Redemption (2)
Boundless Love • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Words are powerful. Scripture tells us that life and death are in the power of the tongue.
Solomon warned his son about seductive speech. In speaking about the seductive woman in Proverbs he said...
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
Notice what happens in Hosea 3...
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
Notice again what God told Hosea. He didn’t just tell Hosea to go and “get” his adulteress wife, but to go and “LOVE” her.
He wanted Hosea to PURSUE Gomer like He had pursued Israel and Judah.
Even though Gomer had broken the marriage covenant and forfeited the right to continue her and Hosea’s marriage, God wanted Hosea to go and get her and LOVE her.
Just like Israel and Judah were pursuing other “gods” and “cakes of raisins,” Gomer was pursuing other men. The “cakes of raisins” were associated with Baal worship, and some thought they had other benefits as well.
Hosea sets out on a journey to locate Gomer and bring her home. What he found was not a pretty picture.
Just like Jesus came to “SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST” Hosea left home to SEEK Gomer out and RESCUE her from slavery!
To purchase a slave in this day one had to have 30 shekels of silver. This was a lot of money. Gomer had become a sex slave of sorts, she had sold herself into prostitution, and for Hosea to bring her home he would have to “BUY HER BACK.”
Did you know LOVE IS COSTLY. In order for him to love Gomer the way God wanted him to I had to buy her back. You see love isn’t just a bunch of sappy words, but true love expresses itself in actions.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
And believe me there was a lot for Hosea to to bear and endure, but that’s what love does.
When he brought her home he made it clear to her what he expected...
And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”
He made it clear to her it was not going to be an open marriage. He wanted things to be restored but things couldn’t continue on as they had before. The adulterous lifestyle had to be OVER!
Just as God cut Israel and Judah off from their lovers in order that He might win them back to Himself, Hosea wanted Gomer to know that he had redeemed her to be his. He set her free from slavery, not so that she could serve him, but so he could serve her and show her God’s love.
He asked her to be faithful to him, and he promised to be faithful to her.
He went on to remind her
For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
God expected Israel and Judah to be faithful to Him. Hosea wanted Gomer to know he loved her, he redeemed her, but he didn’t redeem her so she could return to the arms of other lovers, but so she would return to his arms!
God expected Israel and Judah to rid themselves of the idolatry and the idolatrous symbols of their former “gods” and Hosea wanted Gomer to once again love him and rid herself of the past lovers that led her into the slavery that he bought her out of.
After Israel was isolated from her other lovers and after God would bring her into the wilderness and seduce her back to Himself, that was my hope for Gomer. He told her...
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
You see Israel had forgotten God…the very thing Moses had warned them of happened...
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
Even though they had forgotten about God, God had not forgotten about them. Even though they were living for the temporary pleasures and false promises, God had not forgotten His promise to them and the eternal blessings He wanted them to enjoy.
The same was true for Gomer and Hosea. He may have wondered if she forgot about him when she was in the arms of someone else. He may have wondered if she remembered his tears and tenderness when her harsh lovers enslaved her.
Now he had her back. He bought her back and it cost me everything he had…
What do we learn from this chapter...
Love is Painful
Love is Painful
If you are a parent you know love is painful. From the very moment that child is birthed into the world, it is birthed through PAIN. As that child grows older, and becomes less dependent upon you, and more independent it’s painful to let them grow up. As they grow up and begin making decisions that you know is going to hurt them and cause them pain, it is painful for you.
But why do we keep bringing children into the world, even though we know it will be physically painful, mentally painful, emotionally painful and maybe even spirtually painful…it’s because of LOVE and even though LOVE is painful, it’s so worth it!
Not only is love painful, but...
Love is Costly
Love is Costly
When you think about the price that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, paid for His bride, you realize He did so out of LOVE! It cost Him His life!
The Apostle Paul said it this way in
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ LOVED His enemies, He love YOU and I so much that He quite literally LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US and took upon Himself the wrath of His Father that should have been poured out upon us.
Christ fought for us and died for us, even while we were still sinners!
I fought for Gomer, paid the price for Gomer, laid aside my pride for Gomer even though she had been unfaithful and she had played the whore!
If you are going to love someone it’s going to COST you something too! Those you love will HURT you, DISAPPOINT you, let you down time and time again, but aren’t you glad God didn’t give up on you when YOU ran away? He chases us…He chases after us and lays down His life in order to SET US FREE!
Isn’t it time for you to stop running today? Isn’t it time for YOU to SURRENDER to the LOVER of YOUR SOUL.
It cost Him His very life to redeem you! To buy you out of the bondage that you were in. To deliver you from the power of sin and Satan. To offer you eternal and abundant life!
Love Can Make a Way
Love Can Make a Way
God made a way…His name is Jesus...
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.