THREE AMAZING ACTS OF LOVE:(HOSEA 11:1-3)

In the 60’s, the Beatles rocked the world through their mesmerizing songs. John Lennon the lead singer wanted to send a tantalizing message to the world so he wrote a song on “Love” which was performed live; and watched by 400 million in 26 countries. If you listen to the song closely you can read the mixed messages.
“There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy “All you need is love, all you need is love; All you need is love, love, love is all you need.”
One way this message was saying you can do everything; does that make you special? No, because what you can do some one else can also do, perhaps better than you, then what makes you special? The only thing that makes you special is love. All you ever need and want is love” Because love is all you need. The Beatles were successful in convincing millions about their version of love but they did not quite know how to point people in the right direction. Could it be because they themselves were looking for love in the wrong places such as, music, drugs, sex, and popularity and so on?

The question however you must ask is what makes me special? Or what can set me apart from the rest? Where can I find true love? Who can truly love me unconditionally? If we were sincere; then our search for true love would lead us to Jesus who came into the world as an expression of God’s love for humanity.

When God wanted to show the world that he loved the world he did not simply say it in words “I Love You” but demonstrated it by sending his only son Jesus Christ into the world. That is the essence of Christmas. In John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” How else did God manifest his love? The prophet Hosea highlights several acts of God’s love toward his people. I would look at three amazing acts of love: His redemption; his care and his correction.

I. GOD’S REDEEMING LOVE:
Hosea was the last prophet in Israel. He preached during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753) B.C His mission was to call the nation of Israel to repent. Upon God’s command Hosea marries Gomer who was practicing harlotry. Hosea’s dealings with Gomer and the names given to the children who were born to him and conceived by Gomer was an object lesson to the Israelites. Just like Gomer was found unfaithful to Hosea the children of Israel too were unfaithful to God. Hosea pursued his unfaithful wife with a love similar to the love with which God perused unfaithful Israel. Inspite of their unfaithfulness God called out to the them to return.

Though the nation of Israel was turning away from God; he loved them; out of his great love for them he called them to come back to him. Just like the nation of Israel we too can go away from the Lord. The call of God is still the same even today. He is calling out to the unfaithful, and rebellious to come back to him in repentance. Vs 1. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” The first part of the verse indicates that God loved the nation of Israel from its infant stage. The statement “Out of Egypt I called my son” was not only referring to God redeeming Israel from the oppression of Egypt but also carried a futuristic message about the upcoming messiah. It was fulfilled in Mathew 2:15 “Out of Egypt did I call my Son.”
In Exodus 4:22, 23 “My son” was referring to Israel and in Matthew 2:15 “My Son” was referring to Jesus.

The words “my son” indicates a special and intimate father and son relationship God enjoyed with the nation of Israel. God loved Israel so much that he redeemed them from their oppressors. In Psalm 130:8 - 131:1 “He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an out stretched arm and with great judgments” What does redemption mean?
The word redemption means: The repayment of a debt. The act of purchasing back something previously sold. Theologically it is the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil. In any case the one who is being redeemed depends on the mercy of his redeemer. The Bible says every one who sins becomes a slave to sin. Christ came to set the captives free.

Keith Green a popular American music artist searched r true love in the wrong places, In his mid teens, he became heavily involved in drug use, eastern religion, astrology, and mysticism. His search came to an end when he finally received the true love of God; so he wrote:
“Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky
All my hopes would come tumbling down, and I never knew just why
Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my eyes
Well I've been blind all these wasted years and I thought I was so wise
But then you took me by surprise
Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed
Until your love broke through
I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me
Until your love broke through”
Your problem may not be drugs; or astrology and mysticism likes; it may be something else but if you have not yet found the true love of God; you might be searching for it in the wrong places like the Beatles and Keith Green.

II. God’s Caring Love: Hosea 11: 3 “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in my arms. But they did not know that I healed them. This verse explains how the Lord dealt with Ephraim or Israel as a father would deal with his son. By emphasizing it was I the Lord wanted the nation of Israel to know it was indeed God who has done the caring, teaching and healing and not their idols as they were led to believe.

God showed his love, care and instruction to the Israelites as a loving father would do to his children. Kidner states, “Fatherly love, in Hosea 11:1, is now in vs 3 charmingly portrayed in a scene that any family will recognize, with father absorbed in coaxing and supporting the child’s first staggering steps; picking him up when he tries or tumbles.”

I am familiar with this kind of training. I remember how I used to enjoy helping my three daughters when they started to walk. I would hold them by their arms and walk with them. Marriage and family are the most important institutions on the earth. Through a mother and a father God wants to demonstrate his loving nature. But unfortunately the very foundation of marriage and family are brutally attacked by Satan. As a result we have families breaking apart; marriages are failing; single moms are raising children and so on. Children growing up in families without a father figure at all in the first place or with abusive parents have difficulty relating to a heavenly caring and loving father. Have you ever doubted whether God loves you?

A famous poem of Foot prints by Mary Stevenson.
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Some times we question God’s caring love don’t we? We wonder where God is when we are going through tough times in our lives. Though we do not see him with our physical eyes it doesn’t mean he is not involved in our lives. God wanted the Israelites to realize that it was he who taught them (by giving them the law and the prophets, it was he who fed them for 40 years in the wilderness. It was he who healed them when they were sick; in Psalm 107:20 “He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” The unseen God is very much present in the lives of his people through many acts of his loving care. Psalm 77:19 “Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.” Whether we recognize it or not God cares for his people. I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”

III. GOD’S DISCIPLINING LOVE:
Discipline is one word many of us would wish it did not exist in the dictionary. It certainly is true that in some people’s lives it doesn’t exist. No one particularly enjoys discipline but it is essential for growth and success. If you want to progress and get ahead in life you need to learn discipline how ever unpleasant it may be. There are 36 scriptures in the Bible pertaining to discipline: Let me mention a few:

The friends who came to comfort Job in his time of distress gave this advice to him.
Job 5:17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures but his hands also heal.”
God rebukes and discipline’s men for their sin regardless of who they are especially those he loves the most. Hosea 5:1-2 we see that the priests and the royal house have rebelled against God so he says “I will discipline all of them” When it comes to discipline God doesn’t spare any one of his children. Psalm 39:11 “You rebuke and discipline men for their sin”

Why should we embrace discipline in our lives?

Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” Proverbs 13:18 “He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.”
Hebrews 12:5-9 "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.”

If God disciplines his children because he loves them then how can we withhold love from our children by not disciplining them?

Parents please take note; I can not over emphasize the importance of disciplining our children. Let’s not neglect our God given responsibility to discipline our children while they are young. Partly the kind of mess we are in with the crime; youth violence; drug abuse is because many parents have abdicated their responsibility. If we discipline our children well today tomorrow the courts don’t have to punish them for their wrong and unruly behavior.

The Bible doesn’t mince words when it comes to how to parent our children. Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.
Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death. In NLT it says “Otherwise you will ruin their lives.”

A.W Tozer (1897-1963) a well known Christian author of over 40 books including “The pursuit of God and the Knowledge of the Holy” He was considered by many Christian leaders as a modern day prophet. This is what he says about discipline in the American Church. “We must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline practically has disappeared. What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician's instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not "disciplined"?

The numbers tell us how undisciplined we are “The Percentage of American's who own running shoes but don't run is 87%”

Some of us wonder whether God still loves us after all what we have done to grieve him. The truth of the matter is that he still loves us inspite of all the wrong things we have done. He will punish us for our sins but he never with hold his love from us like he promised to king Solomon in 2 Samuel 7:14-15.

How does God demonstrate his amazing acts of love towards you? When you fall down he will pick you up; when you are wounded he will heal you; when you are feeling lonely he will come near you and stay with you. When you are hurting he will comfort you. When you are struggling financially he seeks to teach you and train you. When you disobey his commands he will rebuke and discipline you. When you are in danger he will send his angels to protect you. When you repent of your sin he will forgive and redeem you.

Because his great love God redeems us, cares for us and disciplines us. Revelation 3:19 “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” Therefore Let’s turn back to God in repentance and bring our lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.