Kristina Cornell: No Other Name — Love

No Other Name – LOVE

I am so blessed. My daughter, Isabella, and I, travel together in ministry, appropriately called “Tell Them Ministries,” because that is our passion. 

We go all over the country and share our stories, our songs, our hearts with wonderful people who know Jesus as their Savior, and to those who do not.  We love to encourage believers. We live to share the gospel with those who have never experienced the love of Jesus and of the Father.  

We hear amazingly painful stories of people who are just like us: fragile, scared. They feel lost and alone. They recall the unexpected death of a loved one or losing all of their resources, sometimes they describe hearing the doctor give them a diagnosis that is terminal, fatal. 

They share of abuse and neglect; how those things not only stole their joy, but the very essence of who they are. We hear how spirits are broken, souls are devastated, and lives are desperate.

Every single person, saved or unsaved, needs the love of God, the kind of love that we find in I Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” Love that is unconditional, that covers everything. Some of us have hurts so deep that without a love that in fact covers, there would not be enough.

In Romans 5:8 we find one of my favorite scriptures: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

This moves me. It is important to read this for each word written in this verse. Let us dive into the Greek meanings of these words to get a clear picture of the enormous affirmation this shows. 

“God,” in this verse is directly linked with words like magistrate, supreme deity, exceedingly God. No question here, He wants us to be secure in that He is as high as you can go to make this judgement call, this decision. 

“Demonstrates,” means to set together, to introduce (favorably), intransitively stand near.

“Love,” aha! This is the word “agape,” meaning affection or benevolent, specifically, a love feast – a feast of charity, dear love.

“Toward,” means of place, time, or purpose, concerning, continual, plus far more exceeding. 

“Us,” meaning humankind, with an accusing tone.

“Christ”- the anointed that is the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus: Christ.

“Died,” meaning to be slain.

“For,”  instead of, exceedingly, abundantly.

“Us,” this time it is used as the plural (hemon) of the word “ego”, a Greek word meaning for “I” that is only expressed when being emphatic.  

To summarize: the magistrate, (top of the line, cannot go higher than this deity) stands near us (the accused, mere humans), sets us together with Himself in affection, benevolence, a feast of charity continually and far exceeding any other love.  While we were still in sin, the anointed Messiah, Jesus Christ, was slain in an exceeding, abundant way for us (yes even us, sinners). {I am weeping}

I Corinthians 13:4-8:  “4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 [a} Love never fails;”

Every time “love” is used in this passage it is “agape:” meaning love that is affection or benevolence; specifically, a love feast – a feast of charity, dear love. I heard a teacher explain that if you really want to measure yourself against love, this kind of love, insert your name where the word “love” is used. 

Can you say this of yourself? For example, can I honestly say of myself: “Kristina is patient, Kristina is kind and not jealous; Kristina does not brag and is not arrogant, Kristina does not act unbecomingly; she does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, Kristina does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; Kristina bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Kristina never fails?”

A resounding no! I am not always patient; I am not always kind. Sometimes I act unbecomingly, I can be provoked.  I do not forget the wrongs done to me, easily. I cannot say that I always bear, believe, hope for, or endure all things. 

What a lesson this is to a believer. Jesus said four times in scripture for us to show His love to each other. And, please do not try to find a loophole and say that it is meant just for Christians, we only have to “love” fellow believers.  Remember the scripture in I Peter, “while we were sinners.”

This is what Jesus had to say:

• John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love (agapao – much love (agape) in social and moral sense) one another; as I have loved (agapao) you, that you also love (agapao) one another.
• John 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love (agape) for one another.”
• John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love (agapao – much love (agape) in social and moral sense) one another as I have loved (agapao) you (for your sake, with an accusing tone).
• John 15:17 “These things I command you, that you love (agapao) one another.

Notice here, when Jesus was speaking about loving one another in a broad sense, the word “agapao” was used, denoting the same sort of love as “agape,” but broader because it is in a “social or moral sense.” This means beyond our circle.

In John 13:35, Jesus was talking to his disciples about love for each other and used the word “agape” because they were within the circle. Jesus’ love, His commandment to love, is not for the people that we like, or go to our church. 

He did not reserve His love or want us to reserve ours for people who look, talk, think, act just like us.

In fact, when we go a little further in the scripture we find in I John 4:8: “The one who does not love (agapao) does not know (absolutely know, be aware of, feel, have knowledge of, understand, can speak with resolve) God, for God is love (agape).

My final thought is Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25.  The Judgment.

Matthew 25: 31-40: “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared (made ready) for you from the foundation (conception) of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger (guest), and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous (equitable in character) will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

“The King, (Jesus) will answer and say to them (akin to the meaning of baffling wind), ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them..”

Pause here. “The extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them,” literally means, to band together to cast out, lighten the ship, purge, shoot out one who is Jesus’ own, a simpler version of Him. Then He says: “you did it to Me.”

Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they (akin to the meaning of baffling wind) themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [e]take care of You?’  Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These (man and woman equally) will go away (depart) into eternal punishment (torment), but the righteous (innocent, holy) into eternal life.”

There is no other name but the name of Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, by whom we can learn the pleasure, the beauty, and the commandment of love.

As Isabella and I continue our travels, we will seek the least of these. We will be love.

By Kristina Cornell

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