If the people of God are going to faithfully display the charater of God to the world, then they are to do so by having their identity rooted in the mercy only He can give, not by their own effort.

God's faithfulness can be seen as He brings consequences for sin in order that His people might return to Him.

Even though punishment for sin loomed over the heads of God’s people, Hosea demonstrates a sign that God would still love them and hold them to Himself and His ways; and in spite of their unfaithfulness, one day He would restore them to a new kingdom with a new, good king.

While the consequences of the sin of idolatry are numerous and visible, these consequences are evidence of God’s love for us and His desire for our greater joy, which can only be found in Him.

God reveals and relates Himself to us through a covenant - the strongest possible bond conceivable.

God reveals His character most clearly amidst the brokenness of a fallen, sinful world; and He asks His people to demonstrate His character and the brokenness of the world by remarkable, costly means.

When God speaks, light and life come into being — whether in all of creation or through the Bible — but most especially, sufficiently, and clearly through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The person and work of Jesus is the Good News that God’s Kingdom has now come — Good News that the Church now announces and demonstrates to the world.

God has placed us where we are to represent Jesus Christ so that the world will be blessed even when calamity befalls us; so let us be confident in His promise to save us and ready to do every good work wherever the waves of events may take us.

As Paul departs toward Rome, we are reminded that human beings are in a desperate situation in need of God’s help and we are called to believe His word and rely on His power for deliverance. The story demonstrates the opportunity that the follower of Jesus Christ has in such a situation to (1) draw attention to the character of God and (2) to encourage unbelievers to turn to him for mercy.