FOR HER
Woman I pray for you
Dying to get married without realizing
You’re already His bride
Bearing His name, representing Him
His palms stretched out, displaying their rings
Woman I pray for you
Not feeding, trying to be skinny enough to fit a white dress.
When in truth her filthy rags scarlet from sin don’t even compare
To the snowy righteousness He clothes her in
Woman I pray for you
You keep repeating the same vows,
Renewing them every time you break them,
But your husband never rejects you,
Like Hosea, He comes to get you every time
No matter how unfaithful you’ve been
Woman I pray for you
I pray you’ll greet your husband gladly,
Finding joy in his presence.
I pray you’ll know His heart and find Him
In every aspect of your life.
I pray His love heals your broken heart and wipes away your tears,
Even the mascara stains.
Woman I pray for you
I pray you’ll know his voice
I pray one day you’ll be like twins
You know they say you and your partner become alike eventually
I pray you enjoy Him and He you
May the light of his love be forever reflected in your eyes,
In your mind, body and soul
Selah.
So…...let’s discuss…...shall we?
Links:
https://tinyurl.com/y2b55o8y - Creative Tribe
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8p9b98Uw_GyHeyAY59mNMwql5HOJqrW – For Her playlist (A Romans 8 Production YouTube channel)
Hey Product fam today we’re talking about the most important marriage in human history; the marriage of Christ and his church, as well as a lil sumn sumn on how the single Christian woman’s perspective can sometimes get skewed by her desire for marriage.
Before we get into it, I have to say that this piece was highly inspired and influenced by “Ready or Not” a spoken word piece by Janette...Ikz and Ezekiel Azonwu, please check the playlist out and the other blog and encouraging music by clicking the link above.
Now…. on to our regularly scheduled program!!
It would literally take me the rest of my life and then some to fully capture the significance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us. This piece follows the Biblical motif of the relationship of Christ and his church as that of bride and bride groom, man, and wife. It is biblical truth that marriage between men and women is intended to reflect our relationship with Christ, and it does, when gone about correctly…but that’s a different post entirely (let me know if you want us to talk about that a little). The piece also is a little letter to me, or women like me, young or older singles who want a good godly marriage but who may also have made it a sort of idol, without realizing that’s what we’ve done.
The Bible often uses a similar technique in paralleling the relationship of Christ and his church with that of man and wife. Here’s the thing…in many ways we’ve overemphasized the instructional aspects to husbands and wives without giving enough credence to the fact that the writers were also trying to capture the depth of LOVE Christ has for us; towards his church, his bride. It’s often a question of emphasis. I actually can’t recall hearing a message on some of the scriptures i’ll mention here, particularly Ephesians 5:22-33, from this perspective, but i’ve heard almost all of them in a message about how husbands and wives should be towards each other (herein lies the problem).
Let’s look at the perspective in 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 where the writer points out the incredible impact of salvation on a believer’s life. They become fully joined to him just as a couple does in a marriage and therefore, sexual immorality is a very serious infraction, not just to the marital relationship but to the spiritual one between the believer and Christ. The prior verses outline that such sin is an infraction against the sinner’s actual body and against God,, as the body is the Lord’s, for his purposes. I start here as it illustrates the very root of the concept of the believer, the church being the bride of Christ: SALVATION. Everything begins at the union of mankind and Christ in much the same way as everything begins with the union of man and wife, in both instances two very different entities become “one flesh”, inalienable from each other from the day the commitment is made and for the rest of their lives.
This then sets Ephesians 5:22-33 in clearer perspective. This scripture is often wrongly emphasized. It talks about the nature of the relationship between Christ and his Church and that marriages are to imitate that relationship. This is rather a different emphasis than how the scripture is commonly used, almost as if the instructional aspects to husbands and wives were the point of the scripture – it isn’t (“It’s not box-checking!” says Papa Vessel). Which is why the write says towards the end “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” So, the emphasis of the scripture is about THAT primarily and secondarily (but still importantly) about the instructions to spouses. What I mean is, somewhere along the line this became a “marriage scripture” harped on in pretty much every message on marriage and romantic relationships in church, but hardly ever as an exemplar of Christ’s mentality or heart towards his church, which was the main point of the scripture.
This wrongly placed emphasis within the church is what gives rise to the mentality spoken of in the piece above. So focused on earthly marriage that we forget that marriage is an imitator of the most important relationship of a believer’s life: the relationship between us and Christ. Which Papa Vessel points out produces A LOT of marital tension. We’ve longed so much for things like marriage, which though they are good and godly, are not the focus of our lives, it’s so easy to lose sight of Christ and who we are in him. If you’re a woman like this, remember you’re a part of the bride of Christ before you ever become an earthly man’s bride. You are saved and covered, washed in the word to be presented to Christ one day an unblemished bride as in Revelation 21:9-27.
Until next time Product fam, remember whom and whose you are. Your first love awaits.