So many times during the 2 years of this blog I quoted Romans 5:5. But today I want to focus on the way Paul approached that all important statement. He introduced the statement by writing about HOPE. And then he linked hope to agape.
During the years of my increased understanding of the power of agape, hope has taken on deeper meaning. Of course, we today have to see the hope expressed by Paul as only a small glimmer of what we are beginning to see ahead of us. And it all has to do with the transformation in human relations that is being brought about by God’s agape.
Otherwise… the human race is saddled with another method, because our long history shows that there are only 2 ways to accomplish all the ethical commandments of the Bible (or of all the religions of the world, for that matter). One way is by means of complicated systems of crime and punishment. But of course, that long history has shown (sadly) that a complex system of laws enforced by a system of punishment, doesn’t work.
So after thousands of years of trying all kinds of punishment forms, the laws keep being broken -- people still cheat and steal from each other, people still beat up on one another, people still murder, and groups, communities, and nations still make war against each other.
The other method, of course, is for agape to transform the hearts and lives of people.
So my vision of hope for relations between individuals, within groups, between groups, in communities, and even between nations -- relies on agape.
And where does such a powerful, transforming force come from? According to 1 John 4 ….
…. “Agape is from God, and everyone who shares agape is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t share agape does not know God, because God is agape. … We have known and have believed the agape that God has for us. God is agape, and those who remain in agape remain in God and God remains in them. … There is no fear in agape, but perfect agape drives out fear, because fear expects punishment.” (1 Jn 4: 7-8; 16-18a)
