While we strive to be a positive source of encouragement for the whole family, we recognize the content of this film is not suitable for everyone. We are choosing to support Redeeming Love because we believe it is an important, biblically-based film for the world to know about. We are working to help our audience understand the nature of the content before making a decision to go see it.
‘Redeeming Love’ Brings Francine Rivers’ Bestselling Novel and the Story of God’s Relentless Pursuit of Every Heart to Life on the Big Screen
Thirty-one years ago, acclaimed romance novelist Francine Rivers wrote Redeeming Love shortly after becoming a Christian. The novel went on to become a New York Times bestseller and has sold millions of copies to date.. A life-changing story of the power of unconditional and all-consuming love as a young couple’s relationship clashes with the harsh realities of the California Gold Rush of 1850, Redeeming Love offers a contemporary retelling of the prophet Hosea, who follows God’s call to marry Gomer, a prostitute, as a living testimony of God’s redemption of Israel, long unfaithful with foreign gods. Now, following a three-decade wait, fans of the novel are getting what they’ve been clamoring for as a film adaptation of the book arrives in theaters January 21, 2022.
Starring Abigail Cowen, Tom Lewis, Eric Dane and Famke Janssen, the movie—which parallels the novel—will not be appropriate for every member of the family, despite being based on a biblical story. Portions of the Bible aren’t always family-friendly; because God doesn’t shy away from the messiness of sin. Those considering seeing the film, are encouraged to read the book first for context as Rivers tackles difficult, yet significant, subjects.
“Fiction is a tool, really, to draw people to the real thing—to a relationship with the Lord. It’s really a picture of God’s love for us—the passion He has for us,” Rivers explains of the story behind Redeeming Love. “It’s sort of an allegory about every sinner who ever comes to Christ, because we all start as children of darkness… It’s really a story of how God woos each of us and has a plan for us and how we turn away—repeatedly. Ultimately, we have to make a choice as to whether we’re going to give our life completely to the Lord.”
Although she was raised in church, it wasn’t until she was an adult and struggling in her marriage that Rivers gave her own life entirely over to Christ. “We had enough baggage to sink a marriage,” she says in reference to her relationship with her husband of 52 years, “but God brought us together and kept us together.”
After moving to Northern California, Rivers and her husband sought to patch their rocky relationship by attending a biblically-based church that emphasized personal study of God’s Word, and that changed everything for the award-winning novelist. “I had heard the Gospel, but it didn’t make sense to me,” she shares. “Somehow Hosea just really got through, just broke down all my walls.”
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Hosea is a rich text full of warnings and warmth, heartbreak and hope, and rebellion and redemption. Rivers gravitated to the prophet’s story, seeing the deep beauty of a God who welcomes all—the lost and lonely, weak and weary, sinner and saint—with open arms. Hosea paints a picture of a God, who remembers us as children, long before the world wounded us.
It is with this biblical context that Rivers, a noted romance author before finding Christ, brought Redeeming Love to life as her first book based on a biblical passage. Both Rivers’ novel and the film follow the life of Angel, who only expects pain from those around her. Sold into prostitution as a child, Angel survives with hatred toward herself and the men that use her. Then, she meets Michael Hosea, a farmer who believes God wants Angel to be his wife. As Angel encounters a love unlike anything she’s ever experienced, feelings of unworthiness and shame cause her to run from a life she doesn’t think she deserves. However, as Michael sets out to find her, Angel discovers there is no brokenness that love can’t heal.
“With Angel, she’s hearing the voice of Satan,” Rivers asserts, “and with Michael—he’s obeying God. He’s asking God, ‘Teach me how to love this woman the way You love her.’”
WATCH: Redeeming Love | Trailer
Redeeming Love is rated PG-13 for graphic violence, sex, language and mature thematic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
Purchase tickets for Redeeming Love here.
While we strive to be a positive source of encouragement for the whole family, we recognize the content of this film is not suitable for everyone. We are choosing to support Redeeming Love because we believe it is an important, biblically-based film for the world to know about. We are working to help our audience understand the nature of the content before making a decision to go see it.
