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Online Magazine: Edition 17

June/July 2007

Welcome to the Seventeenth Edition of the Online Magazine of the Thornleigh Seventh-day Adventist Church

Articles

Editorial

Love for God

by Norman Tew

It is interesting that the three general articles in this issue of the online magazine all deal with some aspect of love. They were submitted by different people, independently of each other since the publication of the last issue.

One talks of God's great gift of Love as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit; one talks of God's unconditional love and haste with which he answers our call, and one talks of our love for God in taking up our Cross as a small reflection of the great love of Jesus in going to the Cross for us.

In many ways Love is the theme of the Bible. We are told that "God is Love" 1 John 4:8 but note that John continues to say in verse 16 'And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.'

My definition of Love is "putting the needs of the one you love first". That is how God has dealt with us, and that is how he wants us to deal with Him and those around us.

The principles and aims of Satan and of all who follow him is selfishness by putting their own interests first. "I did it my way", "I put number one first" are echoes of Satan's methods. He promised Eve in the garden "You will be like God" Gen3:5 NRSV.

When Jesus said "Love your enemies" Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27 he was not talking of emotional love but of love as a principle.

When Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" John 13:34-35 he was not advocating an emotional or sexual type of love-in (to use distorted modern language). He was advocating care for each other, in the way God has cared for each of us.

Today love has been redefined to mean an emotional or erotic feeling. This is part of the attack on a God of love, by taking the focus away from his true type of love.

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