MARRIAGE NOTES

Aloha Saints, Family & Friends  9/7/21   “WORTH CONSIDERING” 
A good friend and brother sent this along just now as to his thoughts concerning the union the God wants with us through Christ Jesus or LORD.   So felt to send it along without comment.
stayingconnected <christiansstayingconnected@protonmail.com&gt;

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Hi ken

Many years ago, when I was just beginning to write about spiritual things, i wrote this. I hope you can use it…

By Christian Scott Berg

INTRODUCTION

As I have studied the Bible over the years, it has been impressed on my heart that:

•      The meaning and design behind creation is the Bride of Christ.
•      The economy of God’s creation is love and companionship.

Inspired by these truths, the Holy Spirit guided me in writing the following commentary.  It is my hope that my thoughts will excite your spirit into a greater relationship of love with Jesus our Betrothed.  Marriage is the central theme throughout scripture.  The history of humanity begins and ends with a wedding, beginning with the marriage of Adam and Eve (Gen. 2;18-24) and ending with the marriage of The Lamb (Jesus) to His bride (Rev. 19:7-9).

God created humanity in His own image.  God said, “Let us make man in our image, like us.”  (Gen. 1:26)  We have the same spiritual DNA as God The Creator of all that is.  The angels and other spiritual beings do not possess God’s DNA, only humanity.  God in all of His glory desires a loving companion, a relationship, only with redeemed humanity.  “for your Maker is your husband.”  (Isa. 54:5)  This thought is so awesome and overwhelming the finite mind can scarcely comprehend it.

This life and the meaning of it are to prepare us to be The Bride of Christ.  We must begin to establish a relationship with our Husband to be.  If He does not know us, He will not marry us.  Remember the Parable of The Ten Virgins?  Five of them were not prepared and were not allowed into the wedding.  The reason given by the Lord for them not being allowed into the wedding was that, He did not know them.  Though we are not the bride now, we are His fiancée.  Paul says, “I betroth you to Christ as a pure virgin.”  (2 Cor. 11:2).  And Isaiah 62:5 says, ” For as a young man takes a virgin for his wife, so will your maker be married to you:  and as a husband has joy in his bride, so will the Lord your God be glad over you”.  John the Baptist said this, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom.  The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.  That joy is mine, and it is now complete”.  (John 3:29).

You have been chosen by the creator of the universe to be His bride.  This should give you all the self worth and affirmation you will ever need in life.  All of creation, every star in the sky, every raindrop, is for you.  Every problem and blessing in life is for your benefit.  It is all part of God’s plan to prepare you to become His Bride, to co-reign with Christ.  God decided before the worlds were ever formed to have a companion that would love Him.  How would He choose this companion, this bride and where would she come from?  She could not be an angel for angels are not of His kind.  God desired a bride that could offer Him the one thing He could not produce from His own will.  A bride that could freely choose to love or reject Him.

She would have the ability to give and receive love as well as the ability to deny and reject love.  It would not be a true loving relationship if there were no choice.  His bride would choose to love Him even when circumstances made it easier to deny loving Him.  She would trust Him even though the world would proclaim He does not exist, He is dead and cannot love.  She would love Him even though, she would be persecuted and martyred for it.  She would proclaim her love for Him from the rooftops and encourage others to join her in her love.  Where could such a bride be found and how could she have developed such trust such love for a God she has not seen?

The Holy Trinity is in agreement to share the Holy Realm itself with the Bride of Christ.  Luke 12:32 states, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”  And Romans 8:17 says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”  Second timothy 2:11-12 says, “here is a trustworthy saying:  If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.”

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
WILL MY PRAYERS BE ANSWERED, THE WAY I WANT?
WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?
BUT I DO KNOW THAT GOD LOVES ME 100%
AND I CAN TRUST IN THAT
100%

MY STORY

I have been a Christian for many years and have always known that God loves me.  I have to admit that my walk has not always been a perfect one as my love for Him did wax and wane.  Though I knew of His great love…Jesus’ sacrifice for me…it was all intellectual.  My experience was similar to watching a romantic love story at the movies, rather than actually being in a romantic loving relationship.

I guess the underlying reason for my distance was that I knew who I was and what I had done in my life.  I knew my faults well.  I had made commitments to God and broken them.  Knowing all of this about myself, plus realizing how great and powerful my Creator was, begged the question, “How can God love me?”

The answer to this question and the revelation knowledge of the Bride of Christ came in an instant, a single unforgettable moment.  That moment became the defining point of my life.  Just as Christ’s birth split time itself in two…BC and AD…so has my life been split into before and after

MY REVELATION

I was in love with a beautiful lady whom I hoped to marry.  It was late at night and I had just finished reading the Song of Solomon.  I asked the Lord to show me the meaning of the Song and I fell asleep.  In the middle of the night, I awoke and felt the need to pray these words, “Jesus, I love her so much.”  I closed my eyes and I had a vision of her that brought a smile to my face.  “Jesus, show me how to love her, I want to take care of her and comfort her.”

At that very moment, the spirit of God fell on me and in an audible voice I heard these words, “Scott, you mean you want to love her the same way I love you?  Scott, the feelings that you have for her are the same feelings that I have for you.  Scott, I have a vision of you before me all of the time and it brings me joy and a smile to my face.  Scott, I have a love affair with every man and woman’s, every boy and girl’s spirit on earth.  But they do not know it.  I am at the door of their heart wanting to come into them and love them.  But they will not let me.  There is nothing that hurts me more than the rejection of my love.  Scott, I cry over them because they will not let me love them.  Scott, tell them of my love.”

The revelation ended, but still being bathed in His Spirit, I realized that God, my Creator is in love with me and He is emotionally involved with me.  I must have felt as the prophet Daniel did when, “one having the form of a man put his hand on me and gave me strength.  And he said to me, O man greatly loved, have no fear:  peace be with you, be strong and let your heart be lifted up.  And at his words I became strong…”  (Dan. 10:18-19)

LIVING OUT MY REVELATION

The love Jesus has for me is no longer intellectual but emotional.  I no longer see God as a distant force but as the one and only true lover of my soul.

God’s love is of a romantic nature in the purest of interpretations.  Romance has inspired the most beautiful works of art and literature.  It is the most sought after feeling on the planet.  Most advertisements use promises of romance to sell products.  Of course, this is a counterfeit and a very poor substitute, for the romance that Jesus offers the heart.  Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.  He will not divorce you for He is committed to you in this life and the next.  Jesus will tell your heart all of the things it has always wanted to hear.  All of the hurts and pains inflicted by people will be erased by His love.  You will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that His love is for real and will always satisfy your heart.  Jesus will make your life satisfyingly complete.

We possess God’s Spiritual DNA.  His emotions.  His desires.  Even His “hurts”.  The emotions and love I have for my beloved bride, is the same that God has for me and for you.  In times past. my heart had been broken by love betrayed.  The rejection I felt hurt more than any physical pain I had ever known.  Jesus also knows that pain of rejection and of betrayal.

GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS IMAGE 
THAT MEANS HIS EMOTIONAL IMAGE TOO

We can all understand the feelings and emotions of romance because we experience them as a part of life.  We can also identify with rejection when our overture of love is spurned.  The reason we understand and identify with all of these emotions is because they are a part of the spiritual DNA that God has created us with.

Jesus is at the door of everyone’s heart knocking and saying, “Let me in.  I want to love you and take care of you.  I want to marry you”.  And when we open our heart to Him, He is as delighted as a man who has proposed marriage to his beloved sweetheart, and hears her whisper, “Yes”.  If our heart remains closed and there is no answer to Jesus’ words of love, His heart is devastated by the pain of rejection.  However, His love continues until the last knock, the last heartbeat, and the last breath.

At this point, I need state that we cannot always trust our emotions.  They have been corrupted by Satan, the curse, and the evil desires of man.  The Godly emotions which have been given to us, and meant for good; Satan has counterfeited and means for evil.  We must weigh our emotions and feelings against God’s Word, The Bible.

God does not fear, have lust, or pride but rather faith, hope, and love.  When God’s love is rejected, He does not respond with anger but with more love.  He is, however, a jealous God and we should place no other gods or things or persons before Him in our lives (see Exodus 20:3-5).  If we do place anything before God, He considers us as adulterers and fornicators (this is cited dozens of times throughout the Old Testament) breaking the fidelity of our relationship with Him.  These emotions give us a glimpse into the heart of God and how He feels about us.  This is so important for us to understand, THAT WE FEEL WHAT GOD FEELS!

God is right at the door of every heart.  He is in pain, for He is being rejected by people who He loves…everyday.  He is hurt deeply by His church in not trusting in Him.  He is being hurt by the bride not longing to be more intimate with him.

WE LOVE GOD BY BEING WITH HIM IN PRAYER
AND SHARING OUR LIVES WITH HIM THERE

A couple in love enjoys spending time talking and listening to each other.  The most important part of the day, is the time they spend with each other.  They are both thinking of ways to express their love to one another; be it through gifts or love notes.  The intent is to express their love and this is the romantic nature of God’s own heart.  Jesus wants to hear from you personally, not some stand in.  How can Jesus marry you if He does not know you?

The Bride of Christ realizes that she can break Gods heart by not giving Him the love He deserves.  Just as a mortal husband and wife must communicate with loving words of affection, so must we communicate with Jesus our divine husband.  My wife and I share each other’s lives.  She knows what issues are troubling me, what challenges I will be facing each day, what blessings have occurred and the nature of my plans and desires.  I also know what is happening in her life.  We discuss the details of our lives.  Thus, should we not do the same with our beloved Jesus?  He desires this type of intimate relationship with us.  He desires to be a part of our lives in every way.

I love my wife and I want to please and bless her.  I do not want to do anything that would hurt her.  I want to give her gifts and acknowledge all of the wonderful things she does for me.  Should I not do the same for my Jesus?

I CAN GIVE JESUS GIFTS OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP

I guarantee you that when you start treating Jesus as a beloved spouse, He will open up His life to you.  You control how much of Jesus you want in your life by how much you allow Him in.  You also control how much of your spouse’s life you share, by how much you let them in to your life.  You are in control of your spiritual marriage as well as your physical marriage.

I suggest to you that if your earthly marriage is not what it should be, your spiritual marriage may not be either.  To improve your earthly marriage, begin to see your spouse as Christ…your other marriage partner…and try to treat them both the same.  If you would not be critical or complaining of Jesus, extend the same courtesy to your spouse.  If you would not think of being abusive or cruel to Jesus, transfer that respect to your mortal spouse.

Our earthly marriage is on the job training for the heavenly marriage that awaits us.  Consider Jesus as the third partner in your marriage.  If you are single, consider yourself being married to Jesus and live your life that way.  The most important thing to remember is, Jesus is madly in love with you and there is nothing you can do about it.  <><

I hope the above has served to introduce you to the topic of the Bride of Christ.  More specific themes to this topic will be added in the months ahead.  We would love to discuss the Bride of Christ with you on our message board.  Please link to it from here.

Aloha    Christian Scott Berg