Does God stop loving us when we sin?

God loves us even when we sin.

Today’s Bible account in The Gospel Project^® for Kids reveals what true and unconditional godly love looks like. God told Hosea to show the people of Israel how much God loved them but in an unexpected way. God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, and to raise her children who were conceived with other men.

Hosea obeyed God. He married a woman named Gomer, and she was unfaithful just as God said she would be. God’s people were no different than Gomer. They loved and worshiped idols, people and things that were not the one true God.

It would have been easier for God (and Hosea) to throw up His hands and say, “Enough! I’m done with you!” But God’s love never gives up. He gave Hosea a love for his wife that compelled him to buy her back from the slave market after all she had done.

Hosea’s relationship with Gomer reminds us of God’s relationship with the people of Israel and with us. Even though God’s people are unfaithful and love other things more than they love God, God still loves us. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin and bring us back to Him.

 

What does God do when people sin?

God loves people, but He punishes sin.

 

God is Holy and He punishes sin. But God also loves people. God wanted His people to stop sinning and love Him, but they would not. God punished His people. God loves us. We sin and should be punished. But God sent Jesus to be punished for us. 

 

Why did God scatter His people?

God's people sinned against Him.

God’s people in the Northern Kingdom had a long history of disobeying God. God sent His prophets to the people of Israel. The prophets told the people of Israel to repent and worship God again. Many times, the prophets told the people what would happen in the future if they continued to sin.

Some of God’s people listened to the prophets, repented of their sins, and followed God. But many people did not. God had been very patient with the Israelites. He had helped them in times of trouble and had delayed their punishment because He is gracious and compassionate. (2 Kings 13:23) But many years passed, and God knew His people would not love Him with all their hearts.

God had had enough of His people’s sinning. They wouldn’t listen to Him, so He allowed their enemies to send them into exile. The king of Assyria attacked Israel and laid siege to Samaria. Assyria captured Samaria and forced the people to leave the city. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and the people were scattered, just as God had said it would be. (1 Kings 14:15)

When the Israelites disobeyed God, God judged their sin and punished them by removing them from His presence. Jesus took the punishment for our sin upon Himself. He unites and restores those who trust in Him. Jesus brings us into God’s presence and keeps us there.

 

Who heals us from our sin?

Jesus heals us from our sin.

 

This week in The Gospel Project^® for Kids, we turn our attention to Elisha, Elijah’s friend and successor, and Naaman, commander of the Syrian army. The Syrians often attacked Israelite cities and took whatever they wanted, including people to work as slaves. One of the slaves carried off by the Syrians has a pivotal role in Sunday’s account.

Naaman was sick with leprosy—a serious skin disease. Without a cure, Naaman would suffer horribly. A young slave girl from the land of Israel, however, knew about the one true God. She told her mistress that Elisha the prophet could heal Naaman.

Naaman told his master, the king of Aram (Syria), what his servant said. This king of Aram wrote a letter to the king of Israel, commanding him to heal Naaman. The king of Israel panicked. He couldn’t heal Naaman—only God could do that! Elisha heard of the problem and sent for Naaman; he told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River. It wasn’t the “cure” Naaman was expecting, and he rejected Elisha’s instructions. His servants, however, encouraged him to obey, and when Naaman washed in the Jordan as Elisha had instructed, he was healed! Naaman told Elisha, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel” (2 Kings 5:15).

Naaman was sick. He had a problem with his skin. When Naaman washed in the river, his skin got better. No one can obey God all the time. We are all sick with a sin problem. When we trust n Jesus, He heals us. God forgives us and makes us better.

 

How does God help in times of trouble?

God promises to be with us.

Elijah was a special messenger for God. Queen Jezebel did not like Elijah and threatened to kill him, but God was in charge. God kept Elijah safe. Jesus is God's messenger too. People did not like Jesus, but God was in charge. God used Jesus' enemies to carry out His plan to rescue people from sin.

 

Who is the one true God?

Yahweh is the one true God.

 

This week in The Gospel Project® for Kids, our journey will take us to a power-encounter between God’s prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal, a false god.

King Ahab was a very evil king. In fact, “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33). God sent Elijah to get Ahab’s attention. God prevented rain in the land for three years. Ahab worshiped Baal—the Canaanite false god of rain and fertility—and the drought was a clear demonstration of the power of the one true God. When God was ready to send rain to the earth, Elijah appeared to Ahab and told him to gather all the people and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. Elijah issued a challenge to the people: Follow God or follow Baal.

Imagine what it must have been like to watch the thousand prophets of Baal face off against the one true God and His prophet. The prophets of Baal shouted to their false god. They cried out, and they even cut themselves. Where was Baal? Why didn’t he answer? When it was Elijah’s turn, he drenched his altar with water, and then called out to God. And God answered with fire from heaven that consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water in the trench Elijah dug. The people fell facedown, shouting “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”

Elijah called on the power of God to prove to the worshipers of Baal that God is the one true God. By sending fire from heaven, God displayed His great power. God would use His power years later to raise Jesus from the dead, showing that Jesus is the Son of God.

 

What kind of king did God's people need?

God's people needed a king who loved God. 

This Sunday, our journey takes us to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, created as a result of King Solomon’s sin. King Jeroboam, the first king of the Northern Kingdom, had made two golden calves for his people to worship. Needless to say, his kingdom wasn’t starting out very well.

The Northern Kingdom was plagued by evil kings who led people away from worshiping the one true God. Baasha (BAY uh shuh), Elah, Zimri (ZIM righ), and Omri (AHM righ) each reigned as evil, sinful kings of Israel. Each king led the Israelites further away from worshiping God.

Then Omri’s son Ahab (AY hab) became king of Israel. Ahab was more evil than the kings who were before him—more evil than Omri, more evil than Zimri, more evil than Elah, and more evil than Baasha! If that wasn’t enough, Ahab married Jezebel, who encouraged him to serve and worship the false god Baal. Ahab built an altar for Baal in Samaria. All the things Ahab did made God very angry.

God’s people asked for a king to lead them, but no king ever led them perfectly. Was there any king on earth who would be faithful? God would send a king from heaven—His own Son—who would lead God’s people back to God. He would be the King of all kings—Jesus Christ.