Title: With Love / Jeremiah 31:1-3
Content With love / Jeremiah 31:1-3
with love
Jeremiah 31:1-3
1) At that time, saith the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2) Thus saith the LORD, The people who escaped from the sword found favor in the wilderness, when I went to bring Israel to rest. 3) I, the LORD, appeared to Israel of old, saying, Because I love you with an infinite love, I have led you with kindness.
1. Children in crisis
Today is Children's Sunday in the church. I hope the day will come when we can once again chew the cud on why the church values children, invests in their education, and needs to be zealous in helping them. In addition, I hope that it will be a time to think about how to set an example for raising children in the families of the saints.
A few days ago, a TV broadcaster had a special feature that dealt with the sexual issue of adolescents. It mainly dealt with some types of adolescents who fall into obscene culture by obtaining misinformation through the Internet. Before entering the content, the broadcasting company invited mothers to have a seminar, and most mothers are unaware of the problems of teenagers these days. What seemed to be the work of very few derailed youths was now seen as a problem for my children, all showing a sense of crisis. The teenagers who contacted and interviewed the producers of the broadcasting companies started in the 4th and 5th grades of elementary school, not the 2nd and 3rd grades. And that they are not only from families of problem parents, but most of them are children from ordinary families.
Children in our household today are in serious danger of being too easily contaminated by sin. Our parents are rather at a loss as to what the hell to do. There is a very important lesson in today's sermon text showing God as Father.
2. God the Father
“At that time, saith the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people” (verse 1).
In verse 1 of the text, God referred to Israel as “family” (clan, tribe). Therefore, it is clear that “the God of the family” connotes the meaning of “father”. God wants us to be our Father. As it is in the Old Testament, the New Testament reveals its meaning more clearly.
As Jesus taught us to pray, he told us to call, “Our Father who art in heaven.” In doing so, Jesus called God first, “Abba, Father.”
Then let's see what God has shown us as our father.
First look at verse 2.
“Thus says the Lord, the people who escaped the sword found favor in the wilderness, when I went to give Israel rest” (verse 2).
The first is the Father who freed us from Egypt.
So He restored the lost identity of Israel. In fact, the suffering they inflicted on them can be said to be a punishment for Israel, who forgot to settle in the Promised Land in the Land of Goshen, the delta of Egypt. They preferred to be the people of Egypt rather than the people of God. They prospered in Egypt. However, at that time, Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, ascended to the throne, and the suffering began for Israel.
Heavenly Father did not think it was okay for His children to live in an affluent society. It was not a place for God's children to live. It was impossible to see them serving idols and serving as slaves to evil. That is why He wanted to set them free from Egypt, even if it was painful.
Likewise, parents must make good judgments about where their children are located. Even if you study hard and get good grades to enter a prestigious school and get a good job, you should be able to see if your child is not giving up on faith and going on an evil path. We need to teach them not to give up being a Christian and not enjoy their careers in the world any more. A good parent is someone who instills a clear identity and values in their children.
That is why Proverbs exhorts us to use the image of the upright father.
“He who is not able to reach his crosses hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent in chasing him” (13:24).
The second is God the Father who gave grace in the wilderness.
Israel, who had received the grace of the Exodus, did not trust in God and was overwhelmed by the greatness of the Anakites and fled. Because of that disobedience and unbelief, Israel eventually suffered and prospered for 40 years in the wilderness, but, nevertheless, God provided everything they needed. He was also a father who had compassion on them and walked with them, guided and guarded their way with a pillar of fire and cloud throughout the wilderness, and defeated many enraged enemies.
That's right. Heavenly Father rebukes and punishes, but never forsakes or forsakes them. This is the image of the Father that our God showed us. So David sang - "He leads in the way of righteousness for his name's sake." Because God is our Father. “Your name” is “Father.”
Dear saints! Fathers! Let's be fathers like this too. Let's become a father who loves his children to the end, no matter how hard they hate them. It is the responsibility of fathers to do their best to guide their children into place. Not because of my face, but because of my Father's essential mission.
Duranno Father's School summarizes the "Four Major Functions of Fathers" as follows.
a. Bonding: The ability to grow children as a person and to unite the entire family as one.
b. Loving: The Receptive, Recognizing, and Upbuilding Skills of Children
c. Leading: The ability to guide children on the right path through their lives.
d. Sending out: A function that helps children lead independent lives by giving them the ability
3. With infinite love
“I, the LORD, appeared to Israel of old, saying, ‘I have loved you with undying love, and with lovingkindness I have brought you’” (verse 3).
Heavenly Father's love is infinite love. So should our attitude toward our children. "Endless" does not mean long years. I think that means all situations. In any case, God loved His children.
Raising your children with moral discipline makes them moralists. Then you will not be able to live peacefully with other people. In the midst of mistakes and shortcomings, we need to experience forgiveness and help and nurture it. When that happens, you become a person who can forgive and help others. That is virtue and humility.
Love requires not only the help of words, power, and material things, but also skinship. God has always had skinship with Israel. That was the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the manna in the wilderness, and sometimes the thick clouds and fire and vibrations lit up anger, and He lifted the rod of plague, and He crossed the Red Sea and Jordan River in His arms. So the prophet Isaiah also sang like that.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and have no fear; the Lord GOD is my strength and my song and my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).
Our children must be trusted and fearless parents. Don't let strictness be imprinted on your child by fear. Even strict parents will be overcome if there is skinship. When skinship is plentiful, reprimands and stings are felt with love, not fear.
In Deuteronomy he said:
“As the LORD your God, who went before you, did all the things for you in Egypt before your eyes, so he will fight for you now, and as you suffered in the wilderness, as a man embraces his son, so the LORD your God will walk you “He carried you to this place… he who went before you, looking for a place to pitch your tent, and by night with fire and by day with a cloud, directing you along the way” (Deuteronomy 1:30-31). ,33)
There are many parents who do not have skinship even when all their material needs are met. In that case, the child will see the parent only as a material supplier. When you don't need something, your parents won't need it either.
Jesus is Emmanuel. He is the one who proves that God is always with us. Let us also become parents of Immanu (El) to our children. Then our children will grow up beautiful, strong, and righteous in this sinful world and overcome the world.