One of the most intimate things that you can experience with your spouse is to die together— to hold onto each other as you go through a trial that tries to tear you apart, but that God ends up using to shape each of you into something precious and sanctified for Himself.
A marriage will be shown to be what it is truly built upon when it goes through something like that. When both husband and wife cling to each other as their flesh dies, as self is crucified, each refusing to let go of their beloved. As they cry out to God, “Even though you slay me, yet I will trust in You. I will not abandon this one I have called my own” (Job 13:15).
This is a picture of us and Christ. Our relationship with Him is shown for what it is truly built upon when we encounter trials that Satan tries to use to tear us apart, but that God ends up using to strengthen our faith and shape us into something precious and sanctified. When we cling to Christ as our flesh dies, as self is crucified, refusing to let go of our Beloved, we are brought into a place of true intimacy with our Lord.
As My husband and I laid in bed this morning and gazed at each other’s face in silence, a tear began to roll down the side of my face as I thought of Genesis 2:23, “...bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” I thought of God telling us that this is why a man leaves his father and mother to be united with his wife and they become one flesh. And in that moment, the Holy Spirit brought the weight of the reality of Christ and His church flooding into my soul.
Jesus left His Father in heaven to become “bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh” with His church. To cling to His everlasting bride who has become one flesh with Him. And as we go through all sorts of trials and persecutions together, we cling to each other, crying out, “Even though you slay me, yet I will trust in You. I will not abandon this one I have called my own.”
(Gen 2:23,24) And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
(Mark 10:5-9) But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
(Song of Solomon 8:5-7) Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth. Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as the grave. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all. Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.
(Posted on Facebook 12/11/2020 Talitha Koum)
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