Hesed: God's Covenant Love That Never Lets Go

And what happens to the prodigal son? Before the son can finish his confession, his father runs to him and he embraces his son and declares him a son, not just to the son, but to the whole community. Put sandals on his feet. Give him a ring. Give him a robe. That's markings of a son. [00:38:49] (35 seconds)  #EmbracedAsSon

It's a verdict to say, while you are guilty, Christ has taken your guilt, has taken your punishment, and you have been declared. A verdict from the judge of all judges, your heavenly father has declared you innocent. You are forgiven of your sins. You are set free from death and Satan. And what? You have been given eternal life to live now and forever. [00:46:08] (33 seconds)  #DeclaredAndForgiven

He's not coming to try to fix, but he reclaims us as his child. It it it goes more about being than our doing. He is reclaiming our brokenness and our sin and our mess, and he's given us this identity that we are his children. We are the objects. As Paul would say, you are my beloved. You are the object of my hessag, my love, my steadfast love for you. [00:47:13] (31 seconds)  #IdentityOverPerformance

So here's the bottom line, the way I like to summarize it. Even when you let go of God, even when you let go of God and start to wander and walk away, even when you let go of God, in Jesus, God never lets go of you. He never lets go of you. [00:51:32] (20 seconds)  #HeNeverLetsGo

God is saying, I will, over and again, I will. He is the actor. He is the keeper of chesed. He is the giver of chesed. He is always constantly bringing his chesed to us. And it's not like, hey, I'll give you chesed if you return to me. No. He is giving us chesed. He is giving us goodness whether we return or not. It's not something that we are earning. It's not something that we get as reward for turning back. No. It's a decoration God puts on us. He declares chesed on you. [00:38:07] (41 seconds)  #UndeservedGrace

So I tell you, church, when you're in the middle of sin, call me. Call an elder. Call a 2AM friend. Call someone. Call me so you hear the chesed of God, that his love hasn't changed even though you think it and feel it in this moment because of the regret, the guilt, the shame. But you're near to hear the hesed. [00:29:46] (35 seconds)  #CallForGrace

God says, the more I called them, the more they went from me. That's a simple sentence, but can you just feel the weight of it? The more the call, the more the one away from me. This is a God our father who's suffering watching his children wander away. [00:31:36] (23 seconds)  #GodCallsWhileWeWander

God justifies and declares us before we do anything of obedience, before we do any improvement. He says God names us his because it's only by his hessig are we saved. Not our work, not our merit. [00:48:15] (22 seconds)  #DeclaredBeforeWorks

I like a pastor I was listening to at a conference, and he was sharing how he was ministering to people in their sins, especially those with sexual addictions. And he said, I tell them, when you sin, call me right there. Call me right away. And at first, it seems a little odd. But he said, because shame never produces repentance, only grace does. And in that moment of sin, they need to hear grace. [00:28:57] (41 seconds)  #GraceNotShame

God is inviting he's not gonna force love and obedience because that's not love. But what he is gonna do is he's gonna try to draw us to his goodness. He's gonna reveal his goodness to us that then we might be drawn to it and say, wow. There is something better. There is something greater. [00:36:10] (22 seconds)  #DrawnByGoodness

Sin is sin. Little or big makes him just as mad. No sin is free. And what does scripture say? Isaiah fifty three five six reminds us. That the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The Lord has laid the punishment, the penalty for our sin on Christ of us all, of us all, all who have been and all who are and all who will be has been laid on Christ. [00:43:00] (31 seconds)  #ChristPaidOurPenalty

What a friend we have in Jesus, and and Jesus is God, and God gave Jesus himself to the church. Why? Because we, the church, are that extension of chesed. That's what we're to be. [00:30:58] (21 seconds)  #ExtendHisHesed

And that is a faint picture of Hesed. God is holding on tighter. The more we try to pull away, the more he's holding on to us. He says, I will betrove. Verse chapter two nineteen, I will betrove you to me forever. God is holding on tight. This is not some mere emotion or some conditional affection. It's heth said. It's covenant love. It's loyal. It's constant. It's binding, self giving, costly. See, the Lord stays because he promised to stay. [00:26:30] (53 seconds)  #HeldTightByGod

God is not a reactionary emotional person or just reacting to the moment. He's a God of commitment, of covenant covenantal. See, sin doesn't change his love. How many times I've heard this so many times, and if you're like me, you probably even thought it yourself. You sin. You become aware of that sin, and suddenly you start to think, God must love me less. And that thought comes in. [00:27:44] (38 seconds)  #SinDoesntChangeHisLove

God is saying, I will, over and again, I will. He is the actor. He is the keeper of chesed. He is the giver of chesed. He is always constantly bringing his chesed to us. And it's not like, hey, I'll give you chesed if you return to me. No. He is giving us chesed. He is giving us goodness whether we return or not. It's not something that we are earning. It's not something that we get as reward for turning back. No. It's a decoration God puts on us. He declares chesed on you. [00:38:07] (41 seconds)  #GodDeclaresChesed

And what did God our father do? He kept calling them. God keeps calling you. He keeps calling us. He keeps calling them. He doesn't command. He calls. He invites. So our role is just to find a way to call, find a way to invite, and not to order. God doesn't order. [00:32:52] (27 seconds)  #KeepCallingNotCommanding

See, the wedding ring doesn't make a marriage. It testifies to the marriage. It doesn't make it. It shows you that you're married. It says marriage, but it doesn't make it. Obedience doesn't create a covenant. It flows from it. [00:49:18] (19 seconds)  #ObedienceFlowsFromCovenant

And how much more goodness must you show that you have poured out your son for us? Your good, good son for the bad children, so to speak. That we could be free and and and know your goodness and live in it and share in it. [00:52:15] (25 seconds)  #FreedByHisGoodness

What a friend we have in Jesus, and and Jesus is God, and God gave Jesus himself to the church. Why? Because we, the church, are that extension of chesed. That's what we're to be. [00:30:58] (21 seconds)  #JesusIsOurFriend

We are called in in in a to remind remember our baptism daily, That we have this old Adam in us that that wants to wander away, and so by daily contrition and repentance, we drown that old Adam. We drown the the child of rebellion and wrath that wants to wander off and do its own thing. Why? So the Christ that is in me, the Heshag that is in me, may live out through me. [00:49:36] (29 seconds)  #RememberBaptismDaily