Title: The Eternity of Love
Contents
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17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in heart, but reprove thy neighbor, and thou shalt bear no sin against him.
18. Do not take revenge, do not grumble against your fellow men, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
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8. Love will never fail, but prophecy will cease, tongues will cease, knowledge will cease.
9. We know in part and prophesy in part.
10. When the perfect comes, the partial will be destroyed.
11. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I gave up childish things.
12. Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face; now I know in part, then I will know fully, as the Lord knows me.
13. Wherefore, faith, hope, and love, these three will always be, and the greatest of these is love.
Content
Title: The Eternity of Love
Text: Lev 19:17-18, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
The Corinthian church was planted through the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul (Acts 18:1-17). It was a church that was pioneered across the Mediterranean and was an unforgettable church in the ministry of the Apostle Paul along with the Philippian church. There were many difficulties, but there was also a lot of grace at every turn. The wonderful encouragement and promises of grace I received from the Lord who appeared in the vision made me stay for 1 year and 6 months. Corinth's secularized culture required God's grace to that extent. It is also the story of how the gifts of the Holy Spirit were unique (Romans 5:20,21). These are the longest of the 13 epistles of the Apostle Paul (1 2 2 29). The church had many problems, such as distrust of the apostle Paul's apostleship, conflicts with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, doubts about the resurrection, disorder of the Lord's Supper, and church sects. But on the contrary, he left me with so many precious letters. It makes you think about the paradox of the gospel.
Among those gems, [Hymn of Love] is a representative example (1 Corinthians 13). It is a solution to the problem of sectarianism and charisma in the church, and it is the product of birth and suffering. The context in which the hymn of love is contained. “Seek ye the greater gift. I will also show you the best way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). “Seek after love. Desire spiritual things, especially to prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). The hymn of love begins with ‘the superiority of love’ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). It also refers to himself, avoiding reproaching the Corinthian church members. You want to say ‘you’, but you say ‘I’. It is an expression of deep and wide love and consideration. ‘Is it love? Isn't it love?' is important. Of course, the love here is related to agape love.
The source of agape love is God. ‘Agape love’ is God’s unconditional love revealed on the cross. It is the overflowing love that we, who do not deserve to be loved, received through the merits of Jesus' love on the cross (Romans 8:32). It's a love that doesn't fit. God's free grace - so it is a love that can only be received through faith, not works. Therefore, we cannot repay God for the love we have received in this way. This is because it is a qualitatively different love beyond the comparison of 'desire love' and 'disgraceful love'. We can only show that love to our neighbors by following the word of God, the Lord of love (Leviticus 19:17,18). Being pushed back by the love you have received, you flap your wings of love (John 13:34). This is Jesus' discipleship (John 13:35).
Today's New Testament text (1 Corinthians 13:8-13) speaks of the eternity and perfection of love. When agape (love) enters, the finiteness of time is overcome, and the relationship of life that transcends death begins. The faintness of 'looking in a mirror' is also overcome. Corinth was famous for making mirrors. At that time, the mirror was not a glass mirror, but was made by grinding an iron plate. It's bound to be dim. Glass mirrors date back to the 13th century. A finite human cannot fully understand the infinite God. process is required. So, walking along the path of love leads to perfection. Because the highest peak in life is love. We cannot see that day without love. Because God is love (1 John 4:8,16). This is because love is the greatest of faith, hope and love. Faith without love is cold, hope without love is cold. Love ignites faith and illuminates hope. Hallelujah!