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1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
#198355
01/01/25 04:10 AM
01/01/25 04:10 AM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,769
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Our lessons for the coming 1st quarter of 2025 is focused on studying God's Love and Justice God is love. 1 John 4:8, 16 Yet, what is love? What does it mean to say Someone IS Love? We use the word "love" quite freely, yet "love" isn't about "loving" chocolate cake; love is a complex, powerful and often hard to grasp reality Following are questions we may be wrestling with concerning love and justice. Is love a principle, an action, a feeling, a character, what is love? Does God's love only give like an outflowing river, or does it also receive? Is divine love purely self-sacrificial, or might God's love find delight in a relationship love? Is God's love emotional, or a just a holy principle, or can it be both? Does God really care about humans? Can God's love be rejected or forfeited? Does God enter into a back-and-forth love relationship with creatures? Is anger and/or displeasure incompatible with love? Does love punish? What is Justice? How do love and justice go together? How does the way we display love and justice differ from God's love and justice? If God is love, why is there evil in the world, and so much of it? Why do "good" people who believe in Him suffer? Why does God heal some and not others? Can humans love the way God does? If so, what would that look like? And how can we achieve it? Love is a word often used by people, but it is a very complex subject. The hope of these lessons is that many of the above questions (and countless more) can find Biblical answers as we explore these and other questions throughout this quarter. And that we will realize that God's love is far greater than we might think. God's love as depicted in Scripture is far superior to the ideas that pass for "love" in much of our world today. In the coming weeks, we will look more closely at some of the most prominent and beautiful aspects of God's love that are revealed in the Bible.
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Here is the link to this week's Sabbath School Lesson Study and Discussion Material: Click Here
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Re: 1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
[Re: dedication]
#198365
01/07/25 12:39 AM
01/07/25 12:39 AM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,769
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Covenantal Love
It's an interesting adjective to define Love. A covenant is an agreement. A serious agreement where the parties make binding promises.
God promised: Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
In turn we are to: (Duet. 6:5) love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. God keeps His covenant but we all end up breaking our part of the covenant.
At this point people usually start arguing as to whether God's love is conditional on our part upholding our end of the agreement?
But notice the subject of the question has changed. God's love is not conditional, it is everlasting, drawing us to God, even when we we turn our backs on God. God's love is tirelessly working to win us back. Christ will weep over the rejecters of His mercy, for He loves everyone of them, but just like He wept over Jerusalem saying, "how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would not! And thus He could not grant them the covenantal promises, and wept saying, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (Matt. 23:37-38) It's not God's love that is conditional, He loves every person, far beyond our capability to ever love.. His love is everlasting, faithful and true.
But what about the covenant promises? Is the covenant conditional or are the promises conditional? We probably need to define "covenant" as well. But, yes, God will fulfil His promises, yet who actually partakes of the blessed promises, that is conditional on whether we accept Him and respond to the transforming light .
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Re: 1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
[Re: dedication]
#198366
01/07/25 11:50 PM
01/07/25 11:50 PM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,769
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Love is relational. Scripture defines God's relationship with us in terms we understand in a close relationship setting. Scripture speaks of God as our Father.
Matt. 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven Romans 1:7 Grace to you and peace from God our [b]Father Phil. 4:20 Now unto [b]God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 2 Thess 2:16 God, even our Father, which hath loved us,
Jesus becomes our brother Hebrews 2:11 he is not ashamed to call them brethren, John 20:17 Jesus *said to her, ?Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ?I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.? Matt. 28:10 Jesus said to them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
God is likened as a husband unto us. Isaiah 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name Jeremiah 31:32 my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jesus is likened to a bridegroom and His church as the bride. Isaiah 62:5 [as] the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Matt. 9:15 the bridegroom is with them, but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. John 3:29(John the baptist spoke) He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoicing greatly Rev. 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Hosea depicts the suffering husband who loves his wife, but she is unfaithful, till finally he has to let her go, divorce her, but he doesn't stop loving her. When she is in desperate condition due to the destructive life she chose, he is seeking her, (going out to seek and save her) he finds her, and buys her back and wins her back.
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Re: 1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
[Re: dedication]
#198370
01/09/25 01:11 AM
01/09/25 01:11 AM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,769
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God's love is everlasting. Love doesn't stop even when God has to back away, or even let go, of someone who keeps telling God to stay out of their lives.
His covenant is an everlasting covenant. Heb. 11:20 That covenant was already agreed upon by the heavenly trio, before anything was created. As plans were laid to create intelligent beings, the question of free will needed to be addressed. If these intelligent beings would be given free will, would they freely walk in the ways of God, or would they chose to disobey and doubt God with all its disastrous results? God could have stopped creating intelligent beings, they realized the risk was great. How could there be a universe filled with love, if sin was allowed to manifest itself? Mankind could be pre- programed to always do the right thing. But that isn't love, that is robotic behavior. The everlasting covenant was a plan by which these intelligent beings not only had the ability and freedom of choice, but were also given the ability to love. They were free to worship with genuine love pouring out from their hearts in gratitude to the Creator! It was a plan in which all could fully know and experience the goodness of the LORD and be in a relationship that was deeply meaningful with God and with each other.
Yet it also included a negative -- it included great pain both for God, requiring of Him a great sacrifice, and also pain for the created. It included seeing the absolute terrible consequences which sin brings. Somehow, to remove the deceitful desire for sins' very temporary pleasures, sins' true reality needs to be demonstrate in it's utter destructiveness and miserable reality. In contrast would be seen God's great love to restore and redeem people from that evil power. But the plan was an expensive one -- one of great sacrifice for God, and a lot of pain for a fallen race. Yet the result will be eternal life, happiness and love. A complete, everlasting restoration for all who turn from sin in belief in God's redeeming love. A universe where love reigns, and where sin will never manifest itself again.
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Re: 1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
[Re: dedication]
#198384
Yesterday at 05:50 PM
Yesterday at 05:50 PM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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To be pleasing to God.
As we look through this week's lesson we will see what brings the greatest joy to God our Father and to all in heaven!
What is it?
Three stories that Jesus told illustrates this. There's the sorrow of loss -- a lost sheep a lost coin lost sons
All reflecting God's grief over the loss. The relentless searching and longing for the lost to be found.
The greatest joy, is to see and welcome the lost who is found. To see the lost restored.
We are far more valuable than a coin or a sheep. Jesus did not give His life to redeem coins or sheep, but to redeem the human race. The greatest joy and love comes from a reciprocating, loving relationship. We were created to be friends with God! Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
In the beginning, God Himself walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, but sin brought a separation. The greatest joy for God and all heaven is when that relationship is restored!
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
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Re: 1st Quarter 2025 God's Love and Justice
[Re: dedication]
#198385
Yesterday at 07:01 PM
Yesterday at 07:01 PM
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OP
Global Moderator Supporting Member 2022
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,769
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To be pleasing to God.
"He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. Zeph 3:17
The story which we call the prodigal son, speaks of rejoicing when the lost son comes home.
It's a joyous time!
BUT the story goes deeper. Because it speaks of two ditches into which Satan tries to lock people and keep them away from entering into this joyous relationship with the Father.
Both sons were, in a sense lost, outside of that relationship that brings joy both to the children and to the Father. The first was lost in open sin, running away from the Father, living the sinful life till he realized how bad his choices had been and remembered the Father's care and comfort and decided to TURN back to Him.
The other son stayed "in church" so to speak. He stayed and worked, took care of what needed to be done. But the relationship with the Father was not there. His response to the Father's joy when the younger son came home, was " Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet you never even gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends"
I worked hard. I deserve deserve something, I am righteous as to the law...... and what did it get me?. I want you to give me something so I can go out and party with my friends. (Was he secretly jealous of his younger brother's former life?)
And the Father replies -- you were with Me, those with Me already own everything I have, and should be rejoicing over the lost that are found and brought back into the blessings.
Neither sons were deserving -- both were loved by the Father who wanted them to enjoy the inheritance. One chose a life leading to death and would have lost out, but he repented and returned to the Father, whose love and care was drawing him. The other was working for his inheritance, didn't even realize it was right there, but his works did not entitle him to the inheritance, it's a son who receives the inheritance. He needed that relationship with Father. If he had been in tune with the Father he would rejoice over sinners being saved.
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