Episode 2267 - Lesson 2 - Monday Jan. 06 - Covenantal Love

The Bible often depicts God’s special love relationship with us by using family or kinship metaphors, particularly metaphors of the love between a husband and wife or of a good mother for her child. These metaphors are used particularly to depict the special relationship between God and His covenant people. This is a relationship of covenantal love, which involves not only God’s love for His people but also expectations that people will accept this love and will love Him (and one another) in return. Read Deuteronomy 7:6–9. What do these verses teach about the relationship between God making covenants and God’s loving-kindness? Deuteronomy 7:9 describes a special kind of love that God has with His covenant people, a relationship that is partially dependent on whether or not they remain faithful. God’s love is not conditional, but the covenant relationship with His people is. The word translated “lovingkindness” or “mercy” in Deuteronomy 7:9, ḥesed, itself exemplifies the covenantal aspect of divine love (and much more). The word ḥesed is often used to describe the greatness of God’s mercy, goodness, and love. Among other things, ḥesed refers to the loving-kindness, or steadfast love, for another within an existing reciprocal love relationship. It also initiates such a relationship with the expectation that the other party will show this loving-kindness in return. God’s ḥesed shows that His loving-kindness is extremely reliable, steadfast, and enduring. Yet, at the same time, the reception of the bene­fits of ḥesed is conditional, dependent upon the willingness of His people to obey and to maintain their end of the relationship (see 2 Sam. 22:26, 1 Kings 8:23, Ps. 25:10, Ps. 32:10, 2 Chron. 6:14). God’s steadfast love is the basis of all love relationships, and we could never match that love. God not only freely gave us existence but also in Christ He freely gave Himself for us. “ ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’ ” (John 15:13, NKJV). No question, the greatest expression of God’s love was revealed when the Lord “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8, NKJV). What are ways that you can constantly keep the reality of God’s love in your thoughts? Why is it important to do that?