A Love Affair Between Christ And His Church (Part 3) Series

A young man was head over heals in love with a young lady. The time they spent together was magical. When they were with each other everything was always perfect; there was never a problem. He decided that the two of them should be married, so he set off in search of the prefect engagement ring. When he arrived at the first jewelry store; he was unprepared for the cost of diamonds. He went from store to store, but each time the ring he thought could symbolize his deep love was thousands of dollars more than he could afford. The only rings he could afford to buy had diamonds you could hardly see.

He was about to give up all hope when he walked by a store with a sign that said, “High price of diamonds got you down? We can help.” Curious to see how anyone could help him he went into the store. Looking around he saw hundreds of beautiful rings sparkling in the light. The salesman asked what he was looking for and showed him a case full of engagement rings. The young man saw many rings that looked just like what he had seen in the other stores, but he already knew he couldn’t afford those.

He was about to thank the man and leave when he saw the perfect ring. He was sure that he wouldn’t be able to afford it, but he at least wanted to hold it–if only for a moment. Curiously holding the ring, he asked how much it was. The salesman told him all the engagement rings were the same low price, only $350. The young man was shocked. He had seen rings like these for thousand of dollars more, so he asked, “How can you sell diamond rings so cheaply?” Of course you already know that these were not diamonds, but cubic zirconias. The salesman assured the young man that he could buy this ring now and purchase a real diamond when he could afford it. And besides his fiancee would never know the difference because love is blind.

With hope renewed the young man purchased the ring and planned the perfect occasion to ask his girlfriend to marry him. The evening was going perfectly and came to the climax when on bended knee he asked her to be his wife. With tears in her eyes she said that nothing would make her happier than to spend their lives together. Taking her hand he placed the ring on her finger; it fit perfectly.

She took one look at the ring and immediately took it off and said, “I’m sorry; I can’t marry you with this imitation diamond.”

Broken hearted the young man said, “But how did you know? I was told you couldn’t see the difference; I couldn’t tell it wasn’t a diamond.”

“Sweetheart, love may be blind, but it isn’t stone blind.”

Turn with me again to Ephesians 5:21-32 as we again look at the mysterious relationship of Christ and His Church as seen within the husband wife relationship. Jesus is passionately in love with us. Not only is His love not stone blind, but it’s also not sin blind. May the Holy Spirit help us today to understand how God’s love is at work within and through us to make us into the Church He has designed.

✞ Ephesians 5:21-31 21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery–but I am talking about Christ and the church (NIV)

That God can take two individuals and make them one flesh is a mystery, but it is a profound mystery that God can take the countless members of the Church and make of the many one. And yet that is what He has done; we are the body of Christ, the Church–not made of bricks and mortar, but joined together by the Holy Spirit.