Lesson 5 Review: The Wrath of Divine Love

 

Introduction

Memory Text: “But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath” (Psalm 78:38, NKJV).

God’s anger is always His righteous and loving response against evil and injustice. It is righteous indignation motivated by perfect goodness and love, and it seeks the flourishing of all creation which includes those who are victims of evil and injustice. Divine wrath is an expression of divine love.

What is Divine anger?

Divine anger is the proper response of love against evil, evil hurts someone whom God loves. And while God’s people repeatedly forsook and betrayed Him, over the centuries God continued to bestow compassion beyond all reasonable expectations, thus demonstrating the depth of His longsuffering compassion and merciful love.

What are the lessons from Jonah 4:1-4?

This passage displays Jonah’s hardheartedness. He hated the Assyrians, and did not want them to obtain mercy from God. We are not to act that way; we have freely received God’s mercies, we should freely give. Secondly, Jonah’s reaction reinforces how central God’s compassion and grace is to His character. God is slow to anger and abundant in mercy. God Himself makes atonement for sin and evil via the cross so we can be both just and the justifier of those who believe in Him.

How can righteous indignation be understood?

Righteous indignation is a proper response of love to evil. In the instance where the temple of God was used as a place of merchandise, Jesus displayed the “godly zeal” of righteous indignation against those who were treating God’s temple as common and who had turned it into a “den of robbers” in order to take advantage of widows, orphans and the poor. Indeed, Jesus should have been angry at this abomination. Jesus was indignant when the disciples rebuked those who brought the children to Him, He was also grieved at the Pharisees because of their hardness of hearts.

How can we know that God does not afflict willingly?

God does not afflict willingly, but love finally requires justice. It was after the people persistently and unrepentantly provoked God to anger that God eventually withdrew and “gave” them over to their enemies. God’s anger against evil stems from His love.

What does Thursday’s lesson teach us?

The lesson is for us to show compassion to others, even as God has shown us. We are to leave vengeance to God. Only evil brings about wrath.

In Conclusion,

When there is no evil or injustice, there is no wrath. The wrath of divine love is a prosper response to evil and injustice that even affects the objects of God’s love. May God help us to show compassion and love to others, and leave vengeance for Him, in Jesus’ name.

Lesson 4 Review: God Is Passionate and Compassionate

Introduction

Memory Text: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isa. 49:15, NKJV).

God’s love for us is a deeply emotional love and is perfect, it should not be thought of as emotions as humans experience them.

What does the Bible reveal about the nature and depth of God’s love?

God relates to us as His beloved children, loving us as a good father and mother would love his children, but even more. A human mother may even “forget her nursing child” or “not have compassion on the son of her womb” (NKJV) but God never forgets His children, His compassion never fails (Lam. 3:22). God’s heart yearns for us according to Jeremiah 31:20, He continues to bestow His abundant compassion and mercy on His people and does so beyond all reasonable expectations.

How does the imagery in Hosea 11:1-9 bring to life the way God loves and cares for His people?

God’s love for His people is likened to the tender affection of a parent for a child. In contrast to God’s unwavering faithfulness, His people were repeatedly unfaithful, ultimately pushing God away and bringing judgment upon themselves and deeply grieving Him. God is compassionate, but never to the exclusion of justice.

How do the gospels shed more light on how Jesus was moved by the plight of His people?

Over and over in the Gospels, Christ was said to be moved with compassion by people in distress or in need. And He not only felt compassion, He addressed the people’s needs, as well. Jesus wept over Jerusalem — “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37, NKJV).

How could it be that God is a “jealous God”?

Divine jealousy has no negative connotations. It is the righteous passion of a loving husband for an exclusive relationship with his wife. God’s jealousy is only and always the righteous kind and may be better spoken of as God’s passionate love for His people.

How can such love as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that bears all things be exemplified in our lives?

Such love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” and “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:7, 8, NKJV) can be exemplified in our lives only as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And praise God that the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into the hearts of those who, by faith, are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 5:5).

How can we respond to God’s love by the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit?

Worship to God Who is love. Response to God’s love by actively showing compassion and benevolent love to others. Recognition that we cannot change our hearts, but that only God can.

In Conclusion,

God is passionate and compassionate about us and we can respond to this love by actively showing compassion and benevolent love to others. We are not to be discouraged by our unworthiness, because we are presented before the Father by Jesus Christ in the white raiment of Christ’s own character. May God help us to exemplify His love, in Jesus’ name.

Lesson 3 Review: To Be Pleasing to God

 

Introduction

Memory Text: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, NKJV).

God does not look upon us, or the gifts we bring to Him, with the attitude of a father who does not care about the gift of his son. On the contrary, we can be pleasing to God, but only through Christ.

How does God respond to lost sinners who come back to Him?

As the father who had compassion and welcomed the prodigal son who requested for his inheritance from his father and left his father for prodigal living, so does God have compassion and welcomes every wayward person. The son who remained home may have, from a human standpoint, thought that it was not a fair treatment the father gave but it further tries to explains to us the extent of God’s love towards us, that is beyond human understanding.

How does Zephaniah 3:17 shed light on the parable of the prodigal son?

Just about every word in the Hebrew language is packed into Zephaniah 3:17 to describe God’s delight over His redeemed people. Almost as though none of the terms is sufficient to describe the magnitude of God’s love. The reconciliation of God’s love comes with the immediate presence of God, just like the father who sees his son from afar off and runs to meet him. The very pinnacle of God’s joy is reserved for the ay of restoration.

What does Ephesians 5:25-28 say about the kind of love we are called to display?

Husbands are exhorted in this passage to love their wives “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” and to love their wives as “their own bodies” (Eph. 5:25, 28, NKJV). Christ indeed loves the church as part of Himself.

What does Isaiah 43:4, Psalm 149:4 and Proverbs 15:8,9 say about God taking delight in His people?

God loves people in a way that takes account of their best interests as would anyone who loved and cared for others. Conversely, God is displeased by His people when they do evil. God loves the righteous and the cheerful giver according to Psalms 146:8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7 respectively. These texts do not say God loves only the righteous and the cheerful giver, God loves everyone. The text says God loves the righteous and the cheerful giver in some special sense — in the sense of being pleased with them is the clue from Proverbs 15:8, 9.

How can we be reconciled to God and even pleasing to Him?

God bestows grace on people prior to any human response. And We can be reconciled to God and even pleasing in His sight, by faith through the work of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. God’s work is not only for us but in us as well.

What is the worthy Goal according to Paul’s counsel?

Our worthy goal is to “be well pleasing to God” (2 Cor. 5:9, 10, NKJV) and we should ask God to transform our interests to include the best interests of those whom we love, and to expand our love so that it reaches out to others.

In Conclusion,

We are reconciled to God and even pleasing in His sight, by faith through the work of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ and may We have faith so we can be pleasing to God, in Jesus’ name.

Lesson 2 Review: Covenantal Love

 

Introduction

Memory Text: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’ ” (John 14:23, NKJV).

The Greek term agape refers not only to God’s love but also to human love, even sometimes misdirected human love (2 Tim. 4: 10). Other terms for example, phileo refer to God’s love for humans. Scripture also teaches that God’s love is not unilateral but relational, in that it makes a profound difference to God whether or not humans reflect His love back to Him.

What does the Bible record about the love of God towards us?

God’s love for us is an everlasting love, every person is loved by God. He also wants everyone to be saved, as well.

What is the nature of God’s covenantal love?

hesed is translated “lovingkindness” or “mercy” in Deuteronomy 7:9. God’s hesed shows that His lovingkindness is extremely reliable, steadfast, and enduring. Yet, at the same time, the reception of the benefits of hesed is conditional, dependent upon the willingness of His people to obey and to maintain their end of the relationship.

What is the basis of all love relationships?

God’s steadfast love is the basis of all love relationships, and we could never match that love. God not only freely gave us existence but also in Christ He gave Himself for us.

What does the benefits of a saving relationship with God depend on?

John 14:21 and John 16:27 among other texts teach that maintaining the benefits of a saving relationship with God depends upon whether we will accept God’s love (which involves willingness to be vehicles of that love, as well). God’s love never ceases.

What can we do in order not to forfeit God’s mercies?

By loving God in response, by loving the people we see around us, by keeping God’s commandments, we are showing that we love God, we are avoiding forfeiting the mercies of God. We should not be like the unforgiving servant who did not forgive his fellow servant even when he had been forgiven a far greater debt. God forgives us, we are to forgive others.

What is expected of us in response to God’s infinite love toward us?

We have been forgiven an infinite debt because of God’s infinite love. Jesus commands us to love God and to love one another. If to love God entails that we love one other, we should with urgency share the message of God’s love, both in word and deed. We should help people in their daily lives, we should be conduits of God’s love and point people to the One Who can give eternal life.

In Conclusion,

God loves us and His love is an everlasting love, but we must respond to His love by keeping His commandments, by loving Him, by loving one another. This is how we can receive the benefits of this love. May God help us to love God, in Jesus’ name.