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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2025: God's Love and Justice

01 God Loves Freely

02 Covenantal Love

03 To Be Pleasing to God

04 God is Passionate and Compassionate

05 The Wrath of Divine Love

06 God’s Love of Justice

07 The Problem of Evil

08 Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence

09 The Cosmic Conflict

10 Rules of Engagement

11 What More Could I Have Done?

12 Love and Justice: The Two Greatest Commandments

13 Love is the Fulfillment of the Law


Welcome again to another series of Sabbath School lessons with our Hope Lives 365 Sabbath School discussion. The lessons this quarter are entitled, God's Love and Justice. We're beginning a new quarter. The lessons were written by Dr. John Peckham.

Dr. Peckham was the professor of theology and Christian philosophy at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary when he wrote the lessons, but now he is the editor of the Adventist Review, 1 of my colleagues there in the General Conference Office building. The lessons this quarter focus on God's love and how that relates to God's justice. The very core of Christian faith is God's love. The great controversy between good and evil focuses around the section, the issue of whether God is worthy to be loved, worshipped, and praised.

Is God a God of love? Is God an authoritarian dictator? There'll be many questions that we answer during this series of lessons on God's love, such as what is love? What's the nature of love? Is love sacrificial?

Does God's love have emotions? Is God's love dependent on our love? Many different questions. If God is a God of love, why is there so much evil in the world? What about the issue of justice?

Why does it appear that God is not just if he allows innocent people to suffer? Those questions are answered profoundly in scripture and they'll be unfolded in this series of lessons. But let's just dive right into lesson number 1, titled God's Love Freely. God loves freely. The text comes from Hosea, I'll heal their backsliding, I will love them freely for my anger has turned away from him.

What is this free love of God that he gives us. You recall, as it states in the introduction of the lesson, that Peter denied his Lord 3 times. And Jesus restored him 3 times. And the question that Jesus asked Peter was very interesting. Jesus says to Peter, do you love me?

And Peter says, Lord, you know I love you. Jesus says, go feed my lambs. Go feed my people. Share with them the loving good news of the word of God. Then Jesus asked Peter again, do you love me?

Peter says, second time, I love you. Third time, do you love me? Peter says, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus says, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. In other words, Jesus is saying to him, my love for you is much stronger, much greater than your love for me.

Then my love for you forgives you when you fail. My love for you gives you a second chance. My love is a love that rebuilds human lives. I love you freely. My love is not dependent upon your actions toward me." Our actions can affect God's emotions and it can affect God's blessings coming to us.

But our actions cannot affect God's love. In fact, Sunday's lesson points that out in a section called Beyond Reasonable Expectations. We find the story of Moses coming down off the mountain after the Israelites had been worshipping around the golden calf. Moses smashes the 10 Commandment law and there in Exodus chapter 32 or 33 verses 15 to 22 we read these verses. Exodus 33 15 to 22.

Then he said to them, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight except you go with us." In other words, they've been worshiping, they've been at the mountain, Moses is up on the mountain, Israel rebels, they worship around the golden calf, and Moses is saying, don't forsake us, lead us on to the promised land. We go on in the reading to verse 18 and 19. Moses says to God, show me your glory. Then God says to Moses, I'll make my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion." Here, God is saying to Moses, not, oh, I'm compassionate on some and not on others. He's saying, look, Moses, my love leads me to be compassionate on those who have messed up. My love leads me to be compassionate even on those that have rebelled. I will be, Moses, You can't dictate to me who I will love and how I will love them. These are your people, but most of all, these are my people.

And they have failed, yes, Moses, but I'm gonna love them freely. Here in the lesson, the last 2 paragraphs in Sunday's lesson state this clearly. What then is God proclaiming here? Essentially, God is proclaiming that as the creator of all, he has the right and authority to grant grace and compassion freely to even the most undeserving people. And he is doing so in this situation, even after the Golden Calf rebellion, by granting mercy to his people, Israel, even if they didn't deserve it.

Don't we serve an amazing, gracious God? He reveals love to us. He reaches out in compassion to us even when we don't deserve it. That is revealed in Monday's lesson in the story of Hosea and Gomer. You know the story well.

God tells Hosea to go out and bring his wife back, bring this prostitute back, and 1 who has totally rebelled against all moral and ethical principles. And here in Hosea chapter 14, we read the story, and Hosea 14, and really the story of Hosea and Gomer, and Hosea going out and reaching out to this 1 who betrayed him, this 1 who committed adultery. Hosea going out and alluring her back, winning her back by love, bringing her back to his household is the story of God reaching out to Israel. God reaching out to his chosen people, God redeeming his chosen people. Hosea chapter 14, verse 1, "'O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you've stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips." Then, verse 4, an amazing verse, 1 of the most outstanding verses on God's love in the Bible, I will heal her backsliding. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them." Now, what does it mean that God will love us freely? It means that unconditionally, flowing from his heart of love, there will be that waterfall, that cascade of love that flows upon us. Here, there's an interesting word used for freely.

It is the word ned abaha, ned abaha. It's a Hebrew word that is also used to mean voluntarily, something that flows from the heart, something that is not coerced. God's love flows to us because God is loving. That's the very nature of his love. His character is love.

And this word also is used, this word ned aba is also used for the sacrifices that Israel was to bring. They were voluntary, they weren't forced. So God's loving us freely means that love flows from the heart of God. It is a love that cannot be earned, a love that we have no merit for, but a love that loves because the very nature of love is loving. It's a love that's freely given, Tuesday's lesson.

Let me read the first paragraph. God not only continued to bestow his love freely on Israel, despite repeated rebellions, but God also continues to bestow love freely upon us, even when we were sinners. We do not deserve God's love and we could never earn it. We do not deserve God's love and we could never earn it. Revelation chapter 4 verse 11 is really a powerful verse in Scripture.

It talks about why God is worthy of our worship, why God is worthy of our praise, why he's worthy of our honor. Revelation 14, chapter 4, verse 11 says, "'For you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. Why? For you created all things, and by your will, they exist and were created. So we exist by the very will of God.

God's love brought us into existence. Creation took place. Psalm 33, verse 6. God created us. He formed us.

He shaped us. He created us because He desired us to come into existence just as a husband and wife who are in love and desire to bring forth a child, 2 for them to love. So God created us out of his love. Psalm 33, verse 6, by the word of the Lord, were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. So God brought us forth at creation out of a loving heart.

The note under Tuesday's lesson says, "'God freely created this world, and because of this, God is worthy of all honor, glory, and power.'" God didn't need to create any world before the foundation of the world. God already enjoyed the love relationship that existed within the Godhead. Remember in John 17, verse 24, it says that, speaking of the Father, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. But here's the point, love creates, love creates. The thought that the Son and the Holy Spirit, this divine Godhead had a love that existed before the creation of the world.

God's creation didn't come because he needed to love. He loved, therefore he created. And his love brought forth the creation. It says here in the lesson, second to last paragraph from the end, not only did God feel freely create this world as a bestowal of his generous love, but God also continues freely to love humans even after humans fell into sin in Eden, and even after we personally sin. Here's the good news.

Your sin does not in any way keep God from loving you. Your sin may keep you from experiencing God's love. Your sin may keep you, and it does, from receiving the blessings of God's love. But we should never confuse God's love with the blessings of God's love. God's love is everlasting, according to Jeremiah.

God's love is eternal. God's love is a part of his nature. But we can only receive the blessings of God's love if indeed we respond to that love. Do you remember the story that Jesus tells in the parable of the wedding garment in Matthew 22, verse 1 to 14? Here in Matthew 22, verse 1 to 14, we have this parable of the wedding banquet.

And the master sends out his servants and the servants go out and they say to people, come to the wedding. The king is arranging the marriage of his son. Call those who are invited to the wedding, but they're not willing to come. And they call and call different groups. They don't come.

And they call people and 1 man comes in and he doesn't have a wedding garment on. And He's called, he's invited, but he doesn't have a wedding garment on, and he's rejected. What's that all about? What is it about when it says here in Matthew 22, verse 14? Matthew 22, we're looking there at verse 14.

This is a key verse that is often quoted, but I think often misunderstood. Matthew 22, here we go, verse 14. Scripture says, for many are called, but few are chosen. What does that mean? That many are called, few are chosen.

That God selectively chooses a few? No. The word for call there is an interesting Greek word. It's kaleo. And kaleo means the calling or the invitation.

So the text could read, many are invited, called and invited are the same in the Greek word there, the same meaning. Many are invited, but few are chosen. So many are invited to the wedding feast, but who are chosen? Those who choose to accept the invitation and put on the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness. That's the point.

So it is not that God selectively chooses a few, it is that a few selectively choose God. It is those who are chosen are those who have accepted the invitation and they have come to Jesus and said, Lord, we trust you. We want to be in that wedding. You have loved us. You have called us.

Your generosity has reached out to us. So every single 1 of us have an invitation to the wedding. That's good news, isn't it? God gives you an invitation to that wedding. But the question is, will you and I respond to his love?

Will you and I accept his love?" Last paragraph, Wednesday's lesson, the elect are those who accept the invitation. For those who love God, God has prepared things more wonderful than anything we could possibly imagine. Once again, it all comes down to the question of love and the freedom inherent in love. See, if God would force you to accept the invitation, that wouldn't be love, would it? But God freely loves, he freely invites, his love reaches out to us, he's appealing to us all through our lives, but it's only as we accept the invitation we can receive the benefits of his love and enter into the banquet supper of the Lamb.

Thursday's lesson talks about how personal God's love is, how intimate God's love is. It's called Crucified for Us. God invites everyone into a love relationship with him, but only those who freely accept the invitation enjoy the eternal results. The greatest demonstration of God's love that answers Satan's charges is the cross. Satan's charges are answered forever on the cross of Calvary.

Satan said, God doesn't love us. And God says, look at the cross. I gave up the most precious thing for me, my son. In John chapter 10, verse 17 and 18, we read. John 10, 17 and 18, talks about the love of the cross.

Therefore, my father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No 1 takes it from me, but I lay it down on myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up. This command I've received from my father." So the Romans didn't crucify Jesus. Oh, they nailed him to the cross, but they didn't kill him.

The Jews did not kill Jesus. Sure, they were complicit in denying him, but they didn't kill him. Jesus freely gave up his life to die the death of a sinner, never having sinned, bearing the guilt, the shame, the condemnation of sin on the cross. Galatians chapter 2 tells us why he did that. In Galatians 2 verse 20, which to me is 1 of the profoundest statements that the Apostle Paul made.

Galatians 2, we're looking there at verse 20. Galatians 2.20. The scripture says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Who did he give himself for?

For me. He loved me. He gave himself for me. If God's love is for you, that's encouraging, isn't it? If he gave himself for you, That gives you hope, doesn't it?

Jesus, when he hung on the cross, in the infiniteness of his mind, how I cannot understand and will never understand it, he thought of me. He thought of you. Who loved me, who gave himself for me. You are precious to Jesus. Whatever you do will not stop him from loving you.

But it can deny you of receiving his blessings today and entering into that holy city tomorrow. There's a statement in Friday's lesson. It comes from Christ's object lessons, pages 4 and 15 and 16, it says. It is the darkness of misapprehension of God, that's the misapprehension of God's love that's enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of his character.

It's been misunderstood, misinterpreted. At this time, a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. God's character of love is to be made known to the world. This is why these lessons are so important this quarter.

And then it says, third paragraph down, Christ's object lessons, page 416, the last rays of merciful light. The what rays? The last rays of merciful light. The last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of his character of love. The children of God are to manifest his glory.

In their own life and character, they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them. The last rays of merciful light. The last message of Mercy is a revelation of God's love. Will you let God's love shine through you? Will you let God's love be revealed to the universe through you?

Why not make that decision as we pray? Father in heaven, we're thankful for God's love. We're thankful for the generosity of God. We're thankful for the love of God. We're thankful that God's love can shine through us in amazing, marvelous ways.

We're thankful that Satan's lies were exposed on the cross at Calvary, that God's love is real, it's genuine, it's authentic, and that on the cross you revealed that love to mankind. Thank you for loving us so, and help us to always remember that your love for us is everlasting and free and will never stop. And we thank you for that in Jesus name. Amen. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more.

If you would like to know more about AudioVerse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, you today. Www.audioverse.org.

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Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2025: God's Love and Justice

01 God Loves Freely

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