What is your favorite part of a wedding? Mine is always when the door swings open and the groom gets his first glimpse of his bride in all her splendor! I confess my eyes are always fixed on the groom’s face for that moment, and it never fails to bring me to tears. There is something so transcendent about weddings—the beauty, the festivity, the holiness of the moment.
I try to imagine the joy in the heart of God at the very first Garden wedding! After fashioning the bride so perfectly, He presented her to Adam. Can you imagine Adam’s excitement when he first saw his beloved companion?
“For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
God blessed their union as it was the perfect picture of His heart for intimacy.
He does not desire our dutiful service motivated by guilt and obligation.
He does not desire a long list of things done for Him.
Rather, He desires that we comprehend more deeply His amazing love and what His love compelled Him to do for us. (Eph.3:17-19)
Before we dive in, let’s quickly review:
- God chose the metaphor of the Bride and Bridegroom to communicate to us His
passionate longing for the deepest intimacy possible with us. - We were created in the image of perfect intimacy for intimacy…with God first and
then each other. - When the husband and wife are intimate with each other, their physical and spiritual
union not only reflects God’s passion and love for His Bride but also depicts the
perfect unity that has always existed among the Trinity.
How I wish our Story went on to read, “And they all lived happily ever after.” That is not how our Story unfolded. “Barely on their honeymoon, they slept with the Enemy.” (John & Stasi Eldredge, Love and War) The Enemy of God seduced Eve into believing God was not good and was withholding good from her. Unfortunately, she acted on her unbelief. Adam followed her.
What Does God Want?
Tragically, as a result of their choice, all of us were born under the power of the Evil One and enslaved to sin. (I Jn.5:19; Jn.8:34) Even after this awful betrayal, God, our Fierce Lover, promised to come for us, set us free and win us back. His relentless, stubborn love amazes me. He still wanted us.
He wanted us so much that He would have rather died than to ever live without us, and then He did!
“…you were not redeemed [bought back from slavery] with perishable things like silver or gold…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (I Pet.1: 18, 18)
Why did He give it all? FOR US. Even while we were His enemies, He still longed for intimacy with us. (Rom.5:8)
May They Be One
Just before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He prayed. Look at what He asked for.
“The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in Me and I in You,
So that they might be one heart and mind with Us…[the Father and the Son]…
The same glory You gave Me, I gave them,
So that they’ll be as unified and together as we are.”
(Jn.17: 21-23, The Message)
Can’t you hear the cry of His heart, echoing that same sentiment whispered in Eden so many years before?
- May they become one heart and mind with Us…
- May they be as unified and together as We are..”
- “They shall become one even as We are one.”
Just as the Bride and Bridegroom make a lifelong covenant to each other, we pledge our love and lives to God at salvation. On the wedding night, the couple consummate their commitment by physically ‘becoming one’. They cannot get any closer than that! In a similar way, once we become His and we enter the ‘romance of eternal salvation’, God’s Holy Spirit enters our very being to become one with us. He cannot get any closer to us than that! (Jn.14:17) He is in us and we are in Him. We become one with Him.
What a truly astonishing parallel this is! No wonder Paul exclaims, “This mystery is profound!” (Eph.5:32)
Indeed it is! Just like a diamond is held in the light to discover more of its faceted luster, let’s continue to turn this precious gem of truth a little more in the light to see one more angle, which for me, is the most breathtaking and awe-inspiring of all! Who knew this treasure was hidden in an ancient Hebrew word, yada? We will explore that in the next blog!
Prayer
Find your favorite quiet place. You may want to read the whole series of blogs again and journal a response. Do you desire a deeper, more intimate relationship with God? If not, why? What is holding you back? If you find yourself complacent, be honest with God and ask Him to give you the desire for more of Him. (Phil.2:13) Pour out your heart honestly before the Lord. He will meet you there.
Recommended Reading:
The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God
by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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