, everything Christianity and Christians should be about.


Because God, in his very essence, is love, every action of his comes from love.  The action of God that most clearly displays his love is the crucifixion of his Son for the salvation of the world.  Sometimes, when we go through suffering, or when we see others suffering, we are tempted to question God's love.  After all, how could a God of love allow us and others to go through such pain?  This is a perfectly legitimate question to which no easy answer will suffice.  However, through the cross, God says, as loudly as he can, that he loves us to the end; and no amount of suffering we go through nullifies this.  In other words, God loves us the same, whether we are suffering or not.


Another of God's actions that displays his love is the commandments which he has given us to live by.  These are found in the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the ethical sections of the New Testament epistles, and the conscience.  These are expressions of God's love because he created us and has wired us for happiness; and he knows we will find happiness when we love him and our neighbor by keeping the commandments for his glory and our neighbor's benefit.  In other words, a God of love created us to be people of love; and we will be truly happy only to the extent that we love.  All the commandments are specific ways love expresses itself.


Think about it, and if you are inclined, please share your thoughts.