Earthly Love as Divine Gain
The doctrine that Christ has a greater desire to gain the love of earth than to possess the love of heaven — the love of heaven is already his own, but the love of earth must be won (Luke 15:4-7: the found lost sheep produces greater rejoicing than the ninety-nine; Luke 15:8-10: the found lost coin produces communal joy), so that earthly love, precisely because it is not yet God’s own possession, produces a greater joy in God when gained than heavenly love already owned (Isaiah 62:4-5: God rejoicing like a bridegroom over the won bride; Hosea 2:14: divine allurement of the strayed beloved); the highest form of earthly love includes suffering, which the blessed in heaven can no longer offer (Colossians 1:24), making the pilgrim soul’s love uniquely valuable and constituting the doctrinal complement to VSC-1’s pilgrim-prerogative. (E)
Anchors: Luke 15:4-10; Hosea 2:14; Isaiah 62:4-5; Colossians 1:24 — Appearances: 3. Full Registry entry.