In my last post, “Have You Ever Been Kissed by the King?”, I shared what it meant to experience personal kisses from Jesus and the kiss that started it all—Love’s truest kiss.
You experienced Love’s truest kiss when you heard the gospel and believed in Him (John 3:16; Rom. 10:17).
The gospel, or Good News, is that Father God loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, into this world to die on a cross in order to take away your sins (John 3:16; 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 John 3:5).
Then, He was buried and rose again after three days in order to give you new life in Him (1 Cor. 15:4; John 10:10; 1 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 6:4).
And you experienced Love’s truest kiss—your salvation—when you opened the door of your life to Him, calling on His name to be saved (Rev. 3:20; Acts 2:21).
When you believed in Jesus, you experienced a spiritual marriage (union) with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).
Father God took you out of Adam (spiritual death) and placed you into Christ (spiritual life) (1 Cor. 15:22; Col. 1:13).
Right here, right now, the Spirit of Christ lives in you (Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 1:15–16; 2:20; Col. 1:27).
And at the same time, you are in Christ (Rom. 8:1; 16:7; Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:6, 10).
And the best news ever?
Your union (eternal spiritual marriage) with Christ is indestructible.
The Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) is my favorite Old Testament book because the entire book is a beautiful picture of our marriage with Christ.
All believers in Christ are called His bride (John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:22–32; Rev. 19:7–9).
It is generally easier for women to picture themselves as the bride of Christ because many are either brides in an earthly marriage or dreaming of someday becoming one.
Men, on the other hand, have the advantage of better understanding the role Christ plays in relationship with His bride because many are husbands in earthly marriages.
In the same way that women have to adjust their thinking when the Bible refers to them as “sons of God,” men also need to adapt their mental perception in order to see themselves as the “spiritual bride of Christ.”
Man (humanity in general) is a spiritual being who lives inside a physical body, not physical being who houses a spirit.
In order to understand our relationship with God, we need to see with spiritual eyes.
Being “sons of God” refers to our new birth in Christ (the Son of God) and our role as spiritual children of our Father, God.
Being the “bride of Christ,” however, refers to our spiritual union with Christ and our role of experiencing and expressing His cherishing love and exuberant life.
Just as a husband and wife in the natural realm share a physical union and bear the fruit of children, Christ and His bride share a spiritual union where He has implanted His bride with His life and, with her cooperation, causes her to manifest the fruit of His Spirit (Rom. 7:4; Gal. 5:22–23; Eph. 5:9).
And much unlike earthly marriages, our marriage to Christ is divorce-proof!
I remember a time in my life when I was confused about this.
Because of being exposed to poor teaching, I thought I could lose my salvation.
I didn’t realize then that “the Spirit of Christ in me” was my salvation, and that He promised to never leave me.
In John 10:28–29, Jesus says, “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
The author of Hebrews writes, “For He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
And the apostle Paul writes, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful (2 Tim. 2:13).
Believers in Christ are safely sealed inside of Christ forever (1 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).
You might even say that we are sealed with Love’s truest kiss.
Best news ever!
In my next post, I am going to delve deeper into what happened to us when we believed in Jesus.
In fact, our salvation is a triple-crown kiss from our King that encompasses the complete forgiveness of our sins through His shed blood, a complete change in our identity through His crucified and resurrected body, and a complete life change through His indwelling Spirit.
I sure hope you can join me!
P.S. This post that was adapted from content in my first book, His Banner over Me Is Pursuing Love: An Intimate, Interactive Study of the Song of Solomon, Chapters 1 and 2.
My second book is a devotional spinoff of this study called Fifty Days in His Pursuing Love Devotional: Getting to Know the One Who Loved You First and Loves You Most.
I like to describe it as “Jesus Calling meets The Naked Gospel” because it is written in the style of Jesus speaking new covenant truth directly to you.
When you renew your mind with the new covenant truth, you will begin enjoying the freedom that Jesus purchased for you!
Best life ever!
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