A Love Story
In
a land far away, in a time long ago,
God fell in love. He had been lonely
for a long time. It’s hard
to imagine that God could feel alone,
as we know He is all powerful, but
He needed a friend, a bosom friend,
one He could really communicate with
one-to-one, who would know what He
meant, someone who knew His heart.
He wanted a friend who wouldn’t
let anything come between them, who
wouldn’t mistrust Him under
any circumstances.
God had such
a friend in Abraham. And Abraham
loved God so dearly that he would
even give his own beloved son rather
than let anything come between him
and God. Such a rare thing to find
— someone who won’t mistrust
you, no matter what.
And God so
loved him
that He
Himself made a covenant with Abraham.
He could have
just made
a promise
(surely His word was binding enough),
but He went
beyond just
a promise.
The oath that He made was self-cursing,
meaning
that if He
didn’t fulfill His
part of the
covenant
He would be split asunder as the
animals He passed
between had
been split
in two.
Thus, “I AM” (YHWH) bound
His whole existence to keeping His
oath to Abraham, and Abraham’s
eternal prosperity and well-being
was irrevocably bound to God. Obviously,
God knew Abraham’s heart through
and through. He trusted him
completely, or He would hardly have
bound Himself in a covenant to him,
and not only to him, but to his seed
— those that would love Him with
the same unfailing, absolute love.
Love is a deep, tender,
ineffable feeling of affection
and solicitude toward a person,
such as that arising from
kinship, recognition of attractive
qualities, or a sense of
underlying oneness.
a
feeling
of
intense
desire
and
attraction
toward
a
person
with
whom
one
is
disposed
to
make
a
pair.
an
intense
emotional
attachment,
as
for
a
treasured
object.
the
direction
of
one’s
will
towards
something,
what
you
give
your
attention
to.
a
feeling
of
strong
attachment
induced
by
that
which
delights
or
commands
admiration.
preeminent
kindness
or
devotion
to
another.
affection;
tenderness;
as,
the
love
of
brothers
and
sisters.
to
love
is
to
take
delight
or
pleasure
in;
to
have
a
strong
liking
or
desire
for,
or
interest
in;
to
be
pleased
with;
to
like. |
Abraham’s sons became the nation
of Israel,
and YHWH’s love
did not fail.
The only
way to express
the depth of His love and commitment
is to say
that He betrothed
Himself to
Israel as a Husband to
a Bride.
He drew her with
love, treated
her with kindness
and adorned
her with wisdom. He forgave her sins
so that she
could serve
Him in holiness,
meaning undefiled
by any other
loves, even the
love of self.
Truly He
delighted
in her… but she forsook
Him. She
became
a harlot,
one who
chooses to hurt and betray her
husband
by lusting
after others.
The Scriptures
record
the ache of His heart.
And His Son,
Yahshua, knew the same pain; He and
His Father were one.
Yahshua’s love for His bride
was the greatest
love story
ever told. He would redeem His Bride
from
the powers
of death,
more surely than any knight in shining
armor
had ever
rescued a
damsel in distress. She was held
in bondage because Death
had a claim
on her. Death
would not release her
without a
ransom. Who could pay the ransom,
except He who
had no lien
on His life?
He had no payment to make to Death
of His
own account.
He need never
have faced the anguish of death for
His own
sake.
Only love
could move someone to embrace the
condition and sufferings of another,
to do more than just offer a helping
hand.
And He did
love. He
took total
identity
with her,
even to
the ultimate
point of being rejected by His
own Father
when He
took her
guilt and
sin upon Himself.
He endured
the unspeakable
agony of
death for
three days
and three eternally long nights,
alone,
without
His Father’s
presence;
alone,
without
the Comfort
of the Holy Spirit; alone,
burdened
with all the guilt of everyone,
even the
guilt of
those who
would hate
and
despise Him
for what
He had
done. His
love wasn’t
limited
to those
who would
love Him
in return. He endured
an agony
that cannot be imagined,
because
of joy
— the joy
of a Bride
who would
love Him without fail.
This Bride
is a spiritual
nation
of twelve tribes, being faithful
where old Israel had
not been
faithful.
But just
as Israel
of old,
Messiah’s
Bride was
unfaithful.
Even after all He had done for
her, she wandered
away in her
heart.
He had to write her a letter, telling
her that she
had left
her first
love. He was on the outside of
her heart, knocking,
asking to
being admitted.
And worst
of all, she
broke her
covenant
of betrothal
and married another husband.
Instead of
being the
home of
the Holy
Spirit, the Scriptures
say she
became
a dwelling place for every
unclean spirit.
This would
all be unbearably
sad except
for the hope of restoration.
If only Yahshua could finally
have a Bride who would love Him with the devoted,
If only Yahshua could
finally have a Bride
who
would love Him with the devoted,
affectionate,
loyal-to-the-end
love,
a
people who would respond to His
love, and love others as He did,
without
a thought
for
self. |
affectionate, loyal-to-the-end
love, a people who would respond
to His love, and love others as He
did, without a thought for self.
Surely His love warrants this kind
of love in return.
He can’t do any more than what
He did, but who will respond? Who
has the same heart as Abraham?
In this,
the last
century
of human history, YHWH has again
sent His Holy Spirit
to earth
to a people
gathered together in twelve tribes,
living together
in unity,
who aspire
to be His Bride. He is sitting
at the edge of His
throne waiting
for her
to make His enemies a footstool
for His
feet.
When she
has done
this, the
Heavens
will ring
out, “Let
us be glad
and rejoice
and give
Him glory, for the Marriage Supper
of
the Lamb
has come,
and His
wife has made herself
ready!”
Right now,
in this present
age, is
when she
is making
herself
ready,
not tolerating
anything
unclean,
not waiting
for some
magic,
but coming
to the
same stature
as her betrothed Husband.
She makes
herself
compatible
in every
way by
taking
on His
heart,
to have
one heart
and one
way,
to love as He loved,
to be as
Abraham
was.
And this,
only this,
will bring
the end
of this
wicked
and evil
age.
Printer-friendly
