The Fullness of God’s Love

Introduction

Pray to start

Recap series

Chapter 1 - God calls Hosea to take a wife of promiscuity and have children of promiscuity

they have a son and name him Jezreel, a son of judgment

the Gomer has two more kids, Lo-Ruhamah; No compassion and Lo-Ammi; Not my people

Chapter 2 - Hosea says he will make the way difficult to her lovers, expose her shame, and after he declares that she has used the gifts from her husband to gain other lovers, and he says she has forgotten who he is,

he says he will take her to the wilderness and speak softly to her

to draw her back to him, where she will be his wife and he will be her husband

Chapter 3 - Hosea redeems his bride after she has gotten enslaved with her lovers

Chapters 4-5

we have left the illustration of Hosea and Gomer with Israel and the Lord

There is a judgement coming, but there is hope, that if they return to the Lord he will be waiting for them

Today - The Fullness of God’s Love

Hosea 6–7 CSB

1 Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. 3 Let’s strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. 4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes. 5 This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words from my mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning. 6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with bloody footprints. 9 Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone, a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem. They commit atrocities. 10 I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel: Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled. 11 A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah. When I return my people from captivity, 1 when I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria will be exposed. For they practice fraud; a thief breaks in; a raiding party pillages outside. 2 But they never consider that I remember all their evil. Now their actions are all around them; they are right in front of my face. 3 They please the king with their evil, the princes with their lies. 4 All of them commit adultery; they are like an oven heated by a baker who stops stirring the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the princes are sick with the heat of wine— there is a conspiracy with traitors. 6 For they—their hearts like an oven— draw him into their oven. Their anger smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are as hot as an oven, and they consume their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls on me. 8 Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations. Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle. 9 Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not notice. 10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the Lord their God, and for all this, they do not seek him. 11 So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove; they call to Egypt, and they go to Assyria. 12 As they are going, I will spread my net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the news that reaches their assembly. 13 Woe to them, for they fled from me; destruction to them, for they rebelled against me! Though I want to redeem them, they speak lies against me. 14 They do not cry to me from their hearts; rather, they wail on their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine; they turn away from me. 15 I trained and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me. 16 They turn, but not to what is above; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent tongue. They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.

Partial faithfulness is unfaithfulness. God is not satisfied with you giving him what you can, he wants all of you.

A Partially Devoted People

Can you imagine a partially devoted spouse

I love you honey, I promise to love you most days of our life

is there a number of days that is acceptable

yet we expect the God who created all things to just be ok with it

we think that we can just take his grace for granted

Hosea 6:1–3 CSB

1 Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. 3 Let’s strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.

Passage starts off with a call to return to the Lord

a hint of where we are going, the passage ends with a similar word

One size fits most and I am not most

we are going to go hiking this fall through slot canyons

because I am partially committed to my diet, I am not sure if I will fit through

Too many of us look at our relationship with Jesus like a diet

when we are in need of something, we will focus in

but we will also try a little bit of everything

The people of Israel were saying the right thing

lets return to the Lord

Lord - yahweh

this sounds good and a lot of us will say things like this

lets return to the Lord

we have our reasons why we need to

sometimes it is tragedy

sometimes it is rock bottom

we know things are beyond our control or

Why are you coming to the Lord this morning?

is there something in your life you need help with

he can do that

is there something in your life that you feel like is our of your control

he can help with that

A Fully Knowing God

Hosea 6:10–7:2 CSB

10 I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel: Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled. 11 A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah. When I return my people from captivity, 1 when I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria will be exposed. For they practice fraud; a thief breaks in; a raiding party pillages outside. 2 But they never consider that I remember all their evil. Now their actions are all around them; they are right in front of my face.

The people of Israel would run to God as if he does not know what they have been doing

at a previous church that I worked at, I had to question somebody who was embezzling money from his employer through the church

I had all the information on what he had done, though he did not know that

I would ask him questions and he would lie to me, then I would tell him I know that he was lying

this went on for a little bit until I told him to just come clean, I know everything about what is happening

Why do we pretend like God does not see all

we go to him with a part of our life and seek his help

or we operate as if he is not everywhere

we will sneak in the night, when we are alone, when we think that nobody can see

are there decisions that you would make different today if you made them with Jesus with you

unlike Santa clause who watches to see who has been naughty and nice

you know so that you can get a present or coal

Jesus is not watching so that he can punish

but that is what we think, that he is just watching and waiting for me to mess up, so he can point it out, make me feel guilty

So we end up making religious rules to attempt to satisfy an all angry deity

we make sacrifices, pay money, do certain things

but none of it is from the heart and

we sacrifice so that we get what we want or so that feel better about ourselves

none of this has anything to do with our affection for the creator of the world

nothing to do with our love for the one who created us, came and died for us, and will be coming back to take him to himself

God does not just see what you do or do not do, but also the heart with which we do it

Hosea 6:6 CSB

6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

It is recorded twice in the gospels that Jesus quoted this verse

Once while in defense of his disciples picking grain on the sabbath to eat

once while he was eating at Matthews with tax collectors and sinners

both was accompanied with, “go and learn what this means…”

God does not want us to do make up jobs or to say and do things to appease him or our conscience

He wants for you to return to him, repent of your sins and turn to him

he wants to give you mercy, give you grace…

A Fully Loving God

I would hate to imagine what it would be like if God only loved me because of something I did for him

Hosea 7:13–16 CSB

13 Woe to them, for they fled from me; destruction to them, for they rebelled against me! Though I want to redeem them, they speak lies against me.

Woe! a pronouncement of coming judgment… they are not really turning to the Lord

Hosea 7:13–16 CSB

14 They do not cry to me from their hearts; rather, they wail on their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine; they turn away from me.

they continue in their adulterous ways

slashing themselves is a way of serving and inquiring of the false god Baal

think of Elijah on the mount of Carmel

he told them to slice themselves a little deeper

Hosea 7:13–16 CSB

15 I trained and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me. 16 They turn, but not to what is above; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent tongue. They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.

They are like a gambler that is telling everyone he is on an unlucky streak, but he will soon be right back on top

and the other nations mock them, seeing how powerless they are

what makes them think they will ever be in power

It is in love that God warns you about your sin

Woe to them! They fled from me…

Their hearts are far from me…

I strengthened them and they plot evil against me

But through all of this, he wants to redeem them

this is the love he has for his people

he is not looking for you to kill yourselves trying to earn back his love, he wants to redeem his people

Jesus went to the cross willingly

It is because of this great love that he has for us that he made us alive in him

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Memory Verse

Ephesians 2:4–5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!”

Discussion Questions

How does the theme of judgment and hope manifest in the passage from Hosea?

In what ways can we examine our own lives to identify areas where we are being partially devoted to God?

How can we actively strive to know the Lord?

Why is it important to have a 'fully loving God' perspective when approaching our sins?

What practical steps can we take to 'return to the Lord' in our daily lives?

What does Hosea mean when he says that Israel's love is like the morning mist?

How can we support each other in our journeys to better know and love God?

How can recognizing God's desire for faithful love over sacrifice change our approach to worship?

In what ways can we cultivate a heart that genuinely seeks to know God rather than just seeking His gifts?