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Love: a desire, passion for and realization of true
oneness / community.
Human love: the desire, passion for and realization
of oneness / community with another person.
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Love represents the longing of the human heart
to become a part of a true community, whether with another
person or a group of people.
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It is a result of the breaking of community
which was the consequence of Adam’s sin in the Garden.
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The ultimate manifestation of human love is
sexual union in the marriage relationship when 2 become 1.
Divine love:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life.
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The ultimate manifestation of God’s love, His
desire to draw us into oneness / community was demonstrated by
God forsaking His Son on the cross, making Him sin for us, and
in the process breaking [on some level] oneness / community
for a moment in order to create an even larger community.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (which being translated
is, My God, My God, why did You forsake Me?)
2 Cor.
5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Biblical love:
The desire, passion for and realization of our oneness /
community with God, that is, our identity is in community
with God rather than self.
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There is a God-shaped void in each of us.
Nothing can take the place of God in our hearts. There is this
inner longing, this drive, this desire for union with the
divine and until we make that connection we're never going to
feel at peace.
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Augustine's prayer reminds us, "Thou has
created us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they
rest in thee.“
Biblical love:
The desire, passion for and realization of our oneness/community
with the Children of God, that is, our identity is in community
with His Children rather than self.
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If we love God, and realize our oneness /
community with God, then we will also realize our love for
(oneness / community with) other children of God who are a
part of that oneness / community.
Gal. 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ
(my individual identity as being estranged from God)
; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;(my
new identify as oneness / community with God)
and the [life] which I now live in the flesh
(the life I live in this body)
I live by faith in the Son of God,
(the personal commitment to the oneness / community we share
with God)
who loved me and gave Himself for me.(the
ultimate manifestion of God's love, His desire to draw us into
oneness / community was demonstrated by God forsaking His Son on
the cross, making Him sin for us, and in the process breaking
oneness / community for a moment in order to create an even
larger community.) |
