Attached to God [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

You could think of translating it like something like this. In Agape, he predestined us to be adopted as if we were his only son through Jesus, which glorifies him and his glorious grace by which he has favored us in the Agapitos. And this is revolutionary, and this will heal you, and this will solve your trauma, and this will cast out fear, and this will empower you, and this will change your life. And this will enable you to love everybody you ever see if you get this down into your spirit. When God said of Jesus, this is my beloved, this is the Agapitos, and I delight in him that now, for anyone who is in Christ, God feels and expresses and sees you in exactly that same way.

You're the beloved. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series we call O Bologna, a study of Romans chapters one through three, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. Now, if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, we sure want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer, and you can contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org, or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. We had our first babysitting gig last night. Mia is, she's a little over three months now. She's getting cuter.

I gotta warn you, she's getting cuter. She was, we were wanting her to eat more than she's eaten, so we gave her the bottle, and it was amazing. Well, Bennett and Amy were out at a party, their first real date since the baby had been born, a big night.

And, oh my goodness, we're using every trick in the book. We wanted her to drink that whole bottle and be happy when the parents come home. So I'm holding the bottle, and Ann's doing a puppet show to entertain her. It was, Ann said, this is the barn dinner theater.

This is dinner and a show right here. And she drank it all down. I texted them, they said, how did she do on the bottle? We said, she drank it all.

They're like, woohoo, we're staying longer. And we're just getting down and looking in that baby's eyes and smiling and looking at her. My wife, there's many things that are genius about my wife, and some of you get to hear her teach and be around her.

But I'm going to tell you, her greatest genius is a mysterious way of looking into a kid's soul and bringing delight. And there is a way in which when you look into anyone's eyes and they smile at you, and interesting, I don't quite understand the meaning of this, but generally from left eye to left eye causes a right brain response. There are things that you are experiencing all the time that are in your right side of your brain that go faster than a conscious thought. You know, faster. You're walking along a path, all of a sudden you see a snake, and you think something and feel something in that fast track of your brain long before you consciously have a thought of, I think that's a snake, not a rubber snake.

Is it poisonous or not? You start analyzing it, but first you just feel something. And what we're learning is that it is in the loving attachment that we make that our response to this world is shaped. This goes far to explain what the Apostle John meant in his old age when he said perfect love casts out fear. He's saying that the way out of our anxiety is not just behavioral management or even cognitive therapy, but it is the experience of a transcendent love.

It will heal you. Kerry Thompson says the neuroscience is clear the concept of a single functioning neuron or single functioning brain simply does not exist in nature. And he concludes it is not good for a man or woman or a neuron or a brain to be alone. Which explains why in the beginning God said this majestic pinnacle of his creation, humanity, and he saw him and he said it's not good for him to be alone. And so he made us into a relationship, male and female. Jim Wilder, who is a psychiatrist who studies brain science and does pastoral ministry, had conversations with Dallas Willard, who was one of the premier writers of spiritual transformation and spiritual disciplines, and he went to be with the Lord not terribly long ago. And in their conversations they were talking about attachment and they were talking about how is it and why is it that people change. It is the joy of my life to personally grow and to help someone else grow and change. I love that.

But how does it happen? And why is it that there could be some even devoted Christians, well-meaning servants who believe all the right things, but aren't necessarily experiencing a lot of personal transformation and maybe find themselves beset by some of the same old things over and over and over. While there's someone else that seems to experience so much transformation. And Wilder proposes something interesting along in his conversation with Dallas Willard that's recorded in his most recent book, that salvation and the idea of being a Christian we know is more than just mere doctrinal assent, because Jesus even said that sadly there would be some on that day that he said I never knew you. That the people that are with God forever are those that know God. We know that even demons believe and shudder. What is it that changes us and what does it mean really to be saved? And Wilder says maybe it is that faith through which we attach to God. You become a child of God. The reason that I share all of that is because I want you to think about the beauty of Romans 1 verse 7.

Of all those in Rome that are loved by God. And this word is one of the most beautiful words you could ever learn. And so I want you to learn this word, beloved. It's who you are.

If this is what God says, this is who you are. This is worth learning at least this one Greek word and understanding it and taking a deep dive into it, because there is no English equivalent to this word. There's no English equivalent to this word that Paul uses in Romans 1 verse 7. There are in the English language there are different maybe expressions like affection and some words that we use, but we really just have one word for love. But in the Greek language there are several words. There is the Greek word philos.

It's verb form, philo. And we normally think of this if we could sum it up as friendship, love. It's beautiful and powerful. And you know friends are friends because they are drawn together by something they have in common. You could have friends in church just because you both love Jesus and that's more than enough. That's the beautiful thing about friendship and Jesus. It's like you might have completely different hobbies and everything, but we both love Jesus and I'll get together and have a cup of coffee and just talk about Jesus.

And that'd be the most important thing. And we're friends, you see. But you also might have buddies that you like to go hiking with or someone that you enjoy quilting with or whatever it might be, you see.

Friends. And this kind of love is beautiful. In the Greek language there is the word eros which refers to in short romantic love. The ancient Greek world was fascinated and exalted eros. Not just because the ancient Greek world was so sex saturated it was, but because it was a religious principle to them. That it was to them not just this physical thing, but it was like an impulse of love that was seeking a transcendent experience.

And this is why it got tied into all of these fertility cults and all of these pagan religions. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. We're excited to tell you about Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees.

It's just been released and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Now followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Pastor Alan Wright invites readers into a new simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this? It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because after all Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness, and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. And when you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life as you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes.

You'll start seeing as Jesus sees and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. There was this other word, but it was scantily seen, agape. And for a while, we didn't see it that much in ancient Greek. Some biblical scholars thought, well, maybe it was more or less invented for use in the New Testament.

But we do know the word has been in existence, but it just was not as prevalent and you didn't see it that often. Eros was elevated. Philos was spoken of. There's another Greek word for affection, storge, that would be mentioned. But not much mention of agape. And the New Testament writers take hold of this word agape. And it becomes the unique word to describe God's kind of love. It describes a love that is covenantal, that is seated in choice, and is about connection.

It is a love that is without condition because it comes freely. And it's an important step to understanding who you are as the beloved to understand agape. Agape has a difference from philos and eros in this sense, and this is a little hard to explain, but it's very important to try to get this across.

Agape has with it, instead of a universal idea, it has an exclusivity to it. Now this is interesting and a little hard to describe because for sure God loves the world and God loves everybody. And God is infinite and there's no limit to God's love. So we're talking about a mystery here when we say that when Paul writes to the Romans, he says to those in Rome who are beloved of God. He's saying I'm not writing to everybody in Rome, I'm writing to the beloved. And the word for beloved in Greek is literally one who is the recipient of agape and the word I want you to know is agapetos.

Agapetos. This is who you are. You are defined in God's mind as the recipient of this kind of love that is unlike eros or philos, this is like a love for one out of a thousand. So I love all babies. I love all babies. But you can understand that this new grandbaby, I say I love this grandbaby. And there is, it is not exclusive in the sense of I don't love other babies, but this one's mine.

And so I'm down there and I'm looking at my watch like are they going to come home? I got to preach tomorrow and I'm willing to do a puppet show to get her to drink a bottle. And I gave her my patented tickle of the nose on the belly treatment and it worked on her just like it did on my kids. And I love her uniquely. And I want you to understand the love of God like this. He loves you as his own. This is what explains all of these texts that tell us about how you've been chosen in Christ. It's not about God's rejection of others.

He loves everybody. But if you understand what it is to be an agapetos or in the plural the agapetoi, it is the recipient of an agape love that has a covenantal quality to it that is unlike any other love. I've told you before the Old Testament written in Hebrew, New Testament written in Greek, but the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek into what is called the Septuagint. And it's instructive sometimes to look into the Greek translation of the Old Testament to see what the writers thought the appropriate Greek word was to be used. And the first instance of this idea of agapetos is in Genesis 22 at verse 2 where in this mysterious story where God tells Abraham at verse 2, take your son, your only son Isaac whom you love and offer him as a burnt offering.

We don't have time to talk about it. It is not a story about any possibility of Abraham sacrificing his child. Child sacrifice was an abomination in Israel. There was no chance Abraham was going to kill that boy or that God would let him.

There's no chance of that. It was an abomination. The story is about something else. And it begins with this, Abraham, I'm showing you what my love is like. So I want you to take your only son, the agapetos, and offer him because I want you to feel what this feels like. He was painting a shadow of the father and his love for his only begotten son who would by God's set purpose and the obedience of Jesus offer his life once and for all as a sacrifice for the sins of the many. And all of this goes far to explain what happened at Jesus' baptism in Mark 1 verse 10 when he came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven and said, You are my agapetos, my beloved. It probably should be translated, This is my son, the beloved.

That's who he is. And he said, With whom I'm well pleased or in whom I take tremendous delight and I enjoy immensely. This is my son, the beloved, whom I have infinite delight in.

Father wasn't saying I don't love the world, but he was saying there's an attachment to this son, indeed we are one that is so infinite that it can't be described in any terms except for this exclusive way. So when God through Paul calls you the agapitoy, he has this in mind. In Ephesians 1 verse 4 Paul says, Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Listen to this, In love, agape, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons.

That's not about gender, that's about status, that's about position, that's about an ancient world, a first born son, an only son who receives the inheritance as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which, and listen to this, with which he has blessed us, or you could say accepted us, or you could say has shown us favor in an unmerited way. All of that's intended here, has blessed us in the beloved, in Jesus. This is my beloved and everyone who trusts in him is in Christ. You have every spiritual blessing because you are in the beloved. Alan Wright, our Good News message attached to God, and it's from the series Romans chapters 1 through 3, we've titled Oh, Bologna.

Hey, stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his part in Good News Thought for the day in just a moment. And we're excited to tell you about Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees.

It's just been released and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Now followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Pastor Alan Wright invites readers into a new simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this? It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness, and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. And when you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life as you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes.

You'll start seeing as Jesus sees, and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here with Pastor Alan sharing our parting good news thought for the day and the teaching attached to God. There are a lot of different Greek words for love. Philos, friendship love.

Eros, romantic love. But when Paul says to those who are loved by God, he's not just talking to the Christians in Rome. He's talking to every Christian. He's talking to you.

He's talking to me. And the word he uses here are the agapetos, which is from agape. This is a kind of love that is covenantal. This is a love that is seated in God's choice. This is the nature of the love of God. And you, as his beloved, are accepted and favored in him.

It changes everything in your life when you see your identity as the beloved. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching, delivered right to your email inbox, free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.