God’s Love and Justice (Lesson 2) Covenantal Love
ARE YOU IN THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP?
Our Relationships define who we are, how we love, and what matters most in life.
The most important relationship we will ever have is our relationship with God.
Are you in the right kind of relationship with Him? Let’s find out.
Welcome back. This is the beginning of our new series on God’s Love and Justice.
God is love. How we understand this affects our relationship with God.
Misunderstandings about God’s love can lead to feelings of unworthiness, which can harm our relationships with Him and others.
His love is far greater than the flawed idea of ” love “commonly observed today.
We will, therefore, seek to discover the beauty and depth of divine love, addressing such questions as: is God’s love emotional?
How does His love relate to justice? Can we reject His love? If God is love, why is there so much evil in the world?
How can we be assured of being in the right relationship with Him?
As always, before we begin, let’s Pray.
Holy Father, many of our relationships today are defective and short-lived; teach us what it means to be in the right relationship. In Jesus name, Amen.
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 1)
God Loves Freely
Part 1 Introduction
What Jesus said about love in John 14:23 speaks volumes:
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23, NKJV).
What a promise! What is Jesus saying? If we love Him and do what He says, God the Father will love us back.
And not only that, but Jesus and the Father will come and live with us! Now that’s incredible!
This tells us love isn’t just a lot of touch-feely words. Love is action. And when we love Jesus, God promises to make His home with us.
Can you picture that? God, the Creator of the universe, living with you because of your love for His Son. (Pause)
You might have heard that there is a special kind of love that only God can give, referred to in Greek as agape, while another word, phileo in Greek, means human love.
This love is said not to be as strong as agape love. There are also claims that agape refers to one-sided love, a love that only gives but never receives. The claim is that agape love is entirely independent of human response. But is that correct?
Are we humans limited to phileo love? And is God love one side, with him loving us without the expectation of us loving Him back?
This idea doesn’t line up with the Bible. The study of divine love throughout Scripture shows that these ideas, though common, are mistaken. (Pause)
First, the Bible uses “agape” to discuss all kinds of love. It refers not only to God’s love but also to human love and even, at times, human misdirected love as in 2 Timothy 4:10
Paul warns about agape love being misused. He writes: (Pause)
10 for “Demas has forsaken me, having loved [agape] this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Cres cens for Galatia, Titus for Dal-matia. (2 Timothy 4:10, NKJV).
Therefore, even human love, when misdirected, can be called agape.
This shows us that agape is not just about God’s love but can describe any love, even love for the wrong things.
Second, throughout Scripture, many terms other than agape refer to God’s love. For example, Jesus said in John 16:27,
“ ‘The Father Himself loves [phileo] you, because you have loved [phileo] Me’ ” (John 16:27, NASB).
Here, phileo describes God’s love for us and our love for Jesus. It’s clear that phileo is not a lesser love.
It’s the kind of love that brings warmth and connection. God’s love, whether described as agape or phileo, is deep, personal, and filled with tenderness.
But there’s more. God’s love isn’t one-sided, as some might think or believe. God wants a relationship, which means He cares if we love Him back.
His love reaches out to us, but it makes a difference to Him when we reflect His love by loving Him and others.
He wants a two-way connection—a partnership.
So, let me ask again: Are you in the right relationship?
When in the right relationship with God, we do not just obey rules—we open the door of our hearts so that God Himself can live in it.
God’s love is not distant or disconnected. It’s real, it’s relational.
Therefore, when we make the decision to love Jesus back and let Him make His home with us, it puts us in the right relationship with Him.
Is it possible for someone to be so bad or so evil that God does not love them?
Read Psalm 33:5 and Psalm 145:9
Then continue to Part 2: The Everlasting Love of God
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 2)
Covenantal Love
Part 2: The Everlasting Love of God
Standing in a large crowd with all kinds of people around you, some rich, some poor, some hardened criminals, some just downright evil.
Does God choose from the crowd the ones He will love? The Bible says no. The most famous scripture, John 3:16, proclaims,
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
This means God loves the whole world so much that He gave up His only Son to save us.
Psalm 33:5 tells us,
5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. (Psalm 33:5)
And Psalm 145:9 says, 9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalms 145:9)
These scriptures show us that God’s loving-kindness, compassion, and mercy are extended to all.
Some might think they are unlovable or that God could not possibly love them for all the wrong they have done, saying: “But I’ve done bad and evil things. God can’t love me.” But that’s not true!
The Bible says God loves everyone, even if they’ve done wrong. There is no one He does not love. In fact, He wants everyone to be saved.
In 2 Peter 3:9, it says,
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Thus, God is patient not willing that any be lost. He desires that everyone repent, turn away from evil, and turn to Him.
1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God “desires all men {people} to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
And in Ezekiel 33:11, God says,
“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11)
God wants everyone to live and be saved.
After John 3:16? The next verse, John 3:17, says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16)
It says: God sent Jesus to save us, not to condemn us. Therefore, if it were completely up to God, every human being would accept His love and be saved.
But He will not force His love on anyone. He has given us the freedom to accept or reject His love.
Though some will reject His love, God’s love is never-ending, He never stops loving.
In Jeremiah 31:3, He says,
‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you’ ” (Jeremiah 31:3).
The Bible repeatedly tells us that God’s love lasts forever.
For example, Psalm 136 repeatedly says, “His love endures forever.”
In other words, God’s love never ends. It’s always there, even when we mess up.
Now, here’s the hard part for many to grasp. If God loves everyone, that means He loves people who do really bad things, too. This is because we often find it easy not to love others who do us wrong.
So, what does this mean for us? It means we should try to love everyone.
So, are you in the right relationship? With God, we can always be. He loves you no matter what. And He wants you to love Him and love others, even those who have done us wrong.
It’s not easy, sometimes, but when we are in the right relationship, it changes everything.
God wants to have a love relationship with us. What type of love relationship does He want? Read: Deuteronomy 7:6-9.
Bottom of Form
Then, View the next segment of this video, Part 3: Covenantal Love
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 2)
Covenantal Love
Part 3: Covenantal Love
God’s love for us is so amazing that it’s difficult humanly to describe and even understand. However, the scriptures seek to help us understand it by using metaphors of the relationship between a husband and wife who love each other or a good mother’s love for her child.
These examples show the special relationship between God and His chosen people. It’s a relationship built on His promise of love.
God loves His people, but He also expects them to accept His love and to love Him—and each other—in return.
This is a relationship of covenantal love. It involves not only God’s love for His people but God also expects His people to accept His love, love Him back, and love each other in return for His love.
Deuteronomy 7:6-9 seeks to help us understand this relationship, saying:
6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (Deuteronomy 7:6-9)
The special kind of love that God has with His covenant people is a relationship that is partially dependent on their remaining faithful.
This lets us know that although God’s love is unconditional and open to all, His covenant relationship with His people is conditional.
The Bible uses a special word for this kind of love – “hesed.” It’s a Hebrew word that means a love that never gives up, a love that’s always there.
It’s like the strongest, most reliable love you can imagine. But here’s the thing: to really have this love, we need to do our part in maintaining this covenantal relationship.
In other words, God’s ḥesed, His steadfast love and kindness is incredibly reliable. It lasts forever.
Yet, the blessings of His love are conditional; they depend on us being faithful and obedient.
The following scriptures explain how this covenantal relationship works: (Pausere)!
2 Samuel 22:26
26 “With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;” (2 Samuel 22:26).
God mirrors our actions. When we live mercifully, His mercy shines back at us. (Pauer)
1 Kings 8:23
“You keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts” (1 Kings 8:23, NKJV).
God honors His promises to those who follow Him wholeheartedly.
Psalms 25:10
“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10, NKJV).
God’s love and truth guide those who remain faithful to Him.
Psalm 32:10
“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him” (Psalm 32:10, NKJV).
Trusting in God leads to His love enveloping us like a shield.
And 2 Chronicles 6:14
“You show mercy to Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts” (2 Chronicles 6:14, NKJV).
His kindness is reserved for those who are committed and sincere in their walk with Him.
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.
Jesus made this point in John 15:13 when he said:
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13, NKJV).
There is no question that the greatest expression of God’s love was revealed when Jesus gave his life for us. This is the point that Philippians 2:8 makes
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8, NKJV)
Jesus came down from heaven, lived among us, and died for us—all to show the depth of His love.
God’s love is constant and unchanging, but it calls for a response from us.
His ḥesed is waiting for you, but the question remains: Are you in the right relationship? The right relationship with God calls for action. What does God invite us to do? And is it possible to reject or forfeit God’s Love? Read Matthew. 22:1–14 and 37-39. Then, continue to the next segment of this video, Part 4: Conditional Relationship
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 2)
Covenantal Love
Part 4: Conditional Relationship
No one has to be left out. God invites everyone to have an intimate relationship with Him.
Are you in the right relationship—the kind that fills your heart with joy and hope, the kind that gives you peace that lasts forever?
God invites every one of us into a love relationship like no other. It’s not just any relationship—it’s one where He promises to walk with us, guide us, and give us eternal life.
But here’s the big question: How will you respond to His love? Your choice makes all the difference.
Jesus told a story about a king inviting people to a great wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1–14.
The king represents God, and the banquet symbolizes the joy and blessings of being in a relationship with Him.
But some people refused to come. Can you imagine that? Turning down the King of kings?
Jesus made it clear in Matthew 22:37-39 that being in the right relationship with God means loving Him with all your heart, soul, and mind—and loving others too.
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37–39).
Therefore, love is the foundation of this relationship, but to enjoy the benefits, it’s up to us. We have been given the freedom of choice to accept or reject His love.
Hosea 9:15 tells us that God’s covenant people turned their relationship with Him to hate. Why?
15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. (Hosea 9:15)
This might sound harsh, but it doesn’t mean God stops loving entirely. It shows that enjoying His blessings depends on our response to Him.
Jeremiah 16:5 says,
5 For thus says the Lord: “Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,” says the Lord, “lovingkindness and mercies. (Jeremiah 16:5)
Here, God reminds us that rejecting His love leads to losing His blessings, but His heart still longs for us to return to Him.
Romans 11:22 advises, 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)
God’s kindness is real, but we must remain in it through obedience and love. (Pauser)
Jude 21 encourages 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)
Staying in God’s love requires effort on our part—it’s about holding on to Him, no matter what.
If we make no effort to remain in God’s love and refuse to hold on to Him, we reject the benefits of his love, and it may even be forfeited.
Although enjoying the benefits of a love relationship with God is repeatedly depicted as conditional based on our response. It would be a mistake to conclude that God ever actually stops loving anyone.
Know that God’s love never ends. Even though in Hosea 9:15, God says, “I will love them no more,” we see later in the same book that God says, “I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4, NKJV).
This shows us that God doesn’t stop loving His people completely. Instead, it means that some blessings or benefits of His love depend on how His people respond to Him.
The point here is that our response to God’s love is important in keeping the relational benefit we receive from Him.
We cannot live our lives any kind of way and expect to continue receiving all the benefits of God’s love.
Nevertheless, His love never truly ends. He continues to rain his blessing on the just and the unjust.
Jesus said in John 14:21, “ ‘He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him’ ” (John 14:2)
Loving God means obeying Him, and when we do, we experience His love in a more powerful way.
Similarly, In John 16:27, Jesus tells His disciples, “The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father” (John 16:27 NASB).
God’s never-ending eternal love is poured out on those who believe and love Him.
Thus, The Bible teaches that staying in a saving relationship with God depends on whether we accept His love and are willing to share it with others.
This doesn’t mean God’s love ever stops. Just like we can’t stop the sun from shining but can block ourselves from its light, we can’t stop God’s everlasting love.
However, we can choose to reject a relationship with Him. When we do that, we miss out on the blessings of His love, especially the promise of eternal life.
Even when people don’t return God’s love, His goodness can still be seen. Look around at the beauty of nature, the air we breathe, the food we eat—all reveal His love.
Even in a world broken by sin, God’s creation testifies to His care.
As Psalm 19:1 says,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1)
So, are you in the right relationship with God? His love for you is constant and everlasting. But love is a two-way street—it requires a response.
In choosing to Love God, we not only find joy and peace for today but also the hope of eternal life.
But the decision is ours. When we Step into a relationship with Him, it improves our relationship with others.
Although God’s compassion and mercy never run out, we can finally reject, even forfeit, the benefits of God’s compassion and mercy.
How? Read Matthew 18 and 1 John 7-20. Then, continue to the next segment of this video: Part 5: Mercy Forfeited
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 2)
Covenantal Love
Part 5: Mercy Forfeited
God’s love is everlasting, and it’s given freely to us even before we do anything to deserve it.
However, we can reject it. God has given us the right to accept or reject that love.
This freedom comes because God freely loves us with His perfect, everlasting love prior to us doing anything. Jeremiah 31:3 says,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3)
Before you ever thought about God, He was already loving you with a love that never ends.
This kind of love isn’t earned; it’s given. And while God’s love is always there, we have the choice to accept it or reject it.
Our love for God is simply a response to the love He has already poured out on us. That’s why 1 John 4:7–20 is so important, especially verses 7 and 19.
Verse 7 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (I John 4:7)
And verse 19 adds,
19 We love Him because He first loved us. (I John 4:7)
These verses show us that God’s love always comes first. Without His love, we wouldn’t even know how to love Him or anyone else for that matter.
He is the source, the foundation of all love. He created us with the capacity to love and to be loved.
We cannot love others, not even our spouse or children, properly without God’s love.
But here’s the thing: while God gives us the ability to love, we have to decide if we will accept His love and reflect it in our lives.
Jesus gave a powerful example of this in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23–35.
In this parable, Jesus describes a servant who owed his master 10,000 talents.
One talent was worth about 6,000 denarii, and one denarius was a day’s pay for a laborer.
To earn just one talent, it would take an average worker 20 years. Now multiply that by 10,000. It would take 200,000 years of hard work to pay back this debt!
This servant could never repay this debt. But what happened?
The master felt compassion and forgave the entire debt—completely wiping it out.
Think about how the servant must have felt: relieved, overwhelmed, grateful.
But that same servant, after being forgiven so much, went out and found another servant who owed him just 100 denarii—a debt that could be paid off in about 100 days.
Instead of showing the same mercy, he grabbed the man, demanded payment, and had him thrown in prison when he couldn’t pay.
When the master heard about this, he was angry. He called the first servant back and said, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”
The master took back his forgiveness, and the servant lost everything.
What does this tell us? God’s compassion and mercy are unlimited, but they can be rejected.
When we fail to forgive others, we block ourselves from experiencing the full benefits of God’s love and forgiveness.
What has Jesus forgiven you for? What did it cost Him? He gave His life so that your sins could be erased, so you could live free and have eternal life.
If God has forgiven us, how can we not forgive others?
Being in the right relationship with God means accepting His love and reflecting it in how we treat others.
Forgiveness isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary. When we forgive, we show that we understand the depth of God’s love for us.
Are you in the right relationship with God? If you’re holding on to unforgiveness, today is the day to let it go. Accept His love, and let it flow through you to others.
Only then can you truly experience the fullness of God’s everlasting love and have the right relationship with others.
How is the right relationship manifested in our lives? Read John 15:12, 1 John 3:16, and 1 John 4:7–12.
Then, continue to the next segment of this video, Part 6: You Have Freely Received, Freely Give
God’s Love and Justice
(Lesson 2)
Covenantal Love
Part 6: You Have Freely Received, Freely Give
Just as the servant in Jesus’ parable could never repay his massive debt to his master, we can never repay God for His love and mercy.
We could never earn it, and we certainly don’t deserve it. Romans 5:8 says,
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).
God’s love is so amazing! Even when we were lost in sin, Jesus gave His life for us.
And what about 1 John 3:1 which says,
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1 John 3:1).
God doesn’t just forgive us; He calls us His children! That’s how deep His love is for each of us.
So, what are we to do with this amazing love? Reflect it. If God has shown us so much compassion and forgiveness, should we not show the same to others?
Remember, the servant in the parable lost his master’s forgiveness because he refused to forgive a much smaller debt owed to him. If we truly love God, we won’t withhold His love from others.
John 15:12 makes it clear:
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
And 1 John 3:16 says,
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16)
1 John 4:7–12 adds,
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.(1 John 4:7–12)
Just after John 15:12, Jesus says in verse 14,
“ ‘You are My friends if you do whatever I command you’ ” (John 15:1).
What did He command? To love one another as He loved us. Loving others isn’t optional—it’s a command from Jesus Himself. The Lord commands us to love God and to love one another.
Think about it. We’ve been forgiven a debt we could never repay. The price of our forgiveness was paid at the cross. How should we, therefore, respond?
Luke 7:47 tells us, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47).
When we truly understand how much we’ve been forgiven, our love for God—and for others—will overflow.
Therefore, loving God means loving others. And loving others means taking action.
We are called to share God’s love, not just with words but through our actions.
We’re here to help people in their struggles, to show them kindness, and to point them to the God who promises eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth.
This new world is an entirely new creation that is not damaged and destroyed by sin and death, resulting from the fruits of rejecting God’s love.
In other words, the world we now live in is broken by sin, but death isn’t the end.
God offers us a new heaven and a new earth—a perfect, sinless creation.
What, then, can you do today to reflect God’s love? Maybe it’s forgiving someone who hurt you.
Maybe it’s showing kindness to someone in need. Whatever it is, don’t delay.
God’s love for you is eternal, and He’s calling you to share it with others.
Be the one who shows someone the way to the promise of eternal life. Let’s not just talk about love—let’s live it. When you love, it puts you in THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and with everyone else.
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