I Will Love Them Freely
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 8/10/2014 AM |
Text: | Hosea 14:4-7 |
Psalters: | 222, 378, 310, 281 |
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper |
- Its manifestation.
- God declares that He “will love them freely.”
- Though Israel has repeatedly provoked God to anger, He promises love.
- “Freely” is a voluntary, free-will activity, not compelled or necessary because it is earned.
- This implies that God does not find in us any cause for His love.
- This love means that “Mine anger is turned away from him.”
- The testimony of God’s love is sealed with the statement that His fury is turned away.
- Note that God does not suspend or temporarily withhold His anger, but He takes it away completely.
- This does not imply that God changes, for it describes our experience of God’s action.
- God begins by declaring that He “will heal their backsliding.”
- Our “backsliding” refers not just to our faults, but to our defections; it is a strong term.
- God is he Physician who gives cure and healing.
- The result is that we correctly identify our backsliding and repent over and over, striving more and more to be faithful.
- God declares that He “will love them freely.”
- Now consider the fruits or benefits of this gracious reconciliation.
- God will be to Israel as “the dew” (night mist).
- When grace descends, there is growth of spiritual substance (exhibited in a variety of ways to exhibit God’s manifold grace.
- There is the dazzling whiteness of the lily, an emblem of beauty and purity (5a).
- Second, the roots are sent forth for a long lasting effect (5b).
- Thus, its branches spread forth in every direction (6a).
- Evergreen olive trees.
- The scent of the cedar’s of Lebanon (7b) manifest Israel’s happiness, prosperity and joy.
- The result (7).
- All who flee under its shadows are defended and protected from the heat of the sun.
- As from one kernel many ears are produced, so is the increase of God’s people when God shows His favor.