Marriage as
the gospel picture in every way
Hosea 1:2-10
Introduction
· You may notice I chose the NIV (1984)
o
I
chose the NIV because of our audience today…
o
If
you have an ESV it will not be any more “literal” in the Hebrew, but will be
more graphic
o
I’ll
let parents decide whether they need to explain this at a deeper level to your
children
· Once a year I want to check in with
the marriages in our church
o
This
is that day
· It may seem like a strange passage,
but it really reflects deeply, and richly the gospel message, and how marriage
is meant to be a reflection of that message
· We’ll look at how Hosea confirms and
pre-shadows (Ephesians 5:22-23)
· Book:
Text
· Chapter 1
o
v:2
“When the LORD first spoke to Hosea…”
§ God calls Hosea into ministry
§ We need to establish context
§ God is against this (specific
revelation to a prophet), and Scripture does not permit Christians to do
“Missionary dating.” (2 Cor. 6)
o
Adulterous
wife – Gomer
§ This is not an allegory
§ literal acts (with financial aspects)
§ spiritual acts
§ (James 4:4) “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world
is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God.”
§ The point is Israel is pursuing
things for pleasure instead of God
¨ Spiritually, physically and
financially,
o
Then,
God calls him to have children
o
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call
him Jezreel”,
§ Jezreel is
where Jehu swept into power on a tide of bloodshed
§ This was
not what God meant when He allowed him the throne
§ A son who
speaks judgment
o
6 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call
her Lo-Ruhamah,
§ loh'roo-HAY-muh
§ no mercy
§ Progression
in a relationship deteriorating
o
In the midst of this we see v:7
o
7 Yet I will
show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or
battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord
their God.”
§ covenant
keeping God
o
9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi,
§ loh-AM-I – “not My people”
§ A son that
signals divorce
§ This is
what Israel deserves
§ and…(vv:10-11)
o
10 “Yet the
Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or
counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they
will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”
· Chapter 2
o
Gomer
has left Hosea and is whole-heartedly pursuing a prostitutes life
o
Hosea
tells his children to plead with their mother to abandon her lifestyle
o
· Chapter 3
o
Stage:
Gomer has descended to a place where she is now standing naked on an auction
block being sold to the highest bidder
o
READ
(vv:1-3)
o
Hosea
buys back his wife
o
Here
is the picture of Ephesians 5, Christ and His church
o
We
are Gomer, AND – in a demonstration of unbelievable grace and mercy, God has
bought back sinners from their slavery to sin
· Turn to (Ephesians 5:32)
o
This
is first about Jesus
o
(v:25)
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ
loved the church and gave himself up for her”
o
So,
how does this relate to Hosea?
o
Remember,
we’re Gomer, there is nothing lovely or worthy that Christ should do what HE
has done
o
That
is true and real love is.
· Real love has many facets; I couldn’t
cover all of them, so…
· I want to look at just two things
about true love:
o
Selfless
§ (Philippians 2:3) “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
§ Then Paul goes on to explain how
Jesus did this
¨ It’s all about Jesus
§ (John 15:13) “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for
his friends.”
§ It means my spouses needs come before
mine
¨ God’s glory is more important than my
perceived
needs
¨ not in a begrudging way
¨ I don’t “have to,” I “get to.”
¨ It puts feet on the Scripture: “the
two shall become on flesh…”
o
Merciful
§ I think a lot of times we reduce
mercy to being nice
§ (Matthew 5:7) ‘ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” ’
§ (1 Corinthians 13:5b) “(love) keeps no record of wrongs.”
§ This means: to keep a mental record
of events for the sake of some future action
§ Love does not keep books on evil. The
image is of keeping records of wrongs with a view to paying back injury
§ (Romans 4:7-8) ‘7 “Blessed are they whose transgression are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the
Lord will never count against him.” ’
§ We’re counting on God not
to keep as record of sins: we’re asking
for mercy
· There is no way left to ourselves we
can understand what love is:
o
(Gen.
6)
o
This
is where the heart goes apart from grace
o
It
loves conditionally
o
I
like to think I do, but I don’t really
o
In
light of this we see…
· God’s people look different
o
(Matthew
5:14-16) ‘ “You are the light of the
world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let
your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father who is in heaven.” ’
o
Marriage
is meant to be that display of grace and mercy to a fallen world that validates
the gospel
o
Validates
it to my family and friends as well
o
(Ephesians
5:32)
Wrap up
· Is your marriage where you want it to
be?
· Where does change start?
· If I’m not where I want to be, where
does one start?
· Run to Jesus
o
our
only hope is to run to Jesus
o
to
see the cross
· Apply the cross (in three ways)
· First, honestly repent of who I am
o
If
my goal is to blame my spouse I have become the Pharisee in the parable
o
The
hardest step in the process is real repentance to your spouse, even if they
have wronged you
o
That’s
why Ephesians 5:22-29 are written to specific individuals
o
Don’t
hear, “Husbands, make sure your wives…”
o
Or
ladies, “Wives, make sure your husband loves you…”
· Second, believe the cross is for you,
and you are not condemned
o
Jesus
paid for your sins and they’re forgiven
o
It’s
what we do with sin (confess) that marks progress and maturity
o
You
do not have to carry them, Jesus has
o
(Romans
8:1) “There is therefore now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
o
God’s
love and acceptance for you are not based on your performance
o
Pursuing
a God-honoring marriage (or relationship) is actually a way of pursuing your
joy
· Third, remember marriage is first and
foremost about God
o
So
His glory is the most important thing
§ It is how He pursues his joy
§ Why would it not be how we pursue
ours??
o
“So,
staying married, therefore, is not about mainly staying in love. It is about
keeping covenant…Therefore what makes divorce…so horrific in God’s eyes is not
merely that it involves covenant-breaking to the spouse, but that it involves
misrepresenting Christ and His covenant forever.” – John Piper
· I close with this quote from John Piper:
o
There
is not human marriage after death. The shadow of covenant-keeping between
husband and wife gives way to the reality of covenant-keeping between Christ
and His glorified Church. Nothing is lost. The music of every pleasure is
transposed into an infinitely higher key.”
o
Why?
o
Because
finally all our affections belong to Jesus
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