"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth..."
"I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."
"My beloved is mine and I am his."
"By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth; I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him but I found him not. It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth, I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him unto my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."
[Excerpts from The Song of Solomon]
The Song of Solomon (a short book of the Bible which should be read in its entirety) begins with a plea for consummation, the joining of two into one, an ache for intimacy that says "I must be satisfied or I will die!"
"I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."
"My beloved is mine and I am his."
"By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth; I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him but I found him not. It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth, I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him unto my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."
[Excerpts from The Song of Solomon]
The Song of Solomon (a short book of the Bible which should be read in its entirety) begins with a plea for consummation, the joining of two into one, an ache for intimacy that says "I must be satisfied or I will die!"
It is wisdom's description of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Or what our relationship should be.
No, not SHOULD be....MUST be!
This is passion, not complacency. This is tempestuous longing, not apathy. This is a desire that must be satisfied before all others, and nothing else WILL satisfy. This is a GIVING of all on both sides...nothing withheld.
This is loving and being loved in a way that fills, and flows, and overflows because it is so great it cannot be contained.
It is such a union that when anything separates the two lovers for even a moment, a desperate reaching out and seeking for the other ensues, and the lost lover, when found again, is drawn back into arms that refuse to let go ever again.
THIS is to be our relationship with the Lord. THIS is to be the level of intimacy we have with HIM as His bride.
When two become ONE, so that there is no distinction that identifies one over the other, it is from THIS relationship that love and power flows. ["If you abide in me and my word abides in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7]
It is much more than a recognition of God's love for us; it is an experiencing, a tasting of that thing which nothing else can compare to, and a longing to have it again, to keep it close at all times, never to lose again. It is a relationship strengthened by intimacy, by time spent in each other's presence. It is ultimately a relationship of consummated love.
Looking at the disciples as they lived with, slept on the cold ground with, bathed with, and ate with Jesus, we can see the beginnings of this relationship. It was the dating period for the groom and His potential bride....potential only on her side, for His love for her was assured, soon to be sealed with the guarantee of His very life given sacrificially for her so that she might live, and consummated by His Spirit within her.
After more than three years of sharing practically every moment with Jesus, the time came when the bride would either accept the groom as her own or reject Him. [Only Judas Iscariot rejected the bridegroom for reasons which will be explored in another posting soon.]
It is no wonder then, that after His arrest and crucifixion, the disciples are seen gathered in grieving unbelief, experiencing a very real depression [Mark 16:10-14] which lifted only after they saw the resurrected Jesus. Yet, within a relatively short 40 days, He was taken up into heaven...separated once more from those who loved Him. [Luke 24:51-53].
Which is why Jesus left them with a promise of "The Comforter" to come [John15:26-27].
But who is this Comforter?
He is the Spirit of God sent to consummate the marriage union. Just as He was the consummator of the union that resulted in the virgin birth of Jesus, the Son of God [Luke 1:34-35], once more He would consummate the relationship between the bridegroom and His bride [Acts 2:1-4].
It is a baptism of fire, that consumes and yet does not consume, but instead consummates the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church, making them one, as Jesus and the Father have always been one. Now all that the bride needs or asks for is hers for it all belongs to the Father who is one with Jesus as the bride is one with Jesus as well [John17:21-26].
Thus, when God's power is seen, the relationship is validated - the power of the risen LORD alive and visible in the body of His bride - fruit of an intimate and loving union ["Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." John 15:16]
But without power, the relationship is false, one of appearance only, having no substance, no intimacy, no LOVE. ["Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:5]
Powerlessness is the sign of an unconsummated relationship. Power (that which belongs to God and has been given to His bride) is sustained only by a continuing intimacy, a continuing consummation of love, a continuing FILLING of the Spirit of God. That filling is the consummation of union with God.
Without it, we are only whitewashed tombs [Matthew 23:27].
With it, we will find ourselves, someday soon, seated at the bride's table at the marriage feast of the Lamb [Revelation10:7-10].
We will discuss what the Bridegroom's power displayed through the Bride will look like in the next posting. We will discuss the power of the Spirit of Grace.
Looking at the disciples as they lived with, slept on the cold ground with, bathed with, and ate with Jesus, we can see the beginnings of this relationship. It was the dating period for the groom and His potential bride....potential only on her side, for His love for her was assured, soon to be sealed with the guarantee of His very life given sacrificially for her so that she might live, and consummated by His Spirit within her.
After more than three years of sharing practically every moment with Jesus, the time came when the bride would either accept the groom as her own or reject Him. [Only Judas Iscariot rejected the bridegroom for reasons which will be explored in another posting soon.]
It is no wonder then, that after His arrest and crucifixion, the disciples are seen gathered in grieving unbelief, experiencing a very real depression [Mark 16:10-14] which lifted only after they saw the resurrected Jesus. Yet, within a relatively short 40 days, He was taken up into heaven...separated once more from those who loved Him. [Luke 24:51-53].
Which is why Jesus left them with a promise of "The Comforter" to come [John15:26-27].
But who is this Comforter?
He is the Spirit of God sent to consummate the marriage union. Just as He was the consummator of the union that resulted in the virgin birth of Jesus, the Son of God [Luke 1:34-35], once more He would consummate the relationship between the bridegroom and His bride [Acts 2:1-4].
It is a baptism of fire, that consumes and yet does not consume, but instead consummates the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church, making them one, as Jesus and the Father have always been one. Now all that the bride needs or asks for is hers for it all belongs to the Father who is one with Jesus as the bride is one with Jesus as well [John17:21-26].
Thus, when God's power is seen, the relationship is validated - the power of the risen LORD alive and visible in the body of His bride - fruit of an intimate and loving union ["Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." John 15:16]
But without power, the relationship is false, one of appearance only, having no substance, no intimacy, no LOVE. ["Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:5]
Powerlessness is the sign of an unconsummated relationship. Power (that which belongs to God and has been given to His bride) is sustained only by a continuing intimacy, a continuing consummation of love, a continuing FILLING of the Spirit of God. That filling is the consummation of union with God.
Without it, we are only whitewashed tombs [Matthew 23:27].
With it, we will find ourselves, someday soon, seated at the bride's table at the marriage feast of the Lamb [Revelation10:7-10].
We will discuss what the Bridegroom's power displayed through the Bride will look like in the next posting. We will discuss the power of the Spirit of Grace.
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