Sin, Judgment and Jesus

Sin and judgment are not popular topics these days.  We prefer to talk about love, mercy and grace.  And God’s Word has a lot to say about love, grace, and mercy.  However, we cannot fully appreciate God’s love, mercy and grace without understanding sin and judgment.

Good news of grace is only as good as we comprehend the truth about sin and judgment.

We have all done bad things.  We have all fallen short of God’s holiness (Romans 3:23).  We have all sinned against our Creator.  We have all gone our own way and refused to put God first.  We have all broken almost everyone of the 10 Commandments, if not outwardly, then certainly inwardly as Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5-7). For example, He likened lustful thoughts to adultery.  He likened hatred inside to murder outside.  Ouch.  Guilty as charged.

And our sin deserves the judgment of God. Our sin deserves punishment.  Our sin deserves death (Romans 6:23).  Standing before God’s holiness renders us stricken to the ground in conviction and judgment.

Hosea 8-10 speaks of this judgment upon God’s people.  After all that God had done for Israel, they still turned their back on Him.  Judgment was looming, and He was giving them fair warning.

And just when it seemed there was no hope or no room to escape, God offers hope in Hosea 10:12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.” 

How cool is this!!!  God offers a chance to avoid judgment.  And to avoid judgment we must allow Him to break up our hard heart, and have Him plant the seed of righteousness (JESUS!) in our heart, and then we will produce a harvest of righteousness.  The Gospel of Jesus is the answer to sin and judgment because Jesus bore our sin and judgment on the cross, so that we can exchange our sin for His righteousness. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

For more about sin, judgment and how to escape through Jesus, check out my sermon on Hosea 8-10 at http://www.livinghopeathens.org/when-judgment-comes/

  

Paying the Love Price in Hosea 3

Love keeps going to a deeper and deeper level in the book of Hosea.  As if it wasn’t enough for Hosea to marry an unfaithful whore (Hosea 1).  As if it wasn’t enough for Hosea to remain with her despite her whoring around (Hosea 1-2).  As if it wasn’t enough for Hosea to pursue her even in her waywardness (Hosea 2).  And now he is called to love her again when she not only has been whoring around, but also is “loved by another” (3:1).  It is terrible enough to just be a prostitute for money, but now she appears to be in an actual relationship with a man.  And yet, Hosea still loves her.  God loves us in the same manner!

Gomer is so destitute and washed up in her sin that she is for sale for only 15 shekels of silver.  Hosea’s wife is on the auction block.  The normal price for a slave in that day was 30 pieces of silver.  Her sin had taken its toil and she wasn’t worth much.  Our sin does the same to us.  “The wages of sin is death … what did you benefit from that which you are now ashamed of” (Rom. 6)?

With all of this background, Hosea/God pays the price to purchase his own wife.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for His friends” (Jn. 15).  Jesus bought us out of the slavery of sin with His blood!  “For God hath redeemed us, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lamb” (1 Peter 3).

And with this purchase, comes a needed conversation about where the relationship goes from here.  Hosea tells Gomer that the days of whoring around are over (v. 3) and that it is time to dwell with him and put aside all other relationships.  In other words, for this marriage to work, it requires exclusivity!!  And God says the same to us.  If we are going to have a healthy and growing relationship with God, we must repent of our sins and forsake our other “lovers.”  Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

For more on the great sacrifice Jesus has made to purchase us out of slavery, and the 6 essential ingredients that go into a healthy relationship with God, listen to my sermon on Hosea 3 at http://www.livinghopeathens.org/category/sermons/