Knowing Jesus as His Bride
Now we get to the core of things. We have arrived at God’s eternal purpose for us. The problem, of course, is that like many of the truly important things shown us by the Holy Spirit, scripture only points us toward the truth of these things. They are not for the immature. They are for believers trained by experience. They are for those talked about in Hebrews 5.
…solid food is for the mature, whose discernment is trained by constant use to distinguish good from evil. [Hebrews 5:14]
Again I ask you to pray that the Holy Spirit will show you whether this is all true or not. I am convinced that it is and this resolves our spiritual place in creation.
Marriage gives us a glimpse of this
As mentioned, this essential knowing is the type of knowing experienced in committed, covenanted marriage. This is why the gay activists and the “sex as entertainment culture” are working so hard to destroy Godly marriage—not that they have any understanding of what they are doing. Paul tells us the importance of marriage in Ephesians 5.
As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and becomes united with his wife, and the two become one.” This is a great mystery—an illustration of the way the Messiah and the church are one. [Ephesians 5:31–32]
No, it is not a mystery! It was to Paul because he was not ever married. But to us who have experienced Christian marriage, this oneness is a reality that we understand. The oneness we experience with our spouse is amazing and it is just a foretaste of what is to come.
Commonly, married couples start out as near opposites. By the time you have been married over 30 years, your oneness is an established fact. Pat and I are still very different people. It is still work to make our marriage become what it was designed to be. But there is no doubt that we have both been changed for the better and that we are no longer two separate individuals—we are one married couple. We have become one and the Lord is part of that oneness.