God is Agape Love. Those that worship Him must worship in Love AND Truth.
Love is a terrible thing. It lays bare falsehoods. Anyone clinging to falsehoods are destroyed.
Agape Love leaves no room for Self.
We cannot even hope to fully walk in Agape Love.
We cannot even hope to Approach the God of Agape Love.
Yet despite this He is Agape Love and He made a way.
Through His Son He has redeemed all. Sin was nailed to the cross. The penalty for sin for the entire world has ALREADY been paid.
The disconnect is not that God is not Agape Love. It is that we refuse to accept Agape Love.
In refusing to accept the truth we are left with only the lie. The lie only sees what you have posted above.
PS: Of course Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Life.
Jesus is God. The Father and Jesus and the Spirit are one.
Just like a man and his wife become one when they are married.
God did not change because we or anybody else sinned. God is Love (Agape).
That Love is life to those who seek it.
That Love is death to those who reject it. Not because God is punishing us but because we have punished our selves by rejecting truth.
So yes, God is punishing us but not the way people think.
It is built into the very fabric of reality that God created. The punishment is a natural outcome.
Agapé Gr. means -- (1) affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love. (2) love feasts.
The Greek root word for 'Agapé' is 'Agapaō', which means -- 1. of persons (a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. (2) of things (a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
So, confining 'Agapé' to just 'love' is not understanding its entire meaning.
Your emphasis on God's love, in light of all of his attributes, seems to be a painful twisting and the antithesis of the love that you paint a picture of.
Love is not one of His attributes. Love is who He is.
I think the misunderstanding might be in our definition of Love.
There are 5 greek words that are translated into English using the word love.
I do not have the greek words in front of me now but they are romantic love, brotherly love, love of things (I love that food, I love that car etc) erotic love.
They are basically things that make self feel good.
I do not think that is a coincidence. That was by design to order to sow confusion.
When people talk about love it brings up emotions or feelings. So when someone talks about Agape love they make the same connection.
Agape Love is not the "feelings" love.
Agape Love reaches past self.
What does the term “attribute” mean when applied to God?
Theologically:
Attribute: an inherent characteristic of God.
Each attribute is the whole of the Divine Essence – each is eternal, omnipresent, and immutable.
God is Agape Love. Those that worship Him must worship in Love AND Truth.
Love is a terrible thing. It lays bare falsehoods. Anyone clinging to falsehoods are destroyed.
Agape Love leaves no room for Self. We cannot even hope to fully walk in Agape Love. We cannot even hope to Approach the God of Agape Love.
Yet despite this He is Agape Love and He made a way.
Through His Son He has redeemed all. Sin was nailed to the cross. The penalty for sin for the entire world has ALREADY been paid.
The disconnect is not that God is not Agape Love. It is that we refuse to accept Agape Love.
In refusing to accept the truth we are left with only the lie. The lie only sees what you have posted above.
PS: Of course Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is God. The Father and Jesus and the Spirit are one. Just like a man and his wife become one when they are married.
God did not change because we or anybody else sinned. God is Love (Agape). That Love is life to those who seek it. That Love is death to those who reject it. Not because God is punishing us but because we have punished our selves by rejecting truth.
So yes, God is punishing us but not the way people think. It is built into the very fabric of reality that God created. The punishment is a natural outcome.
Agapé Gr. means -- (1) affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love. (2) love feasts.
The Greek root word for 'Agapé' is 'Agapaō', which means -- 1. of persons (a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. (2) of things (a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
So, confining 'Agapé' to just 'love' is not understanding its entire meaning.
With God, love is not a get of jail card.
Your emphasis on God's love, in light of all of his attributes, seems to be a painful twisting and the antithesis of the love that you paint a picture of.
Love is not one of His attributes. Love is who He is.
I think the misunderstanding might be in our definition of Love.
There are 5 greek words that are translated into English using the word love.
I do not have the greek words in front of me now but they are romantic love, brotherly love, love of things (I love that food, I love that car etc) erotic love. They are basically things that make self feel good.
I do not think that is a coincidence. That was by design to order to sow confusion.
When people talk about love it brings up emotions or feelings. So when someone talks about Agape love they make the same connection. Agape Love is not the "feelings" love. Agape Love reaches past self.
What does the term “attribute” mean when applied to God?
Theologically: Attribute: an inherent characteristic of God. Each attribute is the whole of the Divine Essence – each is eternal, omnipresent, and immutable.
What I am trying to say is this. God is Agape Love. The attributes of Agape Love are as have been stated above