Weekly Meditations: Hosea 2:1-13

The Story of the Gospel pt. 1
God and Man

A great way to explain the gospel that I have heard is found in the book "What is the Gospel?".  It has four parts, God, man, Christ, response, and explains how there is a just God who must judge sinful man but anyone who responds to Christ's sacrificial death, for man's sins, through faith can have eternal life and right standing with God.  Over the next two weeks I will briefly look at how Hosea chapter 2 shows these four parts and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you have read the first 13 verses of Hosea 2, you have seen the message of an angry God.  Israel had turned its back on God even after all he had done for them, and God was not happy.  The relationship between God and mankind is very similar.  God created mankind, yet man chose to sin against God.  Man would rather him or herself be the God of his or her life, rather than Jehovah; the God who created mankind.  So in a similar fashion, we see a picture of God, angry at the Israelites and we know that throughout history, God's just anger has been on mankind.

God is perfect and man is sinful.  Those two things cannot coexist and thus man must pay the punishment for his sin.  The gospel of Christ is much more complex than simply believing in God.  It is essentially a legal situation.  God is the creator and also the judge of the world and he will judge every person who has, is or will live.  Unfortunately as we stand, every single person that will be judged deserves to go to hell to pay the price for their sin.  Next week we will look at how God has redeemed his people, but for now, let it sink in that you deserve to be punished for your sin.  All the things Hosea 2:1-13 says and worse, you deserve.  But, if you are a Christian, you know that you have been freed from that sin and that punishment!  How amazing is that!  Like I said, we will look at that redemption next week, for now understand that God is just and man is sinful and deserves to be punished for his sin.  That is where the gospel begins, that is why we need saving and what we need saving from.  It is easy to say "i'm saved" but not realize what you are being saved from or why.