God has been, is, and always will be a relationship oriented God. That is clear from the beginning of time. When He set out to create Earth and its inhabitants, He created individuals who shared in His creativity, emotions, love, and nature. Then He fashioned an orchard for Him and His people to live in together. Whether it was seen by the evening strolls they would go on, or the conversations they had, God and man shared a special bond. This bond was broken however, when we introduced the most abhorrent and evil substance into the relationship: sin. At that point, we pushed the Holy One away by our vulgarity and bound ourselves under the yoke of Satan. From that point on the world belonged to a new master, not one who values people and a relationship with them, but one that is looking to actively kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). With this in mind, it is important that we interpret the Bible for what it is, a document following the daring rescue mission of a God determined to liberate those bound to hell.
God’s mission to rescue us was predicated on finding a way to restore and build a relationship with us once again. This did not happen over night and had tremendous highs and lows. In this pursuit, God had to implement radical plans, such taking back a fallen planet by saving the only righteous family and flooding the world in water. Along the way there were highs and lows. In Hosea chapter 11:1-4, the relationship was at a low point and God offers his people an insight to the way He views their relationship with Him and the depths of His love for them, in hopes that it will make them fall back in love with Him. We can use this passage to see two elements of who He is that will forever change the way we view our relationship with Him.
Firstly, God shows us that He is persistent. God will not stop trying to pursue us. There are six “I” statements of God in this passage that show what God has brought to the relationship: He loved (v.1) , called (v.1), taught (v.3), healed (v.3), led (v.4), and bent down (v.4). Compare that to the five “they” statements about man: they departed (v.2), kept sacrificing to pagan gods (v.2), never knew what He did (v.3), refused to repent (v.5), and schemed (v.6). Despite this, God would never stop trying to pursue a relationship with His people, even if they rejected Him.
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We serve a relationship based God Who has gone to tremendous lengths to ensure that we have a secured relationship with Him. He will love us immensely, pursue us until our dying breath, and is standing by to join us no matter where we are.
Bishop Darby
