Love the Fifth Great Question

In my post "talking to others about Christ" (11/26/05) I quoted Ravi Zacharias as listing four great questions of life. He says that, "each person must at some point in life answer for themselves these four great questions". The questions were; origin, morality, purpose, and destiny. I realized that since only the Bible satisfactorily answered each on of those question that each one of them was an entry point for talking to others about Christ. I also mentioned in that post that I was thinking of adding another question to that list of four biggies. My fifth great question is LOVE. What are you going to do with love?

Love in itself must relate to the other four questions and is answered most satisfactorily by the Bible. The Bible is called by Christian and non-Christian alike, "the Book of Love" Remember the song, "Who Wrote the Book of Love?" There you have the ORIGIN question. What passes as love or a loving act brings up the question of MORALITY. If The Theory Evolution is based on survival of the fittest, then what is the PURPOSE of a love that causes the strongest to sacrifice themselves to protect the weakest? It takes no love whatsoever to make offspring it does however take loving sacrifice to nurture them to adulthood. Finally there is always the question of DESTINY in love. The couple in a relationship ask. "where is this 'love' relationship going? Will it last? Is it real? All responses to the above questions are shaped by the respondent's view of God!

The Bible says, "...God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God"(1John 4:16). If God is Love then it follows that love comes when God gives a part of himself to another as a gift. (If it is not a free gift then its not love.)
The one who receives God's gift of love must now decide what to do with it. Here are the options:
1) Dwell in it, enjoy it, and give it back to God (love God). The result here is the love multiplied and sent back from God. Thus a relationship is established with God. To succumb to love is to die to self and be made alive in Christ.
2) Give the love to another person. The result here is when the cup is poured out it is refilled by God with the same measure that it was given out in. The new receiver of the love must now also decided what to do with the love that was given to them, because, "Love continueth"(never fails, never stops 1 Corinthians 13.) They might return it to the giver and a relationship is established.
3) Taint the love with selfishness use it to enslave another for selfish purposes. This person perverts love, abuses it, and tries to keep it manageable, it is the same way they think of God. They what a humanized, manufactured, manageable God. In this case the love grows cold. "In the last days, do to increased wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.
4) Reject the love, deny its author, and call it a genetic weakness. This person runs from love so as not to give up self on the throne of the heart. Sometimes this person rejects the love because of feelings of guilt and unworthiness The result is death of the spirit, leading to death of the wretched soul, and finally merciful death of the depleted body.

There may be some possibilities that I have not investigated but, in each case what a person does about Love is what they believe about God, and influences their answering of the other four big questions of life.
George Herbert understood that Love was a drawing card from God to pull humanity closer to himself when he wrote "Love bade me welcome"

Love Bade Me Welcome

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

-- George Herbert