GOD'S UNDYING AND UNQENCHABLE LOVE (Hosea, here we go!)

I read through the book twice this morning, and suddenly my morning had a damper. Nothing like the sun shining through the windows, basking you in it's glory, glinting off the steaming cup of freshly poured coffee, shining on a hardbacked study bible, and filling you with a sense of joy that just doesn't exist on a grey, rainy typical Northwest day. And then Hosea happens.

Nothing like a spoonfull of "your unworthy, I'm leaving" to start your day off. Stick that in your coffee and stir it, right? So, I read it twice.

Here's why:

Hosea 10:13 -
"You have plowed wickedness; " great.
"You have reaped iniquity; " awesome.
"You have eaten the fuit of lies, " wow.
Here's the kicker: "Because you trusted in your own way." Pause for affect.

On that note, let's hit up the good news first. The book of Hosea is ultimately about the loyalty of God's love. In spite of our dirt, in spite of our sickness, in spite of our utter unworthiness of Him, in the end we're clean, we aren't sick, and we are, in fact worthy in His eyes. How does that work? (read my blogs "A new taste..." and "What IS so amazing about grace?") Grace, and as in the message of the book of Hosea, Forgiving Love.

Hosea uses the metaphor of an unfaithful wife to parallel with the spiritually unfaithful Israel. The first 10 chapters drive this home. Although sprinkled throughout those first 10 chapters are little rays of hope. Little rays of sunshine not unlike those same rays that were shining through the window this morning.

Hosea 3:1 - "Then the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans."

Hosea 3:1 perfectly illustrates God's unquenchable love for faithless Israel. God tells Hosea to take BACK his wife (who was still in the occupation of prostitution). Let's back up a step. Hosea 1:2 - "Go take yourself a wife of harlotry, and children of harlotry..."

Most of us know that this is a literal referance to the fallen state of Israel, and her relationship with God, but a little spark went off inside me as I read this. Just as Hosea was instructed to take a sinner as a wife, and to take the children born as a result of her sin, so God took us at the beginning of our existence, and thanks to his sacrifice, the results of our sin don't have to be ours in eternity. Our sin didn't change anything about the way He has ever thought about us. Matter of fact, the very fall of man, may have made our Creator that much more passionate for us to succeed in Him. (But that is a debate for theologians to take on, not me...)

Back from that trail, and finishing up, Hosea spends 10 chapters describing God's words of rebuke and judgment, Chapter 11 describing God's continuous love, chapter 12 and 13 were almost like a courtroom scene, bringing charges and judgment, and the last chapter, chapter 14 was only 9 verses. But in those 9 verses described exactly what God is and how He works.

God is LOVE, and FORGIVENESS. After all the punishments and judgments, God says in Hosea 14 - "Return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity..." (no longer out of judgment) and Verses 4-8 simply state what He will do in our forgiveness. Amazing, that it can take hundreds of verses and statements to describe our state of sin (and that's on the lighter side), but only 4 verses to describe how eager our Lord is to take us back. And in ALL those Chapters and verses in Hosea is ONE underlying theme to take home: GOD'S UNDYING AND UNQUENCHABLE LOVE.

A new taste.

In order to find God and receive the grace He freely gives, we first must lose ourselves to pursuing Him. As He is the lover of our souls, and as He is the Great artist of the canvas of our existence, so is He also in desperation for us. Our starvation is pleasing to Him, our brokenness is perfect for Him, our desperation for Him is evident of our desire and proof of our love.

Augustine wrote, “I was astonished that although I now loved you … I did not persist in enjoyment of my God. Your beauty drew me to you, but soon I was dragged away from you by my own weight and in dismay I plunged again into the things of this world … as though I had sensed the fragrance of the fare but was not yet able to eat it.”

Seeking after God MUST be a full time job. We still have the ability to lose things after we find them. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've lost my keys, and had to find them. Again, and Again. If we are not eager in our desire for Him, and we lose sight of Him, we lose Him.

We must remember that our indwelling sin stands in the way of our full satisfaction in God. It is that indwelling sin that distorts and perverts our need, our want, our desire for Him. Here's the kicker: Christian life is impossible. Here's the OTHER kicker: Christian life is supernatural.

And since Christian life if supernatural, we can only depend on the supernatural to save us. Your best friend can not, your brother can not, your dad can not, MAN can not. John Piper says, “There is only one hope. The sovereign Grace of God.” When we come to the realization that life cannot be lived fullest on our own, and we're left alone after this life, there begins a transformation in our Heart. It's that transformation that awakens us the the joy of life, offered by the Grace of God. A promise that our searching, our desire, our desperation to know the heart of God, will result in the fulfillment of joy, and at the same time, the satisfaction of suffering for Him in our temporary station on earth. It is those internal changes that are only possible with divine grace.

True salvation is the awakening of a NEW taste for God.

What IS so amazing about Grace?

Grace is God's to give, God's sole prerogative, and is freely offered.

Hebrews 4:16 says "Let us then approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

The word “boldness” meaning without doubt or uncertainty. Draw near unto the throne of God, our reconciled Father. Grace constructed it, has sovereignty over it, and dispenses unmerited, undeserved favor. So why should we doubt it? Why should we approach with uncertainty. Wesley compares the Jewish high priest that passes through the veil into the holy of holies, carrying with him the blood of the sacrifices, on the yearly day of atonement; so our great high priest went once for all through the visible heavens, with the virtue of his own blood, into the immediate presence of God.

Verse 15 says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” He identifies with us our guiltless sickness, wants, and weaknesses. YET since he was without sin, He is indisputably able to preserve us from sin in all our temptations.

It is these reasons that have allowed us to be able to freely approach the throne of God (grace) without disbelieve and distrust. He freely gives grace to those who understand that we cannot conceal our sin, and that we cannot self-remedy it. Hebrews 4:12-13 says “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” We stand naked and exposed before Him who holds us accountable. Our one hope, our promised hope, is in the sinless One who cannot only feel our weaknesses but who has conquered and succeeded right where we have failed.

This brings us back to where we started, Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”