Enlightened by Love - Hosea 3:1-5

Who does God love and how does He show it? We consider the strange metaphor in Hosea as a starting point of our Advent reflection on love. The fact that we are unconditionally loved by God results in the outworking of His redeeming mercy and our experience of peace. We find the attributes of God’s mercy and love described by Paul in the book of Ephesians. God’s love reflects from those bearing His image by necessity of the action inherent in the term; hence, our meditation on love culminates in John. John presents love as that which is worked out toward one another. Studied in the light of the Advent candle of love, these texts reveal God’s reclamation of creation from the fall. God’s loyal love is unchanging and eternal, created anew through rebirth and reflected in Spirit-empowered love for one another.