“So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.” – Hosea 3:2

It says that Hosea bought her.  This should really astonish us.  Consider the situation.  Here is a woman who is Hosea’s wife, who had betrayed him, committed adultery, and returned to a life of harlotry.  In the first place, it is beyond me why he would want to even pursue a woman like that.  She had been unfaithful to him.  She had violated the bond of trust that is shared in a marriage.  Hosea had every right to condemn her deeds and have nothing to do with her.  In the second place, why should he even have to purchase her?  She was his wife to begin with and now he is going to pay to get her back?!

It is likely, based on the culture of the time, that the story went something like this: Gomer had betrayed Hosea and committed adultery by returning to a life of prostitution.  She sold herself to another man.  She became his property.  Then there came a point where this man no longer wanted her so what does he do?  Brings her to the market where, at the time, all of the prostitutes and slaves were sold.  This is where Hosea finds her and realizes that he will not go and just claim her back.  If he wants her, he is going to have to pay for her.  And because of his love for her he agrees to purchase her for himself.

I can’t help but think that as Gomer was at that market there must have been a great sense of despair and shame.  She had betrayed her husband to be with another man who, in the end, discarded her.  Sold her back into prostitution.

Isn’t that where sin leads us?  We betray Christ to follow after some sin only to find that it’s pleasures are fleeting.  In the end, when the fun and pleasure has past, all we are left with is the guilt and shame of knowing we betrayed the one who created and loved us.

But this is the point in our story where Hosea steps in.  And as Gomer is completely broken in her despair and shame she looks up as it were to see this one who had loved her, this one who still loves her, laying down what silver and barley he has to purchase her out of her bondage and make her his own.  Can you imagine what Gomer must have felt in this moment?  Knowing that the one who she betrayed is now coming to her rescue and purchasing her out of the slavery of prostitution to, as Hosea says, ‘dwell as mine.’  Can you imagine the gratitude and love she must have felt for him in that moment?

Do you remember when you were once in slavery and bondage to sin?  Do you remember what it felt like to be trapped in despair in helplessness because of the mess you had made out of your life?  This is the point in your story where Christ stepped in.  He saw you in your shame and despair and HE PURCHASED YOU!   He saw the infinite debt that of sin that you had incurred before the holy and righteous God and said I will buy this one.  But unlike Hosea, He didn’t do it with silver, barley, or any other type of possession.

1 Peter 1:18-19
“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot”

Christ purchased you with His very life!  It was the only thing that could ransom you out of the deep void of sin that you were in.

This is the ultimate picture of love.  We look at Hosea and think how could he do it?  How could he forgive and love in such a deep way?  Well what did Paul say about Christ:

Romans 5:6-8
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.  But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

As you think about your own life, consider the depth of sin from which Christ purchased you.  Do you remember when you first felt the weight of the guilt and shame of your sin?  Do you remember how it felt when you looked up from that despair to see Christ having come to purchase you with His life?  Ought we not be be filled with love and gratitude for our Savior?  Ought we not to strive to live Christ honoring lives in light of this?  Shouldn’t we be loudly proclaiming this love of Christ with our words and life to those around us?

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“Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” – 1 John 5:5

In this passage we see that God gives us the recipe for having victory over those world systems, institutions and people that would want to influence you to disobedience and coldness in your relationship with God.  Has asks the rhetorical question who is the one who overcomes (notice it is present tense) the world?  The answer is the one who believes (notices it is also present tense) that Jesus is the Son of God.

John doesn’t tell us to believe that we can overcome the world if we just try harder.  Or even to believe that God is a god of comfort or that He is in control of your circumstances.  You simply believe that Jesus is the Son of God!  That Christ is everything He claimed to be.  That, being the Son of God, His sacrifice was sufficient to cover your sins and conquer all sin for all time.  The central doctrine of what you believe about the person and work of Jesus Christ is what will give you victory over the world.

So, struggling Christian, next time you the world is trying to pull you into its course by its influence, the next time your teacher tells you that Christianity is a lie, the next time your friends tell you that living an obedient life to God is killing your fun, the next time your co-workers mock you for reading your Bible at lunch, the next time your boss tells you that you’re destroying your advancement in your career because you desire to serve in ministry…remember these sweet truths about your Savior:

• The Son of God was obedient to the point of death to absorb the infinite punishment that your infinite sin had earned before an infinitely holy God – “He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself.  Taking on the form of a bond servant, He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross!” – Philippians 2:6-8 (paraphrase) – Your Savior was obedient to the Father to the point of death for you.  Let that cause you to give Him your loving and joyful obedience
• The Son of God is risen and at the right hand of God interceding for us.  One day, He will come back to bring His chosen home. - “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 – We do not serve a dead God, we serve a living and risen Savior!  One day He will return and in that moment we will come to the full realization that the world was wrong, Jesus is the Lord, and there is true joy and satisfaction in His presence beyond anything the world could ever offer!  Struggling Christian, put your hope in your living Savior!

I’ll leave you with the amazing words of the hymn writer Horatio Spafford:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come; Let this blest assurance control:

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul!

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1John 5:1-3 ESV  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.  (2)  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  (3)  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

In 1 John 5:1-3 we see three marks of a Christ-centered faith.  Those three marks are a new life, a new love and a new Lord.  When a Christian has placed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, these three distinguishable marks will always manifest themselves in the life of the believer.  Although the degree and amount in which these qualities are seen will fluctuate from time to time, John puts these qualities forward as non-negotiable characteristics of a faith produced by God.

The new life that we experience as Christians a the first mark of a Christ-centered faith (1John 5:1a).  To be clear, we do believe that God creates spiritual life in us first, and then we place our faith in Christ as an inseparable product of that new life (Ephesians 2:5; John 1:12-13).  But, there is a very real sense in which that new life that God has produced in us is something we continue to experience every day in our Christian lives.  This new life will naturally show itself in our new affections toward God, as well as our desire to glorify Him in all we do.

The next mark of a Christ-centered faith is a new love (1John 5:1b-2).  First, we love God.  This love is a natural response of one who has been saved from His wrath by the conquering power of Christ’s work on the cross (1John 4:9-10).  The gospel is our motivation to love God as our Father (Romans 8:15-16).  Second, we are to love God’s children, other Christians.  This love is both expected and commanded (1John 4:7-8, 11).  This love is to be an earnest love, one that stretches out in sincere effort to communicate God’s love for that individual (1Peter 1:22-23).

The last mark of a Christ-centered faith is that we have a new Lord (1John 5:3).  We have dethroned ourselves as lord in our heart and lives, and have placed God as rightful Lord and King of our lives.  We value, and therefore guard, His commandments (Psalms 19:7-11).  It is now our delight to obey God and do His will (Psalms 40:8, 119:35).

As we obey God’s commandments, we are actually recipients of God’s love (1John 5:3).  You might ask “how can this be?  Does God love morality?”  In 1 John 3:23, John says “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us.”  This means that the two primary commands that God demands of us are to love God and His people.  As we love each other in action, we are God’s hands and arms embracing one another in love.  If you don’t love that other brother or sister, how will he/she know the tangible love of God?  As we strive to out-do one another in love, we will experience God’s love for us in a very tangible, physical way. The commandment to believe in Christ is the most loving commandment God could give.  To illustrate this point, it’s like you hanging off a cliff with no way to climb up or down, and I yell at you “hold on to the rope!”, this is not a harsh demand of me.  Rather, it is a LOVING COMMAND.  For us to find life and satisfaction in Christ is the greatest and most gracious commandment.  Therefore, to obey God’s commandments is the most meaningful and most satisfying thing we could ever do.

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After a miraculous rescue from slavery in Egypt and the treacherous pursuit of Pharaoh, the people of Israel, were led through the wilderness in order to reach God’s promised land. While in the wilderness, they found there was no water to drink, and the amazement of their rescue began to quickly fade from their mind. The praise of the strength and might in their delivering God quickly turned into grumbling and murmuring.

(Exodus 17:2-3) Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

The sin of their heart burst forth into words of doubt and complaint. The Israelites issue was not ultimately with Moses, but with God. In essence they were saying, “Why would God go through all the trouble of rescuing us from Egypt if He is just going to let us die here? If this is God’s plan, He is either cruel or foolish.” The remembrance of God’s merciful and miraculous rescue was far gone. They had seen God bring incredible plagues upon Egypt, split open the sea so they could safely pass, and watched the waters crash over their enemies, but now they didn’t believe that God could give them water. Faithless Israel stood guilty in their sin against God, for they responded to God’s goodness with grumbling. If they were to be spared from judgment, payment would have to be made. Punishment for their sin would have to fall somewhere.

(Exodus 17:4-6) So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

In one sweeping action, God brought judgment as well as salvation. He told Moses to take up his staff, described as “your staff with which you struck the Nile.” Moses staff was the instrument of judgment by which God brought the plagues upon Egypt. He told Moses to take up that same staff of judgment, which was used to condemn Egypt, and should be used to condemn faithless Israel, and use it, rather, to strike the rock.

Now, we must realize the significance of the rock. Who was standing at the rock? Where did God say He would be? “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock…” The staff of judgment that ought to be used against Israel for their disbelief was used against the rock at which God stood. Here, we see Christ. God Himself bore the strike for His people’s sin, so He can pour forth living water. After the rock was struck, it gushed forth water that enabled the Israelites to live and be saved. Jesus, the God-man, bore the strike for our sin, so that He could pour forth living water for our salvation. The sinner may run to the struck Jesus to find lasting, satsifying drink and be saved.

(John 7:37-38) Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

As we consider Jesus Christ this Good Friday, and into Resurrection Sunday, let’s remember Him as the fulfillment of God’s promise plan from the beginning of time. He has been unfolded to us in all the Scriptures. We see Him clearly here in the pages of Exodus. Jesus was the struck rock for Israel, and is the lamb of God for us. May we celebrate and worship Him who bore the strike for us, so we could taste of living water!

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1 Jn. 4:17 tells us that God produces in every believer, through His Spirit, a perfect love.  John does not use the two commonly used Greek words for love: phileo, which was used to describe brotherly love, and eros which was used to describe everything from romantic love to sexual passion.  He uses the Greek word for love, agape.  This love is unique to God, pure, holy, mature, whole, and is the same immeasurable love that moved God to send His only Son into the world to save sinners (1 Jn. 4:9).  John tells us four things that this perfect love does for those who call themselves children of God.

First, perfect love that is produced in us by God, through His Spirit, gives us assurance of salvation (1 Jn. 4:17-18).  Specifically, it gives the believer confidence/assurance of salvation “in the day of judgment”, casting out fear of punishment since Christ died for the sins of His people and they all possess His righteousness (1 Jn. 2:1-2; 5:13; Heb. 1:3; 2 Pet. 2:9-10).  The subject of God’s judgment is just as unpopular today as it was in John’s day.  The problem is that people do not want to be accountable before God for their actions.  Wayne Grudem in his book, Systematic Theology, explains judgment day as follows: “Scripture frequently affirms the fact that there will be a great final judgment of believers and unbelievers.  They will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in resurrected bodies and hear his proclamation of their eternal destiny.” (Rev. 20:11-15; Acts 17:30-31).  For believers, Christ Himself is the propitiation for their sins (1 Jn. 2:2)  Therefore, in light of Christ’s return, God’s perfected love in His children, casts out fear of final judgment, and gives security in Christ of salvation.

Second, perfect love enables us to love others as God loves (supernatural), because He is the sole source & model of it (1 Jn. 4:19).  “We love, because He first loved us.”  The Spirit produces perfect (mature/whole) love in believers enabling them to have the same love that moved God to send His only Son into the world to save sinners for others (1 Jn. 4:9-12).  God’s love for sinners is spontaneous, since there is no value in the objects of His love.  His love for sinners is also self-giving, since God is not interested in what He can gain, but what He can give the sinner.  The love of God for sinners is also active, since His attitude toward the sinner moved Him to act to meet the need of those that hated Him.   Because God’s love is perfected in us through His Spirit, we are enabled to love the brethren and unbelievers in the same way as He loves.

Third, perfect love destroys the false assurance of those professing Christ without really knowing Him (1 Jn. 4:20).  Earlier in the chapter 4, John warns believers of false prophets.  Here in verse 20, he presents a test that confirms perfected love in those professing Christ.  God-given (godly), perfect love is hard to counterfeit, since it goes against the grain of human nature & selfishness.  Godly love is manifested through: love for God Himself (1 Cor. 16:22); love for brethren (1 Jn. 3:14); love of truth & righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18); love for His Word (Psa. 1:2); and even love for your enemies (Mt. 5:44).  Those who do not love this way, God calls them “a liar.”

Fourth, perfect love results in loving the brethren as God commands (1 Jn. 4:21).  Loving the brethren as He commands shows the reality of God to a world that has not seen Him and does not know Him (1 Jn. 4:12, 20).  When the believer loves the brethren as He commands, it shows the world that something is different about us, and that difference is God in us.  God is the one who saved us and given us the desire to love as He loves.  We become living testimonies of His love for sinners, since we ourselves are saved sinners.  His command to love the brethren becomes the believer’s delight, since He first loved us.

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In 1 John 4:13-16, John gives us 3 clear proofs that we truly abide in God.

First, we know we abide in God because He has given us of His Spirit (1 John 4:13). The way in which God abides in us is through the Holy Spirit. It’s His presence in us that verifies our true fellowship with God. Throughout the letter John has given us tests by which we can know we have true fellowship with God, such as, we will disply Christ-like love toward one other (1 John 4:12), and that we will not walk in darkness, but walk in righteousness (1 John 1:6-7; 1 John 3:6-7). But where do these traits find their source? Does our love for each other and ability to walk holy come when we conjure it up through our own self-determination? I believe John gives us his answer from these verses. The reason we can know we abide in God, is because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, who now works in us to produce these traits that prove we are His children. Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love. And Romans 8:13-14 tells us that we put to death our sin by the Spirit. In fact, Paul then states that it is those “who are being led by the Spirit, these are sons of God.” The proof that we are God’s true child is the Holy Spirit works in us to love and put sin to death. This is what John means when he says we can know we abide in God because He has given us of His Spirit. Not only this, but we know the Holy Spirit’s main ministry is to glorify Christ (John 16:13-14). So when the Spirit is given to us, His main desire and objective is that we fellowship, exalt, worship, and love Christ. The true believer will be successfully directed by the Spirit’s influence to continually abide in Christ.

Second, we know we abide in God because the Spirit empowers us to testify of Christ(1 John 4:14-15). The Holy Spirit not only produces love and holiness in us, but also will motivate us to confess Christ. John previously mentioned how our testifying of Christ gives proof that we abide in God (1 John 4:2). He does so again in these verses, but this time provides Himself as an example of one who saw Christ, and because of that viewing of Him, now testifies of Him. John most likely has Jesus’ transfiguration in mind, described in (Matthew 17:1-6). It was John seeing Christ in His glory that compelled Him to testify of Christ the way he did as in John 1:14 and 1 John 1:1-2. He had seen the Christ in His true glory, and what John saw compelled Him to proclaim Him as who He really is, Jesus Christ, the eternal life, the son of God, come in flesh, sent from the Father. John assumes the same with us. He assumes that just as he had seen Christ in glory, that the Spirit has given His true children the spiritual eyes to see Christ in His glory through the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:6). And just as the Spirit compelled John to testify of Christ, He assumes the Spirit will work in each true believer to also testify of Christ, both in salvation, and in their witness to others as seen by Paul in the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:4-8).

Thirdly, we know we abide in God because the Spirit of God empowers us to know and believe the love which God has for us (1 John 4:16). Here we see something a bit different from before. John doesn’t present our love for one another as furnished proof of our abiding in God, but that we now understand and trust the love God has toward us. John beheld the true glory of Christ as He was transfigured. But, think of what John also saw. He saw that same glorified One, put on an apron to wash his feet. He saw that same glorified One be abandoned, arrested, and falsely accused. He saw that same glorified One, sent by the Father, endure the full wrath of the Father as He was crucified on the cross. John saw Jesus pierced for His transgressions. John saw his own iniquity fall on Jesus, and Him crushed for it on his behalf. John saw all these things, and therefore could not deny that God loved Him! The same goes for us. Like John, if we truly abide in God, we will not only understand the gospel as cold information. We won’t even understand it as a general act of love. Those that truly abide in God are those who will understand the gospel that they confess as undeniable, irrefutable love toward them. And it is this very understanding that holds us firm when the devil, or even our own deceitful heart brings accusations against God’s love for us. Spurgeon preached this about believing God’s love for us :

The Lord is always pleased with his children when they can stand up for him when circumstances seem to belie him. Here come the witnesses into court. The devil says, “Soul, God has forgotten thee, I will bring in my witness.” First he summons your debts—a long bill of losses. “There,” says he, “would God suffer you to fall thus, if he loved you?” Then he brings in your children—either their death, or their disobedience, or something worse, and says, “Would the Lord suffer these things to come upon you, if he loved you?” At last he brings in your poor tottering body, and all your doubts and fears, and the hidings of Jehovah’s face. “Ah,” says the devil, “do you believe that God loves you now?” Oh, it is noble, if you are able to stand forth and say to all these witnesses, “I hear what you have to say, let God be true, and every man and everything be a liar; I believe none of you. You all say, God does not love me; but he does, and if the witnesses against his love were multiplied a hundredfold, yet still would I say, “I know whom I have believed!”

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We should love one another. We have all heard it a hundred times. Though its undeniable that Scripture teaches this, I believe the reason for this command has come under attack by the world. The problem is that we have either intentionally through compromise with the world or unintentionally through regular affiliation with the world adopted a secularized basis for why we should love one another. Simply put, we have commingled Biblical truth with worldly rationalization. For example, a popular television pastor said, “When God puts love and compassion in your heart toward someone, He’s offering you an opportunity to make a difference in that person’s life. You must learn to follow that love. Don’t ignore it. Act on it. Somebody needs what you have.” The basis of love for this pastor is the needs of others. For this pastor, it is an “opportunity” to show what you got. After all, people need our love.

The main basis for loving one another is not the needs of others nor is love the means of embracing the greatness within. This secularization of our Biblical love for one another is dangerous because it takes the focus from our God and exalts man. The Bible says our love is the means of bringing glory to God and demonstrating His power to others.  In 1 John 4:7 says “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” Our love is the means to show that God has changed us. True Biblical love demonstrates the handiwork of God. John is so confident in this that he says anyone who love is born of God and knows God. Christ says in John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” According to Christ, loving one another will allow the world to know that we are true followers of Christ. The love of the disciples for one another would be a proclamation, not only to their immediate community or state, but the entire world.

The Bible is clear. We should love one another because it demonstrates the power of God in the lives of his people. It will bring Him glory. Genuine, Biblical love for one another shows that we have been born of God and truly know Him. It will ensure that all men will know that we are followers of Christ. As the church, we need to embrace this truth. If the need of others or the need to embrace the greatness within is our motivation for love, we can be sure that our love will not last. However, if our motivation is the glory of God and the proclamation of His power to the world, then through the Spirit, we can be sure that God will enable us to consistently love one another for His own name’s sake.

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