OFFICE ADDRESS: 4255 WADE GREEN RD. NW, SUITE 515, KENNESAW GA, 30144

The Fruit of God’s Redemptive Justice, Part 1: The Call to Return to the Lord

June 11, 2017 Preacher: Series: The Prophecy of Hosea: The Story of God's Redemptive Justice & Covenant Love

Scripture: Hosea 6:1–3

Key Truth: We are called to respond in repentance to God’s wounding and departure and press on to know Him so that He will heal and revive us to flourishing in newness of life.

 

 

Introduction:

Q: How do you respond when God disciplines or corrects you?

“Man’s sin necessitates covenant wrath, but God, in his abounding mercy, declares that he and not man will have the last word, that grace rather than wrath will prevail.”

Michael D. Williams, Far as the Curse is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption

 

 

The Call to Repentance and Newness of Life:

Hosea 6:1-2

“…when the Israelites were deserted by him, they did not say, Let us pray that he will return to us; but, Let us return unto him: for they were well assured that, as the alienation had begun on their part, so it would be terminated as soon as ever they should humble themselves in a becoming manner. Let those then who are under the hidings of God’s face, inquire, what has occasioned his departure from them: and let them put away “the accursed thing,” and turn to him with their whole hearts. Let them rest assured, that “there is balm in Gilead;” and that, if they come to God in the name of Christ, their “backslidings shall be healed,” and “their happiness restored.”

Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae, Vol. 10: Hosea to Malachi

Q: What moves you to repentance? What often results from your repentance?

 

 

The Call to Press on to Know the Lord Who Is Faithful:

Hosea 6:3

“Through this difficult love story, God speaks to us with Hosea’s voice—he will be faithful to us, but he asks for faithfulness from us as well. For those of us who live in the ‘last days’, we are closer than ever to the time when God’s patience will finally be at end. It is now that we should return to God with wholehearted worship. We are called to honour the faithful God with lives of obedience, trusting that despite our unfaithfulness, he is longing to forgive us and welcome us home.”

Krish Kandiah, Paradoxology: Why Christianity Was Never Meant
To Be Simple

Q: What are some ways in which you are pressing on to know the Lord? How has He been faithful to restore and renew you?

 

 

Hosea 6:1-3 teaches us that we are called to:

-respond to God’s wounding and departure so that He will heal and revive us

-press on to know Him who is faithful to bring flourishing in newness of life

 

 

Benediction:

Hosea 10:12