The story begins with God. John 3:16 reveals pressed His love toward us by dying on our behalf that God fell in love with the world; this means He fell in love not only with good people, but with all mankind. In one sense, God and man do not match. He is so great and wise, and we are so small and unwise. He is pure and holy, and we are sinful and worldly. Yet, God fell in love with man. What a great mystery!
The romance between God and man is portrayed in the book The Song of Songs, where a king fell in love with a country girl and became a shepherd to court her. Instead of intimidating her by going to her as a king with a crown, he changed his form to that of a country man to woo her, and then he returned as a king to marry her and make her his queen, his wife, and his counterpart.
This is also our story. Because of His great heart of love, God left His throne in order to court us. He humbled Himself and laid aside His divine form and position to become a man, Jesus (Philippians 2:6-8; 2 Corinthians 8:9). In this way He matched us, becoming the same as we are in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He expressed His love toward us by dying on our behalf (Romans 5:8; 1 Pet. 3:18) in order to remove the barrier of sin that was between us and God. In His resurrection He became the Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b) so that we could also partake of His life and nature (Revelation 22:14; 2 Pet. 1:4), thereby matching Him.
In order for the royal wedding to take place, there must still be some preparation. On the one hand, Christ is preparing His bride, the church, com- posed of all His believers. He does this by sanctifying her so that she may be presented to Him glorious, holy, and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). On the other hand, the church is adorning herself for her husband (Revelation 21:2) by the believers maturing in life and being built together. We can participate in this preparation both individually and with other believers by loving the Lord, reading His word, calling on His name, and speaking to others about our lovely Bridegroom. Then we also will be those who rejoice and exult, giving the glory to God, for the marriage of the Lamb will have come, and His wife will have made herself ready (Revelation 19:7).
God made the journey to court us, and is patiently waiting for each of us to respond to Him. We may feel like we could never love God as much as He has loved us, yet the Bible tells us we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Will you accept His proposal of love to you? To say, “Yes,” to Him, simply open your heart and pray:
I accept You as my Husband and my King. Lord Jesus, I love You!
