"The Desire Of God"

“The Desire of God”

April 20, 2008

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me ’my husband’; you will no longer call me ’my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air

and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land,

so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

"In that day I will respond," declares the LORD— "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ’Not my loved one.’

I will say to those called ’Not my people,’ ’You are my people’; and they will say, ’You are my God.’ "

Hosea 2:14-23

This morning we learned a new song in church. “How Great is Our God”. I love that song. It reminds me every time I sing it of how great God is! God is so awesome. God is so wonderful. God is so great in so many ways that we can hardly communicate it or even understand it.

This morning I want to share with you the greatness of His desire. I will share with you 1. The desire; 2. The problem; and 3. The solution.

First of all, let me simply say that His desire, God’s passion, is YOU! You are the apple of God’s eye. He loves you so much that we can hardly comprehend it. I’m sure we will never total understand it in this life – but God gives us a few clues. He says,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

That verse is the most loved and well known verse in the Bible. Why? Because it reveals to us how much God loves us. “God so loved YOU – that He gave His only son…” We can hardly comprehend that kind of love. I love my son and daughter dearly. I would cheerfully give my life for them – but sacrifice their life for someone else? The last time I ever laid hands on a man was when, as a chaplain, I was riding with my son, and someone tried to kick him. I didn’t even think about it. I tackled his legs. Ben quickly subdued him. But I wasn’t going to stand around and let someone kick my son. In retrospect, I realize Ben didn’t need my help. But my love for my son would not let me stand ideally by.

As much as I love my son, God’s love is so much greater. Not only that – but the Son is a part of the Godhead. And yet God loved us so much He gave His only Son.

That ought to make every one of us feel valued and wanted and loved and desired. The Scriptures reveal that God is with us from the womb to tomb.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.” Psalm 139:13-16

Can you imagine God being aware of us and loving us before we were ever born. As we were being formed – He was there. He knew us. He loved us. He desired us. And all through life – He walks with us. God’s love reminds me of a story I heard recently. William Frey, retired Episcopal bishop from Colorado, told the following story: When I was a younger man, I volunteered to read to a degree student named John who was blind. One day I asked him, "How did you lose your sight?"