If you have spent any time studying scripture, or even just listened to sermons preached over the years, the topic of marriage to God – being the bride of Christ – will eventually come up. And this is very interesting terminology, and can jump-start the imagination in a bunch of different ways. Countless pastors and theologians have gone in many different ways regarding this single idea of a marriage to God; and some have gotten into deep trouble with it as well. Yet since Jesus was the one who taught on this topic and used this terminology, and the Father even spoke along the very same lines back in the Old Covenant, we can make a couple of conclusions:
First, that it is not out-and-out wrong to think of our relationship with God in marital terms. It is not high-minded, or presumptuous.
And secondly, there is something very important about this perspective of our relationship with God, that He wants us to see and receive.
So today in this study, we will be examining our relationship with God, from the perspective of marriage, and what this means for us today in Christ as part of the New Covenant.
Most of us have heard the phrase before that “Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship”. It has become a somewhat cliché catch-phrase, or something clever and witty to say. Many people say it, many people hear it, and nod in agreement,, but their relationship is really empty on the inside of them; and I am speaking of believers when I say that. And please understand that I am not saying that in a judgmental way and certainly not in a condemning way. I am going to be completely open and honest right up-front that my intention today in this study is to encourage you in your personal relationship with Jesus and how to live every day through that relationship, because really that’s the only way to live.
I have encountered a vast number of people in my time, who will readily claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus because it is expected of them to say that. It’s the “proper Christian response” but inside they are desperately hurting and empty and their spirit is starving because they honestly don’t know how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. So, these people walk around empty, but too afraid of the ridicule of those around them to actually admit that they don’t understand, and suffer in ignorance. In many churches today, Jesus has been reduced to nothing more than a Fire Net that saves you from going to hell when you die and that is it. Yet He is so very much more, and He came to give you much more as well. He’s didn’t come to just be merely a Fire Net, He came to give you Himself, and to enable you to live through Him, and this personal relationship is what we will be studying today.
I'm going to begin today by making a very controversial statement: Jesus is all that you need. Among believers, this statement is surprisingly controversial. Some people will say: “well, we need oxygen and food and water – so Jesus is really not all that we need.” This seems logical and even reasonable at first, when viewed through the lens of the world, but is this really what the Bible teaches?
In this study today, we will be examining the sufficiency of God, and specifically His sufficiency for us, in all things. Because if we do not understand that God is our total sufficiency, then we must begin looking to other things to fill-in the gaps. So as we see these truths today, we will broaden our view of the nature and character of God, and will be able to receive more from Him.
What is the purpose of the Bible? Some say that it is a rulebook; a set of “do's” and “don'ts” on how to live; others see it as a guideline for self-improvement. Some see it as a mysterious book filled with codes and deep hidden secrets of the world; others say that it is purely a work of fiction with no significance at all. I see the Bible as something entirely different than all of these ideas… I see the Bible as a love letter – a love letter to you – from the Creator of the Universe. A love letter designed to not only show you the Creator of the Universe and everything in it, but to unveil to you His heart and His passion for you, and His desire to reconcile you to Himself and share in a personal relationship.
Some people have a hard time accepting this idea. They see God as a distant being up in the sky, who is either not interested in the world at all, or so busy dealing with the events and troubles of the world that He could not possibly have time for us on an individual basis; however nothing could be further from the truth. The word “Bible” simply means books, but what's so special about this particular collection of books? What's so different about the Holy Scriptures?
I have already mentioned that I see the Bible differently from most people… I see it as a love letter. Now ultimately the greatest expression of love is to lay down your life for the one you love. To save someone, even at the expense of yourself; and this is exactly what God has done, through Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament writings (what the Jewish people call the Tanakh) there are prophecies – prophecies of the Anointed One of God, the Messiah (Mashiah) who will come to redeem and save His people. This is an action done purely from love, from a desire not to destroy, but to save.