Divine Love Teachings Found in the Bible

The Bible is without a doubt the most read book in the world. It has helped millions of people learn about God and develop a relationship with their Creator and Heavenly Father, as well as come to understand numerous inspired truths and grow spiritually.

While some messages in the Bible are simple and easy to understand, many are not. Parts of the Bible are not written in plain language, but rather use various literary genres including metaphor and hyperbole, not intended for literal interpretation. The Bible also reflects the development of spiritual understanding of the writers over time and contains apparent contradictions. Different threads of thought intertwine in its pages. Apart from being inspired, it is also the product of numerous human activities. Its writers expressed their own personalities and biases, as well as being influenced by their culture, education, and understanding of their time. The final product came about through a document selection, copying, editing, and translating – always reflecting the thinking of the period and the individuals involved in the various tasks.

Some have dedicated their entire lives to researching and meditating on the truths contained in the Bible. We are fortunate to have Rev. Eva Peck, who has spent many years studying the Bible and written several books on the subject, especially in reference to the greatest gift in the universe, God’s Divine Love. She is willing to share her soulful findings of truth within the biblical writings.

The above information draws on a page on her website which gives a balanced view about how the Bible came to us. The information in the following section, based on another page on Eva Peck’s website, relates specifically to the subject of Divine Love. It shows that Jesus’ original teachings are indeed reflected in the New Testament writings – alongside other teachings that developed as time went on.

We think you will enjoy and be inspired by her findings. It is our hope that this information will bring you ever closer to our Heavenly Father who is a God of Love and is offering His gift of Divine Love to all who are willing to accept it.

Feel free to contact Rev. Peck through her website with any questions you may have regarding this material.

Jesus’ Teachings

Jesus was born as the prophesied Messiah or anointed one. While the Jews expected a Messiah’s coming based on ancient prophecies, they were hoping for a conqueror who would free Judea from Roman domination and establish an earthly kingdom. While Jesus came as a king, his kingdom was not of this world. Rather, it was the kingdom of God – a Celestial Kingdom of Divine Love.

The anointing that Jesus received involved having his soul transformed by God’s Divine Love imparted by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This was a gift from God given first to Jesus, but thereafter available to all who would ask for it with sincere and heartfelt prayer. Thus Jesus was the first of many to become a true child of God (Romans 8:29), whose soul became transformed by the Divine Love from divine image into divine substance.

The message of the Divine Love that Jesus brought became lost in the copying and rewriting of the early manuscripts that were selected for inclusion in our biblical texts. However, traces of it can be seen throughout, in the same way that other traces of the early Christian teachings are apparent. Indeed, the New Testament gospels contain several intertwining messages. This is the result of historical events being perceived and recorded by various individuals, as well as follow-up reinterpretations and editing by later writers and editors whose thinking and prejudices found their way into the texts as well.

This article addresses one of the threads – namely the message of Jesus.
Key thoughts of the message that Jesus brought deal with the availability of Divine Love (imparted by the Holy Spirit) as follows:

  • God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). This love (Greek agape) transcends the natural human love, which at its best can include unconditional acceptance and lofty deeds.
  • God’s love was displayed by sending Jesus (1 John 4:9) and through him the message that the Divine Love and nature is available to humans as a gift for the asking. This was also the message that God’s kingdom was near (Matt. 4:17). Through acquiring the Divine Love, by which the individual will would align with divine will, the way to God’s kingdom (the Celestial Spheres) was open (Matt. 7:21).
  • Jesus, as the Messiah (Christ or anointed) was the first to experience the new birth that he taught about. He manifested the Divine Love, received through the Holy Spirit, and set an example of a life motivated by this love (Matt. 11:29). While his countrymen expected him to establish an earthly kingdom and overthrow the Romans, Jesus taught that his kingdom was not visible in the ordinary sense. Yet, the kingdom was among them – through his person, and could be within them – by receiving the Divine Love in their souls as he had (Luke 17:21 – the Greek word can have both meanings).
  • Those who in their soul desire the gift of the Divine Love and sincerely pray for it will receive it and have their soul transformed from divine image into divine substance. This is the new birth – being born again of imperishable seed or being born of God (John 1:13; 3:3, 5; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23;1 John 4:7).
  • Jesus practiced and taught love for one another (1 John 3:11). The apostle John, who among the disciples was spiritually the closest to Jesus, later showed how if we truly love one another and walk as Jesus did, God lives in us and we in Him, and His love is made complete in us (1 John 2:5-6; 4:12, 16). The Divine Love transforming our souls gives us the knowledge of our unity with the Father (John 17:20-26).
  • The Holy Spirit is a spirit of power, love and self-control (Acts 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:7). Jesus and his disciples manifested the gift of the Divine Love by the power to heal (e.g. Matt. 4:23; 12:15; 14:14).
  • Jesus also used parables to help people understand the preciousness of this powerful, yet invisible gift, comparing it to a treasure or a pearl of great value worth all that one has (Matt. 13:44-46). He also showed its power to transform through the parables of the mustard seed and yeast in a batch of dough (Matt. 13:31-32). He taught that the Father is more willing to grant this gift to His children than earthly parents enjoy giving good gifts to their offspring (Luke 11:13).

The gift of the Divine Love is referred to in the New Testament as

  • Gift of grace (2 Cor. 9:13-15)
  • Salvation by grace (not because of good deeds), through the washing of rebirth / new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5)
  • Participation in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4)
  • God’s glory (in the form of divine nature); it unites those who possess it and through their lives makes God known to those who don’t (John 17:20-26)
  • Experiencing the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19)
  • Power that works in us (Eph. 3:20)
  • Power of God for salvation and righteousness of God by faith (Rom. 1:16-17)
  • God’s light shining in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:6)
  • Source of life and immortality (2 Tim. 1:10)
  • Love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5)
  • Love that surpasses all other gifts as well as knowledge (1 Cor. 13:1-3; Eph. 3:18-19)
  • Being rooted and established in love (Eph. 3:17)
  • Gift of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of grace (Luke 11:13; Acts 10:45, Heb. 10:29)
  • Streams of living waters — the received Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39; 20:22) Note: God is metaphorically called the spring of living water (Jer. 2:13, 17:13)
  • Living water permanently quenching [spiritual] thirst and becoming a spring welling up to eternal life (John 4:10-14).
  • Spirit in our inner being (heart or soul) (Eph. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14), motivating us to do what is right (Rom. 7:22)
  • Spirit of love and other God-like qualities that transcend the law (Gal. 5:22-23)
  • Spirit in our hearts as a deposit for our glorious future in God’s kingdom (2 Cor. 1:22)
  • Jesus Christ: A New Look at His Identity and Mission
  • Spirit which makes us children of the Father and at one with Him, as well as heirs of divine glory (Rom. 8:9, 14-17)
  • Anointing (1 John 2:20-27; 2 Cor. 1:21)
  • Christ (the anointing that came with Jesus) dwelling in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17)
  • Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27)
  • Being in Christ and becoming a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15)
  • Conversion through having the door of faith opened by God (Acts 14:27; 15:3)
  • Being transformed and made new by the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2; Eph. 4:23)
  • Putting on the new self to be like God in righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24)
  • Walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25)
  • Loving one another as a result of God-given love, through which we know God and are born of God (1 John 4:7-8)

In addition to the above, many biblical references to the Holy Spirit can be seen as synonymous with Divine Love in that the Spirit, as the Divine Love, is a means of conversion, new life, new heart, becoming a new creation / creature, salvation, and resurrection to immortality. For a more detailed discussion of this idea, see Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus' Gospel of God's Love
New Birth: Pathway to the Kingdom of God
Gospel of God's Grace and His Kingdom