Legendary Love

Valentines Day has arrived!

Roses are red,
  Violets are blue
    You are so lovely
      I love you

.....etc etc etc.


   Romance, marriage and relationships are great, and I certainly don't want to degrade them (quite the reverse), but how about we pause, today in particular, and look at the greatest marriage of all time.

   Everyone was invited to this wedding feast, no one was missed off of the list- friends, family, acquaintances, strangers- everyone got an invite!

'Go... to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

   This is a marriage which was planned from eternity past and shall continue forever. It is, of course, the marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Bride- the Church.

    Until fairly recently I viewed this marriage as being a metaphorical one. In the Gospels, Jesus simply used the example of a marriage to show how he felt about his church. However, when we read Ephesians we see something quite startling- bind blowing even! Paul is talking about 'two becoming one.' He is talking about the love which is between a husband and wife. And then he says something which turns my human mind upside down!

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church

   Do you realise what Paul just said? I didn't at first read either, it took the prompting of a Christian author to jolt me awake to the truth here.

Paul is saying that weddings, husbands and wives, the very institute of marriage were made to be a picture! The very institute of marriage was made to be a picture! God created marriage between a man and a woman so that we could understand his love for us! It wasn't created- primarily- to ensure the continuation of the human race, it wasn't created- primarily- to give us a warm and comforting environment to mature in. No. It was created primarily so that we could better understand God's love  for us!

    At my church we are currently studying the tabernacle in the Old Testament. We are learning about the "types" and pictures shown through the tabernacle: There was only one entrance; God's dwelling place was separated from the gate by a wide court and two veils; No one could come into God's precise without a sacrifice to atone for their sins. All of this is a picture of the gulf which sin has placed between us and God, and how the Lord Jesus bridged this gap by becoming our sacrificial offering for sin. He is the 'lamb' of God.

    Just like the tabernacle, marriage is also a picture- a picture of God's love for His people: a love which culminated in his death upon that cross, when he fulfilled the pictures of the tabernacle offerings.

    Does this degrade marriage? Hardly! If anything it upgrades marriage!
  
     Marriage is to be a picture of God's love. Doesn't that inspire you to greater things in your relationships? Doesn't that inspire you to live as a picture of your Lord and Saviour through your wedding vows? It should do!

    Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 

Who died and made you King of anything?

I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

    Fascinating song I heard on the radio a few days ago. Hmmmm. Very catchy actually. Thats the problem, I haven't been able to shake it out of my head. The lyrics have spun around and around like socks in a tumble drier. Hmmmm. But, when you consider what Sara Bareilles is actually singing, how true is it?
   Presumably she is telling us about a relationship which went sour, apparently because of the arrogance and controlling nature of the man: Sara ironically ends with "Let me hold your crown, Babe." (One wonders if there was actually another side to this particular sob story?!)
    On the other hand, the lyrics, especially the chorus, have a curious reflection of many an athiest's response to the Gospel and the people who proclaim it.

    I'm not drowning, there's no one here to save. But what does the Bible say? "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." I think we all need saving! And what did Jesus say about himself? "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
   So if we are all lost and drowning, in need of a saviour, then why can't everyone see it?! Ah, well Paul has the answer:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

    The cross of Christ, where he died as the sacrifice for our sins, where he pulled us out of the deep waters, if utterly foolish to those who are drowning. Thanks be to God for showing us the truth! Jesus prayed and thanked His Father for making the weak and foolish people wise in the things of God! This knowledge should lead those of us who are being saved to have compassion on the lost and to constantly pray for them, not to mention warning them of their predicament and proclaiming Christ's rescue mission!

 
     Who died and made you king of anything?


   Well, Jesus did actually! 


   Not only has He saved us from the dark waters of sin in which we were sinking, but He gave us his own righteousness. We are now co-heirs with Christ, adopted sons of the Lord! 

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  

    We who were drowning are now Princes with Christ! We are co-heirs with Christ! The Lord Jesus Christ has granted us eternal life and has clothed us in his robes of righteousness. How he loves us!
    This is the news we should be singing about! Who died and made you King of anything? The Lord Jesus Christ did!

Former Glory? A Haunt or a Haven?

    Ever revisited an old haunt? Ever stumbled into the past?

     Thats exactly what happened to the Jews returning from their years of exile. They returned to the City of David, the citadel of Jerusalem..... and it was in ruins. The home of their childhood was rubble. It had no walls, no gates and no temple- no protection from their enemies and no place to worship their God.

"But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid"

    The younger generation were rejoicing- they had a land of their own, a city and even a Temple to worship their God! Why wouldn't they rejoice? But the older men, those who remembered the olden days, the days when Solomon's Temple stood in all its glory over Zion, they were not rejoicing. This temple was but a shadow of the older one. Why should they rejoice?
     Who was right?!
     Its easy to side with the oldies- this temple was nothing on the old one. Solomon's Temple proclaimed the Lord's Glory to the surrounding nations, they looked at Jerusalem and feared Israel's God.
     But were they missing the point? The Temple was the dwelling place of God, it was where the Lord met his people and where they went to offer sacrifices for atonement of sins. They thought that the size and magnificent construction of the building honoured God. They were mistaken. The new Temple might be a small one- but they had a big God!
    Years before, King David decided to honour God by building him a 'house'. But God had other plans, David would not honour Him, rather He would honour David.

Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling...

Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.  

David said "I'm gunna build a house for the Lord." God says "No, I'm going to make a house for you, David."

    The Temple was not a place built to honour God, rather it was the place where God dwelt amongst His people. Now we can meet with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the atonement for sins He provided on the cross!

    A few days ago I visited a place where my friends and I used to spend loads of our spare time: the base.
    Setting out on our bikes we took hammers, nails, rope, wood, trellis panels and stepladders and we headed down the hill to a woods. There we built an amazing camp! We hollowed out the inside or a thorn bush, utilised a number of felled trees and constructed a two-storey house! Rustic log floors and a beautiful courtyard area added to the aesthetic of our base. Every possible holiday we congregated there with our packed lunches and bikes!
    That was years ago, and I hadn't seen the base for at least 1, if not 2, years. A dull green layer covered the entire plot, much of the walls had shriveled up and composted. The rope was fraying and the stepladder wonky. I attempted to climb partway up our log-ladder before the rotting tree broke under my weight. Leaves and dead foliage obscured the ground and the roof was caving in.
    The Glory days of the base have long gone. It has little of its former glory or (relative) splendour. No longer can we wile away hour upon hour working on the 'garden', or reinforcing the ceiling. It is a shadow of what it once was.

    Strange isn't it? How we build up our own 'nests'. As children we build camps or dens. We hide under our beds or nestle in our wardrobes. Adults do it too, you know. They build up pension plans and 'invest in the future'. Financial 'Safety nets' are created and social circles, which hold little attraction other than in 'acquiring contacts' are frequented.
    As children and as adults, we build safe and secure environments for ourselves. How foolish. None of it will last. One day our souls will be required of us and our 'camps' and homes will offer no security. Only Christ can offer us lasting safety and a rest from fear.

    I'm trying to learn Psalm 27 at the moment. Verse 4 is one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible, it sums up the desire of the Christian- to rest in Christ.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.