Thursday: Eros Passes into Agape
WEEK 15
THURSDAY
EROS PASSES INTO AGAPE
John 15:12-13, 17
Humanity comes to its highest fulfillment through the sex urges, the creative urges, when those urges are turned by the Holy Spirit within into creation on the moral and spiritual level. This means that the urges—which when given the reins and used in the purposes of selfish impulses can make human beings lower than the beasts—can now under the direction and impulses of the Spirit make human beings higher than the angels, can make us share the very creative activity of God. We rise highest through the lowest.
And it does something else. It allows the Holy Spirit to fulfill his purpose in creation. The Spirit was able to create matter into higher forms, but not able to create spirit into higher forms except here and there through an occasional opening. But now the Holy Spirit found an instrument of higher creation: a group of one hundred twenty surrendered, responsive spirits. And God created through them an epitome of the new order—the kingdom of God amid human society.
We do not know the mysteries of the divine nature, for instance, whether God can come to a deeper self-fulfillment; but certainly the Holy Spirit, who is God in action, came to a deeper fulfillment in purpose in creating this higher humanity and, through them, a new order: the kingdom of God. The Spirit, who created the creative urge, the sex urge, saw that urge come to its highest fulfillment in creating new spiritual persons, new purposes, new hopes, a new order.
Sex, which was eros, or sex love, until the Spirit took over, now became agape, or divine creative love. Love was cleansed of sexuality. It began to function through sex into higher creation. It is said in Heb 9:19, “Moses took the blood . . . and sprinkled both the Law scroll itself and all the people.” The Law was cleansed, signifying that it needed to be cleansed and made into Love. That happened in Christ. Law was no longer mere law; it was Love. So sex was sprinkled by the atonement of Jesus and cleansed and made into the most creative force ever let loose upon our planet. It functioned as creative love. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, more potent and creative than creative love.
O Holy Spirit, thank you for taking hold of our lowest and making it into the highest, our basest and making it into the best, our clay and making it into a temple. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My lowest can become your highest by surrender to your highest.