Supernatural Love

I can’t imagine the pain of a spouse’s infidelity. My heart hurts for those of you who have been through it. Surely there are few things that would rival the feelings of abandonment, betrayal and violation of the marriage covenant.

Most marriages never survive such unfaithfulness. Some do. The depth of forgiveness and love that it would take to restore a marriage when one partner has been disloyal goes beyond normal human capacity. That kind of love comes from above.

One of the most intriguing descriptions of God’s supernatural love for His people is found in the prophet Hosea.

Prophets were often given assignments from the Lord that sane people would never sign up for. Read about Jeremiah, the underwear prophet (Jer. 13), and the guy who walked around with a yoke around his neck (Jer. 27). And what about Ezekiel? Read about his sleeping patterns and cooking lessons in Eze. 4, and about his grooming instructions in chapter 5. God often told His prophets to act out His message in graphic detail to penetrate the hardened hearts of the people.

So it was with Hosea. In order to reveal His own steadfast love for His people, God told Hosea to marry an adulterous woman: “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).

Hosea was to experience the pain of a spouse’s infidelity. His hurt over his wife’s unfaithfulness mirrored the hurt that God experienced as His own people left Him to commit spiritual adultery with other gods. What had they done? They went after other lovers and they forgot the Lord their God. They abandoned their God, betrayed Him, and violated the covenant God had made with them.

Even though the Lord had been so gracious in loving Israel, calling her out of Egypt and carrying her to the promised land, they turned their back on Him. Even though God was the One who raised them in love, taught them to walk, took them up by their arms and healed them, who led them with cords of kindness and bands of love, who eased their burdens and bent down to feed them, still Israel chased after other gods. The people failed to acknowledge the Lord, they sold themselves to others and forgot their Maker.

The judgment that Hosea’s wife deserved for her sin was death. The judgment that Israel deserved for their sin was death. The judgment that you and I deserve for our sin, likewise, is death. But, thanks be to God, that’s not how the story ends.

God told Hosea to redeem His wife: “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel” (Hosea 3:1). Hosea obeyed and literally had to buy back his wife from slavery to sin as he rescued her and redeemed her and restored her.

That’s the picture of God’s supernatural love for His people, as well. In order to redeem His own people from slavery to sin, God demonstrated His love for us by sending His own Son to pay the price for our salvation upon the cross of Calvary. In spite of our unfaithfulness, disloyalty and sin, God offers His mercy and grace in His Son, Jesus Christ. Though we often fail to acknowledge the Lord, chase after other idols and forget our Maker, God’s steadfast love reaches out to us and gives us life instead of the death we deserve. He willingly forgives our sins, cleanses us from all unrighteousness and loves us with an everlasting love.

Friend, have you received this love from God? No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, God offers you the opportunity to repent and trust in Jesus, and to enjoy the riches of His blessings in Christ for eternity, for God so loved the world.