God's love

[Nessa]

How would you say God loves us?

Is it purely agape love?

I mean I know lewis says there are four types of love and God is actually love but how does it work?

Obviously there is eros love but that isnt the way God loves us or is eros like a passionate love without being sexual necessarily? I thought it came from the word erotic though?

[Nessa]

ok,

looks like eros is just sexual.

But what about God being the lover of our souls and his intense passion?

Does that all fall under the other three loves?

[Storyteller]

Are you referring to the book Four Loves by C.S. Lewis? I have that in my shop! Looks like I may be reading it...

My gut feeling to how God loves us? And I havent really thought about this (but I will) is parental love.

[Kurieuo]

CS Lewis states venus is sexual "love", and explicitly says eros isn't about sex.
He doesn't even include sex as one of the loves, but does see it as a most natural outworking of eros.

[theophilus]

God uses marriage, the highest expression of eros, as a metaphor to describe his relationship with his people. In the Old Testament Israel is called his wife and worshiping other gods is called adultery. In the New Testament the Church is the bride of Christ.

[EssentialSacrifice]

storyteller:
My gut feeling to how God loves us? And I haven't really thought about this (but I will) is parental love.

I feel this way too, about the Father anyway. It is very comforting since both my parents have departed and i miss their participation in my and my kids lives.

[PaulSacramento]

How would you say God loves us?

Is it purely agape love?

I mean I know lewis says there are four types of love and God is actually love but how does it work?

Obviously there is eros love but that isnt the way God loves us or is eros like a passionate love without being sexual necessarily? I thought it came from the word erotic though?

It is a personal love.
God loves us as a species of course ( He loves humanity) BUT He also loves us individually and personally.

[Storyteller]

storyteller:
My gut feeling to how God loves us? And I haven't really thought about this (but I will) is parental love.

I feel this way too, about the Father anyway. It is very comforting since both my parents have departed and i miss their participation in my and my kids lives.

It means a great deal to me too because of my broken relationship with my side of our family. He gives me something to cling to, an ideal of parenting to reach for. His love is healing my wounds, my sense of being abandoned. In Him, I find the fatherly love I have always craved, as well as the maternal love. I feel safe, loved and wanted in the grace of our Father.

[Nessa]

CS Lewis states venus is sexual "love", and explicitly says eros isn't about sex.
He doesn't even include sex as one of the loves, but does see it as a most natural outworking of eros.

So can eros be a non sexual love that God can love us with? Like when God is passionate is that where that love comes from?

I do see God loving us as a parent but I also see more when I read the bible.

That God is a jealous God and is passionate, consuming love that goes beyond parent child relationship.

[Storyteller]

I think Gods love goes beyond any kind of love we feel right now.

[1over137]

Are you referring to the book Four Loves by C.S. Lewis? I have that in my shop! Looks like I may be reading it...

It is a great book.

[Storyteller]

Are you referring to the book Four Loves by C.S. Lewis? I have that in my shop! Looks like I may be reading it...

It is a great book.

Guess what I'm reading next then

[B. W.]

How would you say God loves us?

Incomprehensibly...

Go to the beach someday and from that beach pick up one single solitary small grain of sand between your fingers. Then look at the beach and imagine all the sand in all the earth, Next, gaze up into the sky and imagine all the sand in the entire universe ...

Look at the solitary grain of sand held in your fingertips, think of one grain as earth and imagine why would God come to this one speak of sand at all to redeem a 'lot' like us who screw everything up, blame God for allowing our own screw ups, deny him, why would he even bother?

That is why my answer to How would you say God loves us? is:

Incomprehensibly...
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[Nessa]

Years ago I came across this quote on agape love.

Forgot all about it until recently.

Agape love -

It’s an unconditional giving of yourself for another with no strings attached. God’s Love is a Love that keeps on loving even when the object of that Love ceases to please or even tries to stop that Love from coming - nancy missler

When I first read it years ago, I knew that was it. What Gods love is suppose to be like.
Pretty tough call to love like that though.

[Kurieuo]

CS Lewis states venus is sexual "love", and explicitly says eros isn't about sex.
He doesn't even include sex as one of the loves, but does see it as a most natural outworking of eros.

So can eros be a non sexual love that God can love us with? Like when God is passionate is that where that love comes from?

I do see God loving us as a parent but I also see more when I read the bible.

That God is a jealous God and is passionate, consuming love that goes beyond parent child relationship.

I think Gods love goes beyond any kind of love we feel right now.

I like A's response.

What we have is an imago dei similarity, only with love.
We can all see and identify certain loves evidently within Natural Law.
The reason we can see this design, isn't because humanity created such, but love is was found in the fabric of our nature and design.

It is important to see, that CS Lewis' Four Loves, however we name or splice them, are clearly based upon those we experience in/understand by natural law. And, as such, each have a certain purpose and design to them.

The role of Eros is to cause the strong bond of attraction. Think Cupid's arrow. Hits two people, and now nothing can distract their gaze from each other. The connection is just too strong. The two people feel an intense and strong desire and attraction to and for each other. No faults can be seen. BUT, as strong as eros is, it wanes and fades and should lead into deeper and more mature loves.

The intended design is to bring two together. It evidences, if you will God's intention in nature for a pair to exist together and love each other. Eros doesn't bring three or more people together -- only ever two. Venus on the other hand, can be lust... you can lust for two or more people. Eros can only be had between two people. Eros may not care about the sex of a person either. Being strongly attracted to someone of the same sex, that too is Eros. It also doesn't care if you're married. If you're disconnected in your marriage, then you NEED to understand the power of Eros to cause destruction. Lewis' Four Loves rescued my marriage. Helped me to see Eros wasn't the real deal, when I fell in love with someone else, but rather it was a love gone wrong outside of its intended design.

As for how Eros represents God's love... I'd say with its passion and strong attraction. The unity of such that you feel like soul partners. The lights are switched on between you and another. They complete you, you complete them. It was so meant to be! Right? Most of us have probably all felt that. Complete infatuation, but returned... Eros shows the power and strength of love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And also, that which God has for us, his creation. If God loves us, then God loves us fully. He's infatuated with us. Passionate about us. As you say, "jealous" -- jealous to not have us. We were meant to be with Him, and it rips at God's heart if any of us reject Him.

So as an aside, of course, that is where Satan dedicates his attention. Ripping as many away from God as he can, whether that be other angelic beings, or human beings. Causing as much death and destruction, because he knows that pains God the most.

I'm just writing my thoughts here. I certainly don't have a corner on this topic, but I do know what CS Lewis said regarding Eros because I read it more than a dozen times and broke it a part almost word by word to save my marriage.