The Greatest of These
Posted: August 18th, 2010, 2:17 am
simpletruth #138ai Revisited 14AUG10 salicart@msn.com
HOSEA 10:12—Part Thirty Five: The Greatest Of These
by rev.dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
When God tells us through Hosea to “break up your fallow ground”, we are being told to do something—we are being told to get to work in those areas of our lives that are currently left unplowed. Interestingly, this command to turn the soil comes after we are told to sow in ‘12a’ and to reap in ‘12b’ of this verse. It occurs to me that Hosea 10:12 is a foreshadowing of the Gospel message. As stated in Part Four of this series, our first act of righteousness is a confession of our sins, our asking Jesus to forgive us, and our invitation for the Holy Spirit to begin directing our lives. As a result we reap God’s mercy as we are saved through forgiveness and our having been pronounced eternally righteous through the blood of Christ. We call this Divine legal declaration, salvation in justification. On the other hand, ‘12c & d’ of the verse pertain to our salvation through sanctification; that is, we have been set aside by God—and we are setting ourselves aside—for the working out (plowing) of increasing holiness in the face of the One True God who holds the definition of holiness within His Being. Finally, ‘12e1 & e2’ [...Till He comes and rains righteousness on you] relate to the coming salvation by glorification of our bodies in the reunification of our persons through resurrection.
Significantly, God commands us in Hosea 10:12 to sow, to reap, to plow, and to seek in lieu of inertly sitting out the remainder of our earthly lives. While we are not saved by works, our salvation should be working—not through our skills and efforts, but because God equips us and gives us the increase. In First Corinthians 12:4-6 Paul encourages Believers toward a humbled understanding that all of our gifts, all of our ministries, and all of our works are the direct result, and under the direct control, of our very present God in Three Persons. There are different kinds of gifts [#5486 charisma], but the same Spirit [spiritual endowments are distributed by God the Holy Spirit]. 5 There are different kinds of service [#1248 diakonia], but the same Lord [ministries are governed by God the Son]. 6 There are different kinds of working [#1755 energema], but the same God works all of them in all men [God the Father is the administrator for all that occurs within all of the history of all of mankind] (NIV).
Paul provides further insight in First Thessalonians 1:3 regarding the nature of the work that we are to accomplish here on Earth as we diligently pursue the return of Christ: We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (NIV). Our work is to be produced by faith—our labor is to be prompted by love—our endurance is to be inspired by hope. “Your work (#2041 egron) produced by faith (#4102 pistis)” [faith working in us, and acts of faith working through us]. “...Your labor (#2873 kopos) prompted by love (#0026 agape)” [wearisome toil encouraged by selfless love]. “...And your endurance (#5281 hupomone) inspired by hope (#1680 elpis) in our Lord Jesus Christ” [patience that results from our experiential knowledge of God’s faithfulness].
Faith, hope, and love are the tripartite engines of forward thrust as we pass through this life and into the next. In First Timothy the Apostle to the Gentiles begins his letter, 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (NIV). Love from a pure heart is what I am (or should be) in my innermost being. Love from a good conscience is what I say and do (or should say and do). Finally, love from a sincere faith is what I believe (or what I should believe). Just as we are commanded by Christ in Mark 12:28-33, these verses instruct us to love God with our whole person as mind, body, and spirit—AND we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1Co 13:11-13; NIV). For the mature Christian, when all else fails—when all around us our life is being shaken—we cling to our saving faith in the promises of God (Ga 3:5-29), we have hope as an anchor for our soul (He 6:19), and we know the absolute love of our Creator and Sustainer (1Jn 4:7-21). And the greatest of these three is love. Jesus exhorts all Believers everywhere: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (Jn 13:34&35, NIV). In John 15:13 Christ continued, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (NIV). As love is the greatest of the fruit of the Spirit, the greatest actualization of love is that we lay down our lives for each other. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1Jn 4:10&11; NIV). Amen.
HOSEA 10:12—Part Thirty Five: The Greatest Of These
by rev.dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
When God tells us through Hosea to “break up your fallow ground”, we are being told to do something—we are being told to get to work in those areas of our lives that are currently left unplowed. Interestingly, this command to turn the soil comes after we are told to sow in ‘12a’ and to reap in ‘12b’ of this verse. It occurs to me that Hosea 10:12 is a foreshadowing of the Gospel message. As stated in Part Four of this series, our first act of righteousness is a confession of our sins, our asking Jesus to forgive us, and our invitation for the Holy Spirit to begin directing our lives. As a result we reap God’s mercy as we are saved through forgiveness and our having been pronounced eternally righteous through the blood of Christ. We call this Divine legal declaration, salvation in justification. On the other hand, ‘12c & d’ of the verse pertain to our salvation through sanctification; that is, we have been set aside by God—and we are setting ourselves aside—for the working out (plowing) of increasing holiness in the face of the One True God who holds the definition of holiness within His Being. Finally, ‘12e1 & e2’ [...Till He comes and rains righteousness on you] relate to the coming salvation by glorification of our bodies in the reunification of our persons through resurrection.
Significantly, God commands us in Hosea 10:12 to sow, to reap, to plow, and to seek in lieu of inertly sitting out the remainder of our earthly lives. While we are not saved by works, our salvation should be working—not through our skills and efforts, but because God equips us and gives us the increase. In First Corinthians 12:4-6 Paul encourages Believers toward a humbled understanding that all of our gifts, all of our ministries, and all of our works are the direct result, and under the direct control, of our very present God in Three Persons. There are different kinds of gifts [#5486 charisma], but the same Spirit [spiritual endowments are distributed by God the Holy Spirit]. 5 There are different kinds of service [#1248 diakonia], but the same Lord [ministries are governed by God the Son]. 6 There are different kinds of working [#1755 energema], but the same God works all of them in all men [God the Father is the administrator for all that occurs within all of the history of all of mankind] (NIV).
Paul provides further insight in First Thessalonians 1:3 regarding the nature of the work that we are to accomplish here on Earth as we diligently pursue the return of Christ: We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (NIV). Our work is to be produced by faith—our labor is to be prompted by love—our endurance is to be inspired by hope. “Your work (#2041 egron) produced by faith (#4102 pistis)” [faith working in us, and acts of faith working through us]. “...Your labor (#2873 kopos) prompted by love (#0026 agape)” [wearisome toil encouraged by selfless love]. “...And your endurance (#5281 hupomone) inspired by hope (#1680 elpis) in our Lord Jesus Christ” [patience that results from our experiential knowledge of God’s faithfulness].
Faith, hope, and love are the tripartite engines of forward thrust as we pass through this life and into the next. In First Timothy the Apostle to the Gentiles begins his letter, 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (NIV). Love from a pure heart is what I am (or should be) in my innermost being. Love from a good conscience is what I say and do (or should say and do). Finally, love from a sincere faith is what I believe (or what I should believe). Just as we are commanded by Christ in Mark 12:28-33, these verses instruct us to love God with our whole person as mind, body, and spirit—AND we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1Co 13:11-13; NIV). For the mature Christian, when all else fails—when all around us our life is being shaken—we cling to our saving faith in the promises of God (Ga 3:5-29), we have hope as an anchor for our soul (He 6:19), and we know the absolute love of our Creator and Sustainer (1Jn 4:7-21). And the greatest of these three is love. Jesus exhorts all Believers everywhere: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (Jn 13:34&35, NIV). In John 15:13 Christ continued, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (NIV). As love is the greatest of the fruit of the Spirit, the greatest actualization of love is that we lay down our lives for each other. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1Jn 4:10&11; NIV). Amen.