Do you ever wonder, how can God love someone like me? How can He keep loving someone who keeps letting Him down? If you never wonder this, it may be that you think too highly of yourself and don’t realise what a sinner you are. The more we study God’s Word the more we see how much we let Him down, and then correspondingly how loved we are that He continues to show mercy to someone like me!
In Hosea 11, we see the tender heart of God. He’s like a father with a child. He taught His people to walk, when they stumbled, He embraced them, picked them up, wiped them down, wiped away their tears. But despite this, they went after other gods. They were unfaithful.
Look at God’s heart in v8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?” He knows they deserve His punishment, but He loves them! How can He love people who keep turning away from Him? How can He not punish them?
The surprise is in v9. God says He will not execute His burning anger against them and destroy them because He is God and not a man. He is holy. We are used to thinking of God’s holiness being the reason for why He must punish sin, and that’s true, and yet here, His holiness is the reason why He won’t wipe His people out! Why? God is saying, if He were just a man, He would have destroyed them by now. Our heart is that if someone wrongs us, we seek revenge. But God is different, He is holy. Have you ever considered the reason why God has not wiped you out yet is because He is holy? God is committed to be merciful to His people! But yet, His holiness also means He is committed to punishing sin. How can He do both?
The answer is at the cross, the place where His righteous and mercy meet. “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness snd peace kiss each other.” (Psalm 85:10). We could not have made up such a solution! How can God be merciful and judge? At the cross Jesus Christ took the punishment we deserve, justice is done, sin is punished, and mercy is shown for He did it for us.
There’s no God like our God. Worship Him. Our reading from Matthew 19 shows one implication for this. Our marriages are meant to reflect this. Husbands are meant to love their wives as Christ loves the church (Eph 5). Marriage is an illustration of Jesus’ self-sacrificial love. Tragically we don’t always get this right either. For this reason Jesus permits divorce where one party has been unfaithful or where one party has deserted the other (see 1 Cor 7:15).
The husband is meant to be a model of self-sacrificial love, we are meant to show something of the love of Christ. If you have been wronged in this way, look to Hosea 11 and see God’s incredible love and care for you. A love that led Him to the cross because He would not give up on someone like you. That’s how He can and will keep on loving someone like you. His holiness is a good thing. There’s no God like our God.
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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