Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS025001S
|
00:00 [uplifting music]
00:12 [upliftingusic] 00:14 Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 We're glad that you are joining us today. 00:19 We are beginning a brand new quarter 00:22 of "Sabbath School," 13 weeks, 13 episodes delving into 00:26 the subject of God's love and justice. 00:30 How do God's love and justiccoexist? 00:33 What does love loolike, what does justice look like, 00:36 and are r concepts of love and justice 00:40 really biblical? 00:41 We're gointo be delving into that over the course 00:43 of the next 13 lessons, d we're glad 00:46 th you are here with us. 00:48 Let's begin with prayer. 00:50 Father, we thank You for giving us an oppornity 00:52 to delve into Your Word, to delvento Your love 00:56 and Yo justice, and we ask that as we do so, 00:59 You will open our hearts and minds to a clearer picture 01:03 of who You are and Your character of love. 01:06 And we thank You in Jesus' name. 01:08 Amen. 01:10 Well, we're grateful to have with us this quarter 01:12 the author of this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson. 01:15 That is John Peckham. 01:16 John is an associate editor of the "Adventist Review," 01:19 and he is also a research professor 01:21 at the theological seminary at Andrews Uversity. 01:25 John, thanks for joining us. 01:27 >>John Peckham: It's a pasure to be with you. 01:28 Thanks for having me. 01:29 >>Eric: So let's talk about this for a momt. 01:31 We're looking at God's love and justice. 01:33 This is something that you've been studying, 01:35 you've been interested in foquite some time. 01:38 Give us a little bit of background 01:40 into what-- where did this birth from? 01:43 Why are you-- y is this something 01:45 that you are passionate about? 01:46 >>John: Yeah, I've been studying divi love 01:49 for many, many years now. 01:50 PhD dissertation was actually on the concept of divine love, 01:54 and that dissertation turned into 01:56 a massive project, 800 pages. 01:58 So I've been studying these things for quite some time. 02:00 I wrote a few books on love and the problem of el-- 02:02 how does God's love coexistwith the fact 02:06 that there's so much evil in the world? 02:07 And so when the opportunity came to write the lesson 02:09 a few years ago, I jumped at the chance. 02:12 It's a great opportunity to speak about God's love. 02:15 >>Eric: So thiis-- has been a long time 02:17 in coming, and now we get glean some of this. 02:21 And it's unftunate we only have 13 lessons, 02:23 a book about that thick, to dig into it, 02:26 but we're gog to get the most of it 02:27 that we can in our time together. 02:29 Let me begin by asking this question. 02:32 We take a look at the interaction 02:34 between Jesus and Peter after the Resurrection. 02:38 How do we get-- how do we understand 02:41 the concepts of divine forgiveness 02:44 and restoration in that relationship 02:46 and thinteractions that we see there? 02:49 >>John: Yeah, you have this amazing sce 02:51 ter the Resurrection when Jesus eats 02:54 with the disciples and then He has 02:56 this conversation with Peter where He asks him three times, 03:00 "Peter, do you love me?" 03:01 And three times Peter answers, "Lord, you know all things. 03:05 You know that I love you." 03:07 And Peter is grieved, the text says in John 21, 03:14 that Jesus asked him And three times three times, "Do you love me?" He gives the commission 03:16 to "feed my sheep" or "tend my lambs." 03:19 Now, what's going on here needs to be understood 03:22 in the background of what had happened 03:25 before the Crucifixion. 03:26 Jesus had told Peter-- predicted, "Peter, you're ing 03:30 to deny me three times before the rooster crows." 03:36 Now, of coursenowing Peter, he's like, "No, of course not. I'll never deny you, Lord." 03:38 But sure enough, just as Jesus predts, 03:41 this takes place 03:43 And even according to Luke, right aftePeter denies Him 03:46 the third time, their eyes meet, and I can only imagine 03:51 the way Peter feels at that moment. 03:53 He has betrayed his Lord. 03:55 Jesus goes to the cross. 03:57 And now here we ar after the Resurrection, 04:01 and sus has risen, but Peter is probably 04:03 still deeply ashamed of himself, right? 04:06 He's failed Christ. 04:10 But now Jesus asked him three times, "Do you love me? 04:14 Do you love me?" 04:15 And of course Peter answers, "You know. You know all things," 04:19 right? Jesus had predicted the denial before. 04:21 "You know. Why a you asking me if I love you?" 04:25 Three times He asked him the same question. 04:27 Why three times? 04:28 Because Peter had deni Him three times. 04:31 And so this is actually an episode of restation 04:34 where Jesus is actually restoring Peter 04:36 ter that episode, providing him forgiveness, 04:40 reconciling him to Himself. 04:42 And amazgly, if you know the story of Peter, 04:44 this wn't the only time that Peter messed up, 04:46 so to speak. 04:47 But Peter's made a leader in the church 04:48 and a nderful champion for Christ. 04:51 But here we see Jesu taking the time. 04:54 "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you ve me?" 04:56 And that'sthe most important question 04:58 we can answer as well that Jesus as us, 05:00 "Do you love me?" 05:02 >>Eric: , it's a beautiful picture of that restoration. 05:05 Peter messed up, but Jes brought him back 05:08 and restored him, and that gives us 05:09 some encouragement as well if-- for those of us 05:12 who have messed up, and I think that's-- 05:14 honestly, th's all of us. 05:15 >>John: All us. >>Eric: That's all of us. 05:17 Let's talk for a moment about Hoa. 05:20 You ver a lot of things in this first chapter. 05:24 In theook of Hosea, chapter 14 and verse 4, 05:27 you find this passage. 05:29 will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." 05:33 What does this tell us about God's-- 05:37 His attitude toward our repentance, our failure? 05:41 Wh insights do we get into God and His character with this? 05:46 >>JohnYeah, this whole lesson, 05:47 this first lesson, is based on 05:49 God loving us freely and the emphasis that 05:52 we don't deserve God's love, right? 05:54 We don't merit it. Like you said, we messed up. 05:56 mess up a lot, and yet God in His love 06:00 freely decides to bestow mercy and love and compassion 06:03 on us anyways, and the book of Hosea 06:05 is a wonderful example of th. 06:07 In Hosea, Gos people have broken 06:09 covenant relatiohip with Him. 06:11 They have egregiously sinned to the point where 06:15 they should be cut off. 06:17 At least according to the y the covenants 06:20 are described earlier, theyhould have been cut off. 06:23 God's blessing should have been removed from them. 06:26 God Himself even wrestlesin the book of Hosea, 06:28 "How can I give you up?" This is in Hosea 11. 06:31 And finally in Hosea 4 you have this statement: 06:34 "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." 06:39 Now, initially when someon reads that text, 06:42 they might think that it's saying, 06:44 "I will love them without any st," 06:46 and that would be theologically correct. 06:48 God's love is without cost. 06:50 But that's not the kind of freely-given love 06:53 that is being discussed in this passage, 06:55 and we know that from the word itself. 06:57 The word for "freely" there, thHebrew word "nedabah," 06:59 it's the same term that's used, fornstance, 07:01 of the freewill offerings in the sanctuary system. 07:04 So it's literally saying, "I will love you 07:07 of my own free will." 07:10 d that is very significant because they have no claim 07:14 on the covenanblessings. 07:15 They have no claim on God's love anymore. 07:18 It should have bn forfeited. 07:19 But God is saying, "Despite what you've done, 07:21 "dpite how far you have gone, 07:23 I will continue to love you freely as my covenant people." 07:27 And this is wonderful news for them, 07:28 it's wonderful news for us because if God'sot willing 07:31 to bear along with them, 07:32 that's going to be bad news for us too, right? 07:34 >>Eric: There's lotsof people today-- 07:35 you n into them, I run into them-- 07:37 who say, "How could d love me? 07:39 "You know, all thehings that I've done and I've messed up, 07:41 "and I promised this and I promised that, 07:43 and I've dropped the ball so many other ways." 07:48 But God--that doesn't stop Him from loving us. 07:53 He conties to love us, even as we see here 07:56 in the book of Hosea. 07:58 There's another interesting story 07:59 over in the book of Exodus, the story of the golden calf 08:04 Here, God's people really messed up 08:06 in spectacular fashion, and yet d 08:11 still bears with them. 08:13 Unpack the story a little bit for us. 08:16 >>John: Yeah, I mean, it-- 08:18 yohave this golden calf incident in Exodus 32, 08:20 where the people, they've been delivered 08:23 with mighty nders from slavery in Egypt, 08:26 generational slavery, and they go into the wilderness, 08:29 d Moses is up on the mountain with God receiving instructions, 08:34 among other things, to bui the sanctuary, 08:36 which is the way that God is going to dwell 08:38 in the midst of His people. 08:39 Sanctuary hasn't been built yet. 08:41 And while Moses is there, they decide, "We're going 08:44 "to make an idol. We're going to make a golden calf, 08:47 "and we're going to worship that golden calf 08:49 "as the golden calf delivered us 08:52 from slavery in Egypt." 08:53 So, and they do all kinds of other horrible thgs 08:56 based on pagan worship practices 08:58 that I won't paint the picture of here. 09:00 But let's just say when Moses comes down the mountain 09:02 and he sees what they are doing, 09:04 he throws the Ten Commandmts down 09:07 onto the ground and shatters them, 09:09 which tually symbolizes the covenant itself 09:12 being shattered. 09:13 And it looks like the covenant's gog to be entirely broken, 09:16 that covenant relationship will not continue, 09:18 but because of God's grace and mercy, God decides 09:21 to maintain covenant relationship 09:26 wi this people anyways, and Will God be able to go yet there's still a question: in the midst of His people? 09:29 How can the holy God go in the midst 09:30 of a sinful people without stroying them? 09:32 That's one of the reasons why the nctuary is built, 09:34 as alace of God's mediation. 09:36 But there's a question at this point of the story. 09:38 Will the sanctuary even be built? 09:40 And so there's a back-and-forth where ses intercedes-- 09:43 actually, God draws out interceson on purpose-- 09:45 and Moses intercedes for the people, and God-- 09:49 over and over again God assus him, 09:50 "I will continueto go with you," 09:53 with more specificit and more specificity 09:55 until God says, "I will do everything that you've asked. 09:58 I will still continue to go in the very midst of the people." 10:01 And then Moses asked this question, 10:02 maybe a bit of an audacious question, 10:04 wherhe says, "Lord, I pray, show me Your glory." 10:09 And God promises, will make all my goodness 10:13 pass before you." 10:14 And then He makes this phrase about, "I will grant compassion 10:17 "to who I will grant and show mercy 10:19 to whom I will sw mercy." 10:21 d there God is, again, showing His right, 10:24 at even though they have forfeited 10:26 all the conant blessings, even though the relationship 10:28 has been forfeited God says, "Because I am 10:30 "the God of compassion and mercy, 10:31 "I will show compassion and mercy 10:33 on this people, even though they don't deserve it." 10:36 Again, great news for us. 10:37 >>Eric: Thatassage, that phrase that you just mentioned, 10:40 "I will have comssion on who I will have compassion on, 10:45 I will have mercy on"-- some people take that to-- that God's arbitrary. 10:47 "You know, do thisnd do that with whoever I feel like." 10:51 That's not the picture tt we're getting there, though. 10:53 >>John: No. >>Eric: That's--this is God 10:54 exercising His free will. 10:56 He says, "Even though you don't deserve it, 10:59 I'm going to show compassion on you." 11:01 >>John: Th's right. A lot of people read this passage 11:03 as if Gois saying, "I'm going to have compassion 11:05 "on some arbitrarily and not others, 11:07 that some are chosen to be saved and some are not." 11:10 But acally the context of the passage 11:12 shows something different. God gives evyone a choice. 11:14 Which side are you going to go to 11:16 athe end of Exodus 32? 11:17 And here God is assertg, "No, I am going to bestow mercy 11:21 "and compassn on this people 11:22 because I have the right to freely do it," 11:24 not arbitrary between some and others. 11:26 They have a decisi to make to respond to that grace, 11:28 but God is saying, "I'm going to do it of my own free will." 11:31 >>Eric: So that's a beautiful picture of God. 11:32 It helps us to understand His character 11:34 a whole lot beer. >>John: Absolutely. 11:36 >>Eric: John, 're looking at God loving freely 11:38 here in our firslesson 11:40 of this 13-lesson journey that we're taking. 11:43 You've taken many years of digging into God's ve, 11:48 and you've distilled it into the quartly lesson 11:50 that we have, but there is also a companion book. 11:54 You can't fit all of yr research 11:55 into that little quarterly. would be nice, 11:57 but it would be very fl. 11:59 Tell us a little bitore about this companion book 12:02 th's available and why someone might want to pick that up. 12:05 >>John: Yeah, the companion volume 12:07 gives me an opportunity to delve lot more deeply 12:13 into these issues In this first lesson, of divine love and justice. for instance, 12:14 which is about God's loving freely, 12:16 I'll introduceou to a theologian 12:18 you've probably never heard of but you've actually 12:20 been very impacted by his theology of love, 12:23 but actually that theology of lovturns out to be 12:25 not very biblical. 12:27 And so we walk through some of ose things 12:30 and what the Bible really teaches 12:31 about God's love and later in the quarter 12:33 how we deal with things like the problem of evil 12:35 and God's goodness. 12:36 And so it gives an opportunity to go much deeper 12:39 into the biblical text, much deeper into this 12:42 wonderful message of G and His love, what God is like, 12:46 how God really loves us, how we can wrestleith 12:49 so of the biggest questions that people struggle with, 12:52 about why is there suffering, where is the God of justice, 12:54 and more questions like this. 12:56 >>Er: So make sure that you pick up that companion book 12:59 to this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson. 13:01 Where can you find it? 13:02 It's very easy to find. 13:03 Just go to itiswritten.shop and you can fi that book. 13:07 You will be blessed indeed as you pick it up 13:10 and as you delve more deeply intohis quarter's 13:13 "Sabbath School" lesson. 13:15 We'll be back in just a moment as we continueur journey 13:18 through looking at how God loves freely. 13:21 We'll be right back. 13:22 [uplifting music] 13:26 >>John Bradsw: Well, it's about that time, 13:27 the time when ople are thinking about 13:29 New Year's resolutions. 13:34 and start over is a good thing, And ally, an opportunity but what we see is that to turn the page 13:37 even the most exciting, meaningful 13:40 important New Year's resutions often don't get kept. 13:44 You've tried to hold your temper, and you faile 13:47 You'veried not to do this thing 13:48 or that thing, and you failed. 13:50 You've tried to be more like Jesus, 13:51 and you've failed. 13:53 And that's because when you think 13:54 for even a moment that you can do it, 13:58 yoare bound for disaster. 14:00 But unlike a New Year's resolution, 14:03 faith in God isn't about what you can do. 14:07 It's aut what God can do in your life. 14:09 Unleash the power of God in your life and you'll meet 14:13 with success, not ilure, as God's power 14:17 becomes the foundation of your life. 14:19 "The Promise You Can Never Keep," 14:21 watch now on It Isritten TV. 14:26 [uplifting music] 14:30 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:32 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:33 We're taking a look this quarter at God's love and justice, 14:37 and in our first lesson we are looking 14:39 at how God loves freely. 14:42 John, there'sa very interesting story 14:44 that you draw out in this first lesson 14:47 and it's about Hosea and his unfaithful wife, 14:50 and it's kind of an allego that we see 14:53 with God and His people. 14:55 Help us to understand how does this help us 14:58 to get how God loves freely througthis story. 15:02 >>John: Yeah, this is the-- one of the most common maphors 15:04 about divine love throughout Scripture. 15:07 Througut Scripture, God is presented 15:08 as this faithful husband of a deeply unfaithful wife. 15:14 And in the story of Hosea and his unfaithf wife, 15:17 viously Hosea is representing God, 15:19 and the unfaithfulness of Hosea's wife 15:21 is representing the unfaithfulnessf God's people. 15:23 They're continually ruing after other lovers, so to speak, 15:27 which is a metaphor for them going after 15:29 serving other gods. 15:31 And so you have this picture of God 15:33 throughout the Old Testament, especially in Hosea, 15:36 where He is doing everything for His people, 15:39 everything to drawhem into love relationship, 15:41 everything to take care of them, and they are 15:43 continually rebelling against Him 15:45 and departing from Him. 15:46 And so God is presented 15:48 as the ultimate unrequited lover. 15:53 And we see God's love shine through in thiepisode 15:57 of Hosea and many others, where He is doing 15:59 everything He can, despite His people's unfaithfulness, 16:03 to bring them back to Himsel and not primarily 16:05 for His n good, but because this is 16:07 the best thing for them, the only way 16:10 that they can actually prosper and flrish in the fullness 16:14 of the way that God wants them to prosper and flourish. 16:18 And so you have this picture God, who is not the picture 16:22 of God that many people have. 16:23 Some people think that God is a harsh or exacting God, 16:27 or you have to be good enough for His favor, 16:30 but actually you have the opposi here. 16:31 You have God who is desperately trying to restore 16:36 a relationship with the people who doesn't deserve it at all, 16:38 a God who is pained, a God who grieved, 16:41 a God who is weeping over His people 16:44 and tryingo draw them back into relationship. 16:46 So we get just a beautiful picture 16:48 and beautifuinsight into the heart of God 16:50 in this story. 16:52 >>Eric: So we would never-- at least, I don't think 16:54 most of us would choose to have a relationship like that. 16:57 It's a very strained, a ve difficult relationship 16:59 that makes it a challenge to continue to love 17:03 that other person en they're continually unfaithful, 17:06 and t this picture of God, He says, "I'm not going to stop 17:08 "loving you; I'm going to continue tlove you 17:10 and continue to love you." 17:11 There are some passages here that, again, you draw out 17:15 in this lesson that help us to see the God of creation in this, 17:21 and again we see God's love depicted in creation. 17:24 I'm going to read Revetion 4, verse 11 17:27 and Psalm 33, verse 6 17:29 and then give you an opportunity to comment on these. 17:31 Revelation, chapter 4, verse 11 says, 17:34 "You are worthy, O Lord,to receive glory and honor 17:37 "and power; for You created all things, 17:39 and by Your will they exist and were created." 17:44 d then over in Psalm 33, verse 6 it says, 17:47 "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 17:50 and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." 17:53 So he is a picture of God as the Creator. 17:58 How does this gi us a picture of God? 18:01 We know He created things. 18:03 How does theact that what we see Him creating 18:07 give us insights into His character? 18:09 >>John: Yeah. Both of these passages emphasize 18:12 that God freely creates the world, right? 18:15 And we know the Bible teaches that God creates the wor 18:17 out of nothing, that apart from God 18:20 the world does not exist. 18:21 Anyou have this very interesting phrase 18:23 in Revelation 4:11 tt says, "By Your will they exist 18:27 and were created." 18:28 And here, again, this is testimony about God's free will, 18:32 God's free will to create the world 18:34 and enter into love relationship with the world. 18:36 And by the world--when I use the phrase "the rld," 18:38 I mean the universe. 18:39 I me everything that has been created. 18:42 Now, this shows us that me theological views 18:46 that some people have are not quite acrate. 18:48 There are some theological systems 18:49 where God is eternallyin relationship with some world, 18:53 like the world is part of His beg. 18:55 You have panthsm and other kinds of systems. 18:57 But he we see that God creates the world freely. 19:03 within the Trinity God actually enjoys apart from any creation, lo relationship 19:06 but He decides of His own free will 19:08 to bring the world into creationbecause He wants to bestow 19:12 His love on creatures, and He wants to enter 19:14 into relationship with creatures. 19:16 Now, that's awesome enough alrdy. 19:18 That's amazi enough already. 19:20 But when youactor in the fact that this is a God 19:22 who isll-knowing, a God who knows the future, 19:24 and He knows what this world is going to become 19:27 and what the world isprecisely going to cost Him 19:30 specifically, right? 19:31 God the Son becomes human to suffer and die 19:36 to save this world, and yet, knowing all of that, 19:40 the God of theible decides to create this world freely. 19:44 He decides it is worth it, that He's going to create 19:47 the world, He's going to bestow love on us, 19:50 and He's going to create the very context forelationship. 19:53 And so we see from the very beginning 19:54 we don't deserve God's lov 19:56 we don't deserve relationip with Him, 19:58 we don't even deservto exist, 19:59 but God creates us freely. 20:01 And as we've alrea seen in the show 20:03 through many passages, don't deserve God's love 20:05 after we'vfallen, and yet God decides 20:08 to bestow it on us freely again. 20:10 Anso really many people, again, 20:12 struggle with this concept. 20:13 They think, "I have to be good enough." 20:15 They think that somehow God's love is rooted in me, 20:17 but we see over and over again that it's really rooted in God 20:20 and who He is, which is wonderful news. 20:22 >>Eric: This is part of His character, 20:24 part of His being. 20:26 I don't even know a better way of saying that. 20:27 He is. He is love. >>John: He is love. 20:30 >>Eric: You know, kind of buildi on that concept, 20:33 God created everything here knowing what was going to come. 20:37 It's not like it caughHim by surprise. He knew that. 20:40 There's a fascinating parable that Jesus shares 20:44 of the wedding banquet in Matthew, chapter 22, 20:47 and it gives us this picture of God's invitatio 20:53 and human response or lack thereof. What does it mean? 20:59 In this passage it says, "Many are called, 21:01 but few are chosen." 21:03 Again, there are so theological misconceptions 21:06 out the in areas of Christianity. 21:09 Help us to unpack and understand 21:11 this parable of the wedding feast 21:13 >>John: Yeah. Th's right. This parable, 21:15 coistent with the rest of the teachings 21:20 of Scripture, shows us that but He also invites us God loves us freely, to respond. 21:23 So there's a lot of people who have these misconceptions 21:25 that God's love is unilateral, it's only one way, 21:29 and when they speak of things like election or God's choe, 21:32 they think that God chooses some people to bsaved 21:35 and others to be lost. 21:37 And if God chooses you to be saved, then you're saved, 21:39 and you can't do anything about it. 21:41 And if God chooses you to be lo, then you're lost, 21:43 and you can't do anything about that either. 21:45 But this passage paints a very different picture. 21:48 Not only does God love freely, but He also grants creatures 21:52 free will to accept His loveor to reject His love in return. 21:56 So in the parable you have 21:57 this parable of a great lord 22:00 who invites people to this feast, 22:03 and he goes out with his invitation. 22:07 He sen his servants out and the byways into the highways and goes to invite people. 22:10 And that word for "invitation," the Greek word, is the same word 22:14 that is used throughout the New Testament 22:15 for calling people. 22:17 So if it talks about those who are called, 22:18 it's the same Greek word. 22:20 It just means to invite, right? Which is significant because, 22:23 again,ome people have a theological misconception 22:25 that the called are autotically 22:28 But in this parable you see the called are those those who are chosen. 22:30 who e invited, and then the question is 22:32 whether you respond to that invitation. 22:35 Sadly, in the parable many of the people 22:37 who are invited, they reject the invitation. 22:40 They don't come to the wedding feast. They dismiss . 22:44 And so the man sends his servants out again 22:47 to others, to the highways and e byways 22:49 bring anyone in who is willing, to invite them. 22:52 And, again, people have a choice. 22:54 Will you accept the invitation or not? 22:56 You and I have the same choice. 22:57 Will you accept the invitation or t? 23:00 And so many do accept the invitation, 23:02 and they come in to thwedding feast. 23:04 And at the end of that parable, you have that phrase, right? 23:09 "Many are called, but few are chosen." 23:13 And, again, that is sometimes misunderood to mean that God 23:17 is cosing some unilaterally, that the elect 23:21 are some special group that God has decided by Himself. 23:26 But according to the parable, if you understand 23:28 the word "called"-- many are called, 23:29 just means "invite-- it's the same word 23:31 that's used all throughout the parle-- 23:33 then what determines who are finally osen? 23:36 Who are those thatre elect? 23:37 And it's very simple if you read it in context, 23:39 which is usually the case in many cases of the Bible. 23:41 If you don't understand something, 23:43 read the ctext. 23:44 Pay attention to what is bng taught. 23:46 And in the parable itself, those who are finallchosen 23:51 are the on who respond favorably to the invitation. 23:54 It's as simple as that. 23:55 Many are called, meaning many are invited. 23:57 Inact, according to the Bible, all are invited. 24:00 God wants to save everyone. 24:01 He's not wling that any should perish. 24:03 But it's only those who will aept the invitation, 24:06 only thoseho will freely accept God's love 24:08 and also reflect God's love 24:11 who are finally among that group 24:13 that is known as the elect. 24:14 And so it's not decided just by God. 24:16 God wants everyone to be a part of that group, 24:18 but we all have a decion about whether we will 24:21 accept God's love and be a part of that group. 24:24 >>Eric: So we get to pticipate in this. 24:27 >>John: That's right. >>Eric: We don't save ouelves. 24:29 God's thone who saves us, but we have to respond 24:31 to His invitation to be saved. >>John: That's right. 24:33 >>Eric: I want to touch on something inhe few moments 24:35 th we have left, and that's this imagery of God 24:38 as an unrequited lover. 24:40 Help us to understand that little bit more clearly. 24:42 >>John: Yeah, so you have Go as the one who is pained 24:47 by His people. He--you ha-- 24:49 in theook of Jeremiah, for instance, you have Jeremiah, 24:52 who's often spoken of as "the weepinprophet," 24:56 the weeping prophet. Why is he called the weeping proet? 25:00 Because in many of the prophecies, 25:01 he is lamenting over his belov people. 25:05 He's lamenting theact that they have strayed far from God. 25:09 But actually if you read the book of Jeremiah carefully, 25:12 it's not just the prophet who is weeng-- 25:14 it not just the prophet who is lamenting 25:17 this broken relationship; it's actuay God 25:20 who is grieved, God who is deeply stirred 25:23 with emotion for His people. 25:25 And so I wld say that actually you don't just have 25:27 the eping prophet in Jeremiah and elsewhere 25:29 in the Old Testament; you have the weeping God, 25:32 God who is weeping over His people 25:34 who are used-- who are described, again, 25:36 with this metaphor of a bride, but an uaithful bride, 25:40 a bride who goesfter other lovers, 25:43 o's been so unfaithful that even in some texts 25:45 it says that she's kind of picted 25:48 almost like a prostitute. 25:50 But it says unlike a prostitute, e actually pays her lovers, 25:53 right? This isow far she has strayed. 25:56 This is how far d's people have strayed from relationship 25:59 with Him, and yet God in His great love 26:02 wants to be in relationship with them anyways. 26:05 And so He is the great unrequited lover 26:08 who is doing everything He can to restore this relationship 26:12 with His people, and He does erything He can 26:14 restore relationship with us as well, 26:16 if we are willing to respond favorably. 26:18 >>Eric: So that's our part. Our parts to respond. 26:22 And if wget a clearer, better picture of who He is 26:25 and how much He loves us and how much He wants 26:28 to be with us and wants us to be with Him, 26:31 maybe it would make it a little bit easier 26:32 for us to respond favorably. 26:34 >>John: That's right. This is a key. 26:36 When you see love-- 26:37 I often say, to know God is to love Him, right? 26:40 And a lot of people, I think, struggle to understand 26:43 God's character because they've been shown pictures of God 26:47 who is actually not very loving, who is hsh and exacting. 26:50 But when you comto know the real God, 26:51 the God of the Bible, He dra us into relationship. 26:54 To know Him is to love Him. 26:55 >>Eric: And that's what we're going to be studying 26:57 and lening more about as we continue this journey 26:59 through looking at God's love and justice, and we're glad 27:04 that you are joinings on this journey as well. 27:06 It is a deep journey. 27:08 It is an awe-inspiring jrney, and you're going to find 27:12 some answers to estions that perhaps you've had 27:15 in the past and perhaps some people who you know have had. 27:19 Maybe they have a somewhat off-base picture of who God is. 27:24 Thisuarter as we look at God's love and justice, 27:27 you're going to see clearly what a God of love He is. 27:31 We're glad that you are joining us on this journey. 27:34 We're going to be back again next week as we continue 27:37 our journey through God's love and justice. 27:41 God bless you, and we'll see you again next time 27:43 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 27:46 [inspirational music] 28:24 [inspirational music] 28:27 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning wwwbercap.com] |
Revised 2024-12-17