Article of Faith: The kingdom dynamics of love, By Femi Aribisala

God tells us what He knows we will not understand.

Jesus says, “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15).

This automatically means God hates the person the world loves. It also means the world would hate the person that God loves.

Jesus explains this carefully to His disciples:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19). 

It is not surprising, therefore, that while Queen Elizabeth was highly esteemed among men, since her death, many people have now seen her in hell by revelation.

Love of God

John writes:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8).

Since love is of God, the love commonly expressed must be counterfeit. The love that John talks about here can only be found in those born of God. It cannot be found in those who are not born again and do not have the spirit of love which comes from the Holy Spirit.

Remember this: God gives the believer a spirit of love.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The spirit of love does not belong to the unbeliever.

Balaam, the great prophet who turned apostate, says truly: 

“God is not a man.” (Numbers 23:19).

So, when we talk of the love of God, we are talking of the love of God. We are not talking about the love of man or men. We are talking about a completely different kind of love than the love known to men. We are talking about the love that is peculiar to God.

Learning About God

To learn something of God, we must unlearn something of man. This is because Satan is a counterfeiter. He is the ruler of this world who is determined that men should not know God. As a result:

“All that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16).

Satan counterfeits the attributes of God in men. Thus, if Jesus is called Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6), then Lionel Messi is also called wonderful. Satan popularised the word ‘wonderful,’ making it generally applicable also to men like Messi because he does not want us to know and glorify the exclusivity of Jesus.

God says to man:

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Therefore, for us to know God, we have to unlearn the wonder of Messi and make Jesus’ wonder exclusive. This is the prescription of the scriptures:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2).

We must always be cognisant of the fact that: “God is greater than man.” (Job 33:12).

So, when we speak of the love of God, we are referring to a greater love than the love between men, the love between a man and a woman, or the love between a mother and her child.

There are different types of love. In Greek, the language of the New Testament Bible, there are four primary types of love. Eros, romantic love. Storge, family love. Philia, friendship love. And agape, selfless love. The ones I regard as secondary are ludus, playful love. Pragma, longstanding love. Philautia, love of the self. And mania, obsessive love.

God’s everlasting love is often classified as agape. But God’s agape love is exclusive. It is only for the elect. God says: “I love those who love me.” (Proverbs 8:17).

This love is entirely by grace for those who receive the grace of God. God says to Moses:

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” (Exodus 33:19).

On those He chooses, God’s love has the following peculiarities. It is totally undeserving:

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

That is one lesson I received directly from God. He said to me: “Femi, never give people what they deserve.”

The love is also costly and self-sacrificial on God’s part.

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

The love is eternal.

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

The love is full of joy unspeakable.

“The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17).

So, one of the ways you know God loves you is by hearing Him rejoicing over you with singing in your heart.

Two Kingdoms

Early in my walk with God, He visited me and said, “Femi, there are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of your Father and the kingdom of Satan….”

A similar revelation was given to Rebecca:

“The Lord said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.’” (Genesis 25:23). 

The two nations in the womb of the believer produce two different loves. The older nation produces the human kind of love, while the younger produces the love of God.

Human love is counterfeit. God’s love is the original. We must relinquish the counterfeit for the original. The older must surrender to the younger.

This creates a prerequisite. To love, we must hate. To have the love of God, we must hate the things we previously loved. Thus, the psalmist says:

“You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10).

To love the Lord, we must now hate the evils we used to love.

Jesus takes this even further. He says:

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26).

This commandment has proved to be a tough cookie in Christendom. Many simply do not understand it. Most Christians just ignore it.

Deliberate Misunderstanding

God tells us deliberately what He knows we will not understand. He knows we will not understand these things because He does not want us to understand them.

Job says to God:

“You have hidden their heart from understanding.” (Job 17:4).

God says to Isaiah:

“Go, and tell these people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ ‘Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

Let us look at the classic example of this deliberate obfuscation. It is forbidden in the Law of Moses to eat blood.

“No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.” (Leviticus 17:12).

Nevertheless, Jesus says to the Jews:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58).

How could people conversant with the Law of Moses be expected to accept this seeming invitation to cannibalism? They did not, and virtually all of them left.

“When they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” (John 6:60).

 “From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’” (John 6:66-67). CONTINUED.

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