Morning By Morning #204

I am your husband.

Jeremiah 3:14

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Christ Jesus is joined to His people through the bond of marriage. In love His church was promised “as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor. 11:2) long before she fell under the “yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). Filled with intense affection, He worked just as “Jacob served seven years to get Rachel” (Gen. 29:20) and paid the full price for her. Now, having sought her by His Spirit and having brought her to a place of knowing and loving Him, He awaits the glorious moment when their mutual happiness will be consummated at “the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). The promised bride has not yet been presented, complete and perfected, to the glorious Bridegroom before “the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 1:3). She has not yet actually entered into the enjoyment of her privileges and honors as His wife and queen, for she is still a wanderer in a world of woe—one who still “live[s] among the tents of Kedar” (Ps. 120:5).

Yet even now she is the bride, the spouse of Jesus—dear to His heart, “precious in [His] sight” (Ps. 116:15), “engraved…on the palms of [His] hands” (Isa. 49:16), and one with His person. On earth He extends to her all the appropriate affection as her Husband, richly providing for her needs, paying all her debts, allowing her to assume His name, and sharing all His wealth. Never will He act in any other way toward her. The word divorce He will never mention, for He has said, “I hate divorce” (Mal. 2:16). And although death severs the marital bond here on earth between even the most loving mortals, nothing can divide the bonds of this immortal marriage. In heaven “people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:30). There is one marvelous exception to the rule, however, for in heaven Christ and His church will celebrate their joyous wedding.

Earthly marriage is the closest example we have of this kind of love, but our heavenly marriage will be everlasting. No matter how pure and intense the love of an earthly husband, it is but a faint picture of the flame that burns in the heart of Jesus. Surpassing any human union is the miraculous unity that the church has with Christ, who left His Father in heaven to become one flesh with her.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Thankfully our relationship with the Lord is one of permanency, unlike many marriages today. Unfortunately divorce had become rampant as well during the time of Jesus. Referring to the prevalence of divorce, the Pharisees, in attempting to test Him, asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” (Matt. 19:3). This sounds very much like today’s “nofault” divorces, or divorces based on the idea that “we’ve just grown apart over time.”

Nearly every family today has been touched in one way or another by the pain of divorce, but isn’t it wonderful to know that as the bride of Christ, He has said to us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

“The angel said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God’” (Rev. 19:9).

Lord, I praise You, “For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies” (Ps. 57:10).