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Greater Things > Ridenhour > Christ Our Lover |
Christ Our Lover
by
Lynn Ridenhour
"…That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;…being rooted and grounded in love…" --Ephesians 3:18
There are four metaphors for the Church:
- Bread (I Cor.10:16,17)
- Building (Eph.2:19-22)
- Body (Eph.1:22,23)
- Bride (Rev.21:9)
God has fulfilled three of the four. And it’s time for the fulfillment of the fourth. The bride in these endtimes is about to meet her lover.
The early church was the bread of God. Even John referred to the Son of Man as "…the Bread of God which comes down from heaven" (6:33). The Bread of Heaven fed the early church personally.
The reformation church was the building. "…Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God…" (Eph.2:19).
Reformation saints realized they too were "fellow citizens," part of the household of God, as well as clergy. The foundation of the Church was restored. The priesthood of believers was rebuilt.
The Pentecostal/Charismatic church was the body. Individual members began discovering and developing their gifts and calling. "Body ministry" was rediscovered.
The endtime Church is the bride. God’s calendar is ready for Christ’s bride to step onto the stage of history. The marriage of the bridegroom is about to take place. The next move of God will be a love story unparalleled in history—the bridegroom comes after his bride. Christians are about to meet their lover.
The Church does not know Christ as its lover.
Historically, we have known Christ as Lamb; we’re getting acquainted with him as Lord now; we don’t know him yet as Lover or Lion (the Lion of the tribe of Judah) but we shall. There are wonderful new revelations ahead.
The Church experiencing:
- Christ as Lamb
- Christ as Lord
- Christ as Lover
- Christ as Lion.
I believe the Church will experience the third and fourth during my lifetime—Christ as lover & Christ as Lion. The move of the Spirit will accelerate.
Christ as Lover
Get ready for it.
Paul said we’re to be "…rooted…in love." That’s a deep experience. It’s one thing to be in love; it’s another thing to be rooted in love.
I like the way the Amplified version reads: "…May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love" (Eph.3:17b).
Think on it—rooted deep in love!
There is a realm in God where Christ ceases to be your Lord and he becomes your Lover. Love goes deep and becomes secure. Christ "…settles down, makes his permanent home in your hearts" and a newfound love relationship begins. That’s a new experience in God. And, I believe it’s just over the horizon. But first, the bride must make herself ready.
Removing Spiritual Adultery
The life of Hosea is a very moving love story. God told him to marry a harlot. "…The Lord said to Hosea, ‘Go and marry a girl who is a prostitute…" (1:2)
Though the story tells of Israel’s backslidings, Israel’s idolatries and adulterous living, the story line is really about God’s great love for Israel. "…Oh, how can I give you up, my Ephraim [Israel]? How can I let you go?" says God (11:8). Truly the Lord loves his people even though "…the spirit of adultery is deep within [them] (5:4).
Unfortunately, the same can be said of today’s church—"…the spirit of adultery is deep within…"
Though such words seem a bit harsh, the reality is crystal clear. Sadly, the majority of God’s people today worship their church rather than the living God. Their allegiance is to their denomination, their creed, their sect—not to the Bridegroom. Spiritually speaking, they are not virgins, but adulterers. Their heart is not set upon the Lord. During these last days, God will cleanse a remnant of his people, remove the sin of spiritual adultery, and set their hearts solely upon the Lord. They will be deeply in love with the Bridegroom, for they are the Bride of Christ. And John describes that beautiful bride…
"…These are they," says John, "which were not defiled with women [denominations] for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth [testimony] was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God" (Rev.14:4,5).
The bride of Christ will be taken from the body of Christ. A remnant will come forth with a deep passion for the Bridegroom. They’re virgins. These have been redeemed from among the teachings of men and have become the firstfruits unto God. They now follow the Lamb "…withersoever he goeth…" They’ve lost their allegiance to their denomination.
Isaiah prophesies of the state of the church in these last days:
"…And in that day seven women [denominations] shall take hold of one man, [the Son of Man] saying, We will eat our own bread [doctrines] and wear our own apparel [holiness]; only let us be called by thy name [Christian] to take away our reproach" (4:1)
Too long has the church of Jesus Christ been feasting upon the doctrines of denominational churches, wearing its own self-proclaimed holiness. It has become "Christian" in name only. Like Israel of old, God’s people have gone awhoring after their own gods; they have been left in a state of spiritual adultery. Mistakenly, they think their reproach is taken away.
The Bride of Christ
The Lord’s people have always committed spiritual adultery for one reason—they don’t know him intimately. People commit adultery when the passion’s died down. When the flames have gone out.
If the Master were our husband and not our Lord. If we were married to him—yes, married to him. If we shared the same intimacy with him in the spirit world as we do with our mates in the bedroom. I’m saying—as bold as it may seem, we’re to know God as we know our mate; not as some distant Master. If not, then why the Bride/Bridegroom metaphor?!
One of the most moving passages in all of scripture is found in Hosea chapter two. It’s one of my favorites. The prose is saturated with lover’s talk:
"…Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her vineyards…and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi [my husband] and shalt call me no more Baali [my Lord]. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.,..
…And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." --Hosea 2:14-20
What language. What love.
Note, as soon as he removes her spiritual adultery, he marries her. "…For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name…"
Only a passionate love for Jesus captures the human heart permanently. We know too well the sentiments of the songwriter,
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it
For thy courts above.
The story of Hosea is about to be prophetically revisited upon the Church. Though "the spirit of adultery is deep within," the Lord is about to pour out his sovereign love upon her. He’s about to seal his love for his bride "for thy courts above."
The next move of God will capture hearts by the "force of love." Anointings will not be "power anointings," not "healing anointings," but love anointings. Big billowing waves of love, unstoppable love, will flow. The world hasn’t seen that. And everyone that gets in the way of this next wave will be swept into it and will know the Lord intimately.
Hosea’s constant complaint was "…my people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge" (4:6). Knowledge to Hosea meant—intimacy, the kind shared in sexual intercourse between husband and wife. (Abraham knew Sarah.)
As long as we know him as Lord, there’s a comfortable distance between us. But "call me no more Baali [my Lord]…call me Ishi [my husband]" (vs.16) commands the Lord. We’re actually encouraged to have a spiritual experience with Christ as our Lover. As bold as it may seem, we’re to know God as we know our mate; not as some distant Master.
A baptism of love heals spiritual adultery!
It rekindles the flame. And that’s what’s needed for most Christians—a new passion for Christ our lover.
As the bridegroom begins to court his bride, she will be "allured" into new experiences. For one thing, the Bride of Christ will have had "…the names of Baalim [taken] out of her mouth…" All desire to argue doctrine, to promote fleshly agendas, will have been put away. The Lord will "speak comfortably unto her" and "betroth [her] unto [himself] forever (vs.19). The Lord will marry her with a new intimate experience. Lord, hasten the day.
Look at the passage again (2:14-20). The "spirit of the bridegroom" will come upon the Church. We’ve not had that Spirit upon us; we’ve had the Spirit of power, of healing, but not passion. Not intimacy.
He courts her; he marries her, and "thou shalt know the Lord."
Consummation!
Saints, we must be prepared in these endtimes to know God like never before:
…More intimacy than the early church.
…More intimacy with Christ than the reformation church.
…More intimacy than the pentecostal/charismatic renewal.
I’ll say it again—the bridegroom is about to come after his bride. And that’s a new experience.
Fruit Quickened
Review the language: "…I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness…in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness" (vs.19,20). How will he marry her? By quickening her fruit—"righteousness," "loving kindness," "mercies," "faithfulness"—all fruit of the Spirit words.
The fruit of the Spirit within the believer has come to maturity (Gal.5:22, 23). There’s always a festive spirit—joy, laughter, and merriment—at weddings. And Christ will marry his people with great festivity. He will come and "dwell" in our hearts, settle down, and make his permanent abode. Take up permanent residence.
A marriage has occurred. "…You will call me no more my Lord; you will call me my husband" (Hosea 2:16).
Married to Christ!
The Lover in His Garden
Spiritual adultery has now been cleansed and removed from the bride. Christians now "know the Lord" like never before. A new relationship has begun with our lover. "…Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat of his pleasant fruits," says the writer of the Song of Songs (4:16).
Evangelism will take place in the endtime like never before in the history of the Church. When the bridegroom and bride consummate their marriage, offspring are inevitable. What kind of offspring?
There’s coming a day when offspring (unlike offspring of the past) will be free from whoredomes and wanderings. Like Hosea, Christ will marry his unfaithful bride, make love to her, and create such beautiful offspring.
I’m talking endtime evangelism here. Evangelism occurring on a much higher level. Converts will stick! Not be lukewarm. Not backslide. And the world will take note of the offspring’s’ love for the Bridegroom.
As the fruit of the Spirit enlarges and ripens, our "Beloved" will come into his garden and "…eat of his pleasant fruits."
Saints, we are the garden of the Lord. Ripe for his coming.
The Love Story
The restoration gospel is really the Love Story. It’s the story of saints who followed the Lord wherever He went. A fourteen year-old lad one day went against the grain of every preacher in New England. His heart was pure and clean. Preserved for the Bridegroom. And that same story is worth telling today. The Love Story is to be repeated to the world.
The Song of Solomon is an "endtime" book.
"…I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me." --Song of Solomon 7:10
The book really speaks of the fruit of the Spirit ripening in the believer’s life. That, more than God’s love for Israel, is its theme. The language is metaphoric, filled with passion, sentiment and deep feeling. It’s a love story.
It’s a love story turning sensuality in upon our spiritual senses. It’s the passionate love Christ has for a maturing believer. And the only appropriate language that can possibly describe his love is—lover’s language filled with passion.
"…My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he feedeth among the lilies. Thou art beautiful, O my love…" --Solomon’s Song 6:2,3
The bridegroom has come looking for his bride, and has found her in the garden. There’s coming a day, saints, when our offspring will convince this world—the bride and bridegroom are so in love. It shows in the children they reproduce.
That’s evangelism this world is yet to see. But it shall. I believe, in our lifetime.
Back to Eden
There is an experience coming upon the Church that will turn us into the garden of God. That’s God’s eternal plan, you know—to take us back to Eden. To experience the intimacy that God once shared with Adam. Redemption is buying back, buying back every experience that Adam lost. And God spared not his best so that the two of us might become intimate. He spared not his Jewel from Heaven so that we could return to the garden.
Isaiah, prophet of the endtime, prophesied of that garden:
"…For the Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord…" --Isa.51:3
A people made like Eden. Like the garden of the Lord. What a beautiful promise!
Zion, his people, will be like Eden, like the garden of the Lord. Though her wilderness state and her spiritual waste places presently be like a desert (no fruit), still her spiritual experiences will one day return her to Eden. Glory to God.
Even Joel, the mighty prophet of battle, saw it:
"…Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh…
…A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them…" --Joel 2:1-3
Joel depicts a mighty army of the Lord. A flame is burning behind them and a fire before them. These soldiers of the Lord have been "through the fire" in their past experiences. To return to the Garden of Eden, they must pass through the "flaming sword" placed at the east of the garden that keeps "…the way of the tree of life." Nothing of the old Adam can get through and return.
These Zionic people have had their old Adamic natures "devoured" by the fire. Their lives have been brought back to Eden. Restored.
"A garden enclosed is my spouse…" --Song of Solomon 4:12
There is a group of Christians in the endtime who will know Jesus not as Lord.
They will know him as their lover.
