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God's timing is impeccable. In hindsight, He always does things at just the right time. It is in real time that God's timing can feel disjointed and lagging in our lives. Even though the feelings of timing being off are there, timing is something that is just as perfect as the God we serve.
So it is with the timing chosen for when the Bible was to be written. Jesus could have come into our world at any point in history. Why did God pick 2000 years ago for Him to step into our frame of reference? Nothing God does is by accident. Even the timing of Jesus' birth is something that is part of a carefully thought out and intricately plan of this God that made us.
I've heard it said that Jesus' appearance was timed as it was, in part, because of the predominant language spoken at the time of His life. On the surface that choice of timing seems kind of strange. I'd like to use today's presentation to talk about how, even the language used to describe God's appearance on earth, is part of a plan to help you and me live out the life of a victor God has made for us.
You see, at the time Jesus walked the earth, Greek was the predominant language. I'm told Greek is a very precise language. You can tell a lot about what was being said by which word the author chose to use to communicate what was happening at the time. This is such an important reality when one is communicating a message that is meant to last the ages. Having a language that is precise makes it hard for the message to be altered like it can be with a language that is less precise.
You don't have to go any further than our own national language to see what I mean by that last line. The English language is not as precise as the Greek language is when it comes to word meaning. That opens the door to various interpretations of what was communicated about our founding and history. We are less than 300 years old and yet, our founding documents are being interpreted in ways the founding fathers never intended. It is the relative imprecise nature of our language that opens the door for wildly different interpretations to happen. The Greek language doesn't allow that door to be opened quite as wide.
To help us grasp this point, I'd like to talk about the word love in the Bible. In past presentations, I have mentioned the fact that there are several words in Greek that are translated as love in the New Testament of the Bible. Today, I'd like to look more closely at the different aspects of the word love from the Bible and see how they might impact our journey from victim thinking to victor living.
In the New Testament there are four words that are used when it comes to our English word, love. They are Eros (Pronounced: AIR-ohs), Storge (Pronounced: STOR-jay), Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh), and Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay). Let's talk about each love and see where it takes us today.
Eros is the romantic love. It is where we get the word erotic. As you can imagine, this love is a passionate love. It is a love that isn't hard to understand, yet it is a love that can work to make us feel like victims if it is used as a strategy in any way in our lives. So many of us use Eros love as a means of finding something that God wants to be part of providing. Sex has become a coping mechanism for so many of us victim thinkers in today's age. Eros was never intended to be a process of fulfillment. Romantic love was given as a gift. Using it as a strategy works to reinforce our own victim thinking and threatens to make victims of those we love with an Eros kind of love.
Storge (Pronounced: STOR-jay) is best described as a family kind of love. This is the kind of affection and devotion that comes between close kin. Sibling love, parental love and a child's love for the parent are all examples of this kind of love. Where Eros has more to do with the physical communication of love Storage speaks to a devotion that is the result of a bond that comes with family. It is when the family love has failed us in soul piercing ways that victim thinking can take hold in a person's life. Broken families has resulted in a warped view of Storge love in our world today. This has perpetuated the epidemic of victim thinking unlike any other kind of love described in the Bible. No family exhibits Storge love perfectly. For that reason, a lot of forgiveness is required for the victor to fully live the life God intends for him or for her.
Then there is Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh) love. This is a brotherly love. It communicates a strong attraction to another being without the physical side that comes with Eros love. It is quite similar to Storge in that there is a strong since of devotion in Philia love. With Philia love, however, that devotion comes from choice where familial love comes through a devotion that is a result of blood relations. Just like Storge, Philia love can cause victim thinking tendencies as that love is misapplied in a person's live. Relying on either family or brotherly love as the basis of an identity needed to live the victor's life is a strategy that promises repeated failure and pain.
Lastly there is Agape love. This love is often described as unconditional love. Agape is considered the highest type of the four loves in the Bible. It is a selfless and sacrificial love. Agape love is what we all look for but it is what we all have the hardest time dispensing. Who of us is a master at loving without condition? Who of us has ever been able to consistently love in a selfless manner? So many of us have been victimized in ways by the lack of Agape love in our lives. So many of us have caused victims in our wake because we have applied love in conditional and completely self serving ways to those around us. We will spend more time on this subject in tomorrow's presentation.
Why is it a big deal to have love so carefully defined for us in the Bible? I believe it is because how we interpret love in our lives plays a big role in our ability to live outside the context of victim thinking. It is when we come to expect one kind of love and the provider of that love offers a different kind of love that we get things confused in victim thinking ways. This is especially the case when we consider the love God has for us.
Today's Bible reading highlights the permanence and power of Agape love. It says...
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NIV)
It is when we get loves confused that we can find victimization being part of our lives. That's why knowing what kind of love is being communicated goes a long way to help with expectations. It is when we are expecting one kind of love and receive another that love can damage us in long lasting ways.
That's all the time we have for today's presentation. I hope this discussion opens the door to love in your life more fully. I know that love has been misapplied in your life and that has caused damage. God knows that as well. Know this, God's love is trustworthy. It is always applied in ways that have no conditions attached. When we see God in that light, love has the ability to heal a lot of the hurts that have come as our expectations have taken us to places where victim thinking has resulted.
Take time today to think through how Eros, Storage, Philia and Agape might play a role in how you see your identity. Though your romantic, family and brotherly love might have failed you from time to time, the unconditional love God has for you never fails. You are the victor God loved into being. Let that fact be the source for the love you show to all those you come across in your life today.
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