BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF LOVE FOR GOD IS TO OBEY HIS COMMANDS
The U.S. Episcopal Church, the Most Reverend Michael Curry participated in preaching a sermon at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. His gospel message received universal praise among all people. ...
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1JOHN 4:7- 21.
On Saturday, 19th May, the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George’s Chapel of the Windsor castle was broadcasted. Countless millions around the world watched the service, in which the first black presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Most Reverend Michael Curry participated in preaching a sermon.
Bishop Curry started his passionate sermon on the burning love of God, addressing six hundred guests as “brothers and sisters”. He quoted some passages from “Song of Songs”: ‘…for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave…’, and also from 1Jn. 4:7-8, which was quoted at the beginning of this letter. Bishop Curry also referred to how Jesus Christ summed up the Moses’ law as the greatest commandment in the New Testament:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).
He also referred to the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way.
He, also referring to some others’ words, compared such love to one of the great technological discoveries of human history, i.e., power of revolutionary “fire”, and challenged countless viewers to see how the ‘redemptive power of love’ can change this tired world into a new world. Then he finished his 14 minute sermon with the following words:
My brother, my sister, God love you, God bless you, and may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.
This passionate gospel message of love given by Bishop Curry received universal praise among all people. How did he end up being selected to deliver a sermon in such an event, and to such a large audience? The answer may lie in his profile as a human rights activist. According to bbc.com, Bishop Curry is an advocate of the same-sex marriage, and LBGT rights, which of course was not mentioned in his address:
He was ordained as a priest in 1978, is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and has spoken on issues including social justice, immigration policy and marriage equality. …Bishop Curry defended the Episcopal Church's move to allow same sex couples to marry in church in 2015, which caused some churches to cut ties. The US Episcopal Church is one of only two Anglican churches worldwide that allow gay marriage in church - the other being the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Another contributing factor may lie in the changes that have taken place within the Church of England and the Royal Family. The Church of England seems to have radically changed even within a decade so as to be ready to break with tradition and formality, and fully adopt a modern style. In this royal wedding, a lot of American culture, which is the bride’s homeland was adopted, including gospel music, and the unprecedentedly liberal ceremony.
Among the nation, there seems to be a strong and eager expectation for the Royal Family to become more open and relevant to society, and the modern wedding ceremony would have been welcomed by masses of people around the world.
On the whole, it can be said that if an opportunity is effectively used for presenting the gospel at such a large scale, any means is applauded and good for Christianity, quoting Apostle Paul’s message:
But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice (Phi.1:18).
However, a question remains as to how presenting a different God or a different gospel is justified. It might be a sign of the end times that the Christ and God being presented in many churches today is different to that which is presented in the Bible. For example, in chapter 5 of 1 John, which precedes the passage that is quoted at the beginning, John gives a clear definition of the “love for God”:
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith (Lines added).
Which God had Bishop Curry preached?