Why is Love the Greatest? (1 Corinthians 12:29-13:2, 13)

Why is Love the Greatest? (1 Corinthians 12:29-13:2, 13)



 

29 다 사도이겠느냐 다 선지자이겠느냐 다 교사이겠느냐 다 능력을 행하는 자이겠느냐

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

 

30 다 병 고치는 은사를 가진 자이겠느냐 다 방언을 말하는 자이겠느냐 다 통역하는 자이겠느냐

30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

 

31 너희는 더욱 큰 은사를 사모하라 내가 또한 가장 좋은 길을 너희에게 보이리라

31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

 

1 내가 사람의 방언과 천사의 말을 할지라도 사랑이 없으면 소리 나는 구리와 울리는 꽹과리가 되고

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

 

2  내가 예언하는 능력이 있어 모든 비밀과 모든 지식을 알고 또 산을 옮길 만한 모든 믿음이 있을지라도 사랑이 없으면 내가 아무 것도 아니요

 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

 

13  그런즉 믿음, 소망, 사랑, 이 세 가지는 항상 있을 것인데 그 중의 제일은 사랑이라

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

 

 

1. When you choose to believe in Jesus, God gives you a gift. Among the churches in the New Testament, the church of Corinth in particular received many gifts. God gave them the gift of healing various sicknesses, the gift of prophecy, etc. While this abundance of gifts and abilities seems great, in reality it caused problems.

 

They began to place the gifts of the Holy Spirit before everything else which created division and discord. Hearing this, the Apostle Paul sent the church of Corinth two letters to help solve their problems (1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians in the Bible). In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul counsels:

 

“30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”

 

What is the “best gift” and what is “a more excellent way?” It is the love of God, “agape love.”

 

Chapter 13 continues:

 

“1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

 

2. There is a better and greater gift, there is a better way and that is the agape love of God. Gifts without love are neither meaningful nor useful. They only cause conflict. The Corinthian church had many gifts, but no love, thus when they used their gifts with the absence of love, all that resulted were disagreements and schisms.

 

3. Think about it. How wonderful and amazing would it be to receive the gifts and abilities of “speak[ing] with the tongues of men and angels”, prophecy, or faith that can move mountains? But if all these gifts are without love, these gifts and abilities mean nothing.

 

Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians ends by telling us:

“13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

 

Of course a church cannot be without faith, hope and love. These 3 things must be present; they are necessary. However, the greatest and most important of the three is love. But why? Why is it that Paul, who constantly talked about the importance of faith, tells the Corinthians that love is first and foremost?

 

Let us take the time today to understand why love is the greatest and while we do so, let us revive the agape love that had been fading in our hearts.

 

A) Why is Love the Greatest?

 

1. First, love is the quintessential defining characteristic of God. God is known to love. He is love, in and of itself. God Himself is love.

 

1 John 4:7-8

“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

 

These verses tell us that love is of God; to love is to be a part of God. Being a part of the world feels great, but it is fleeting and short-lived. 1 Peter 1:24 reminds us that things of flesh and the world “are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Love in God endures forever.

 

In addition, God loved us first. He loved us when we were sinners and undeserving of His love.

 

1 John 4:19 – “19 We love because he first loved us.”

 

Romans 5:8 – “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Isn’t that amazing? This is God’s love. Believe that He loved you first even when you were a sinner.

 

2. God’s love is a love so great He sent His only Son to die in order to give us life.

 

1 John 4:9-10

“9 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. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

 

God loves us so much He sent His Son as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. So, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ receives eternal life.

 

John 3:16 – “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

What should we be most thankful for in the whole world? We should be thankful for the return of our lives, for our salvation, and the love and grace that saved us from the fires of Hell. What greater love can there be? Dying for someone is not easy. Not even family can easily make that choice. Of course it happens, but more often it doesn’t.

 

B) Why is Love the Greatest? only Love Lasts Forever

 

Compared to eternal love, the gifts of prophecy, speaking in tongues, or knowledge are only temporary.

 

1 Corinthians 13:8 – “8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”

 

When we enter the gates of Heaven, faith and hope will fade for they are no longer needed, but love will remain forever. Love will never disappear and its true worth is only strengthened over time. This is why love is the most important.

 

Everything we know and experience on this earth are only partial; they are not whole; there are parts missing. When something whole does appear, the things that are incomplete will vanish.

 

1 Corinthians 13:9-10

“9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”

 

What is complete is God’s love and Jesus Christ. When God’s love enters our hearts and lives, everything else we valued pales in comparison; all other things become needless. Compared to God’s love, speaking in tongues and prophecies are no big deal.

 

Our faith is unclear and hazy as if we’re looking at something through a mirror instead of directly at it. The Roman Empire did not have the mirrors we have today. They were cloudy and blurry because they were made of copper. These mirrors made people’s faces appear yellow and indistinct. But we are told that there will be a day when we see the face of the Lord clearly, face-to-face, instead of in a muddled mirror.

 

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

 

C) Why is Love the Greatest? It is Proof of Salvation

 

1. Do you know just how important love is? It is through love that one can see if a person has been reborn as a disciple of Christ. To love your brothers and sisters is not a requirement of entering Heaven, but it is evidence of a true Christian.

 

1 John 3:14 – “14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”

 

A person who does not love is a person who still dwells in sin and death. A person who does not love his/her brothers and sisters is a person without eternal life.

 

1 John 3:15 – “15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”

 

This is how important love is. Do you love your brothers/sisters? If so, know that you have passed from death to life. Do you lack interest in loving your brothers/sisters? You may still be living in death. Do you hate your brothers/sisters? Know that eternal life does not reside in you.

 

2. We must remember that in order for us to be confident on the day of judgment, we must be people of love.

 

1 John 4:17 – “17 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.”

 

The Book of James emphasizes the importance of love in our actions:

“14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Acts of faith without love is pointless; faith without love is a dead faith.

 

1 John 4:20 – “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.”

 

3. Author and lecturer C.S. Lewis illustrates our spiritual growth as such: “We are born from ‘eros’, raised and nurtured by ‘storge’, matured through ‘philia’, and completed by ‘agape.’”

 

Our physical bodies are the result of eros, a love of erotic bond. We are raised and nurtured by stroge, a love of family, familiarity, and empathy bond. We mature through philos, a love of friend bonds. Finally, we are completed through, and acting as, agape, the great and holy unconditional love of God.

 

Which type of “love” are you at in your life? Are you still at ‘eros’, desiring to “be in love” with someone? Or are you sticking to storge, loving only your family? Or have you reached philos, loving friends with sincerity?

 

Agape love is a love where you sacrifice yourself. Agape is when you love someone who could not possibly be loved. It is the love of the Good Samaritan. It is a love that loves enemies.

 

Matthew 5:46 – “46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?”

 

Matthew 5:44 – “44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

 

 

Korean pastor Yang-won Son was deemed the nickname, “Atomic Bomb of Love”. Not only did he suck out the blood and pus of lepers with his own lips, but he adopted the man who killed his two sons as his own. He took in the person who murdered his own sons as his own and ate and slept with him under one roof. He prayed and cared for him. In the end he too became a pastor. (Although he disappeared out of guilt later on…)

 

This is the of love of our God. How mature is your love? How great is your love? Let it be agape. Let agape nest in your hearts. Let this agape love of God and Jesus Christ overflow in your lives.