Month: July 2024

“You are all fair, my love;
 there is no flaw in you.”

Song of Solomon 4:7 (RSV)

The book in the Old Testament, Song of Solomon, also known as the Song of Songs, is written by King Solomon, an ancestor of Jesus. It is read by both Jews and Christians, and is interpreted as a portrayal of the mutual love between the Lord and his people. 

The Song is interpreted by Jewish theologians as God’s love for the ideal Israel, chosen and loved by Him. It’s interpreted by Christian theologians in correlation with the book of Revelation, as the culmination of the love between Jesus and His bride, the church. 

The scripture in Revelation 19:7, reads:

“For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, His bride has made herself ready.”  The perfect love expressed in the book of the Song of Solomon, comes to a climactic conclusion, when Jesus is finally united with all His church, His bride, in Revelation, the last book of the Bible. We are that bride, in the process of making ourselves ready for Him.

What Solomon says to his bride in the Song is what Christ is saying to His church today. It fully expresses the love of a bridegroom for his bride, and his desire to be in marital union with her. 

There is a “love chapter”, in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 13, which is read at almost every Christian marriage ceremony. It describes perfect love, as “bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things.” 

In Solomon’s Song, the bridegroom’s passion for his beloved says,

“You are all fair, my love. There is no flaw in you.” The perfect love of God knows our flaws, but He loves us as if there are none. If we could all fully grasp His perfect love for us, we would probably live in a greater state of confidence, fearlessness and power, knowing we are so loved by Him.

Our flaws don’t change His perfect love for us. It’s why the apostle John encourages us to confess our sins, because God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. He forgives anything, if we will only come to Him and confess it. 

The most overlooked truth in the world is how much God loves us unconditionally. Some people, due to their upbringing, have come to believe that God loves them only when they are good, or that He stopped loving them, after they strayed from Him. God loved us before we were born, while still in the womb, and He loves us even when we forget about Him or waste time pursuing things other than Him. He is forever faithful even when we are faithless.

Jesus is in constant pursuit of us and always inviting us to abide in Him and receive His strength. It is His grace and lovingkindness that turns the human heart back to Him, not fear of punishment.

The Bible refers to God’s perfect love, saying “Perfect love casts out all fear, because fear involves punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18)

The perfect love of Jesus gave all of Himself for us, His bride, and He would like us to give all of ourselves back to Him, adoring the One who first loved us. It’s simply what brides and grooms do for one another. Our journey of faith excels not only in the good times and blessings, but when we realize how much we are loved by Jesus, during the difficult trials in our lives.

We are not perfect, but we are perfectly loved.  He sees our gifts, our potential and our hidden beauty. He knows that we will bring praise, glory and honor to God, His Father one day, which is the sole desire of His heart.

God is all knowing, and He is not shocked or surprised by any of our  failures. He just wants us to keep returning to Him. The prophet Jeremiah wrote under the Spirit’s inspiration, “Shuvee Israel !” Jeremiah 31:21, in Hebrew means, “Return to Me, oh Israel !” God is calling all humanity, Jews and gentiles, to return to Him.

We are His church, His flawless bride, beautiful in His sight, and He steadily pursues us day and night, until we offer more of our hearts to Him, in response to His perfect love.

He believes in us, hoping we will trust Him, in the many ways that He is regenerating and renewing us each day by His Holy Spirit. Jesus endures all things and He also gives us the strength of endurance in all things. His perfect love pursues all those who need to return to Him. Love never fails, because it is as strong as death.  (Song of Solomon 8:6)

Lord, we surrender our whole self to you, returning all our love to you, along with our gifts and our flaws, because no one loves us more faithfully and more perfectly than you. Amen

The beautiful lyrics in this song are by singer and songwriter, Rachel Lampa.

Perfectly Loved -with Lyrics Rachael Lampa – YouTube

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me.”

Matthew 7:22-23 (ESV)

Jesus’ sobering words remind me of how important it is for us to be known by Him. Everything we do in this life should lead us to know Him better, with the hope that He knows us and will one day say to us, “I know you, good and faithful servant.”

I had a recent experience that was a lesson in the importance of being known by Jesus. 

Last week, I ordered an ice cream cake, and paid for it in full, planning to pick it up on Sunday. It was for my niece’s 40th birthday party. The young man who took my order seemed new, but he accurately wrote down what to write on the cake. Then I paid him in advance and he gave me a receipt and I left. 

Later that day, it occurred to me that he forgot to ask my name and phone number.

I started looking for the receipt, since that would be my only proof, but to complicate things even more, I realized I had lost the receipt. I tried retracing my steps and suspected that I might have accidentally thrown it out. I was so angry at myself, as I realized I had no receipt and they have a cake with no name of who it belongs to.

I called Dairy Queen and asked if they had an order for a cake that read “Happy 40th birthday, Seanna.” They confirmed that they did, and they also said it was marked paid, although they didn’t know who purchased it, since the new employee forgot to put a name on the cake order. I assured them it was my order and I would pick it up Sunday. 

What a bizarre situation that was. I paid for a cake and then lost my receipt. The young man took an order for a cake, but forgot to put any purchaser’s name on the order.

It was such a strange feeling to realize I had nothing to prove who I am, or that the cake belonged to me. My only identifier or claim to that cake was my niece’s name on it, since no stranger would want a cake with someone else’s name on it. 

In situations like this, I always look for the hidden meaning. So, after the near debacle of an ice cream cake, with no purchaser’s name and no receipt in existence, I figured there has to be a deeper meaning in this whole experience.

Technically, without a receipt, I cannot claim ownership of that cake, and my own name means nothing to them because it was never written down in the first place. 

The key identifier and my only claim to that cake was my niece’s name written on it.  Seanna’s name is the identifier that connects the cake to me. No one else would want a cake with a stranger’s name on it.

It made me think about Jesus’ words regarding events after death and the day of judgement. We will have no receipts to show, because our salvation cannot be bought with money. We can try telling God our name, who we are, and what we did for Him, but our name and our personhood alone, doesn’t merit our salvation. There is only one key identifier that connects us to eternal life and it’s our trust in Jesus. He is the only mediator between God and man, and only Jesus bridges the gap between us and His father. He told us that whoever believes in Him will live even if they die. No one comes to the Father except through Him, because He paid the price in full. 

On that day, when we stand before God, by faith, we expect to hear Jesus say to us, “I know you”, as He turns to tell His Father that we belong to Him. It’s because we have trusted in His sacrifice and have received atonement that comes only through His body and blood. He is our connection to heaven. 

To know Him and to have Him know us, leads Him to say “I know you”. 

It’s the unique connection, like the name on the cake, that links it to us. Those words will be the best words we’ve ever heard, in both this life and our afterlife.

Lord, draw us closer to you here and now, so that we may love you more and hear you one day say that you know us, as you welcome us into your presence for all eternity. Amen