Introduction…
Goliath was equipped with the latest military equipment and technology but was brought down by a small boy with a sling shot.
Cain brought to God the best that man could ever produce and was rejected by God.
These two represent what is going on today. We need to understand that the Christian life is all about God’s perspective. Too many people have defined God and the Christian life from the human perspective. Consequently, people have gotten the Christian life wrong.
“The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” (E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer).
“Every age has its own characteristics. Right now, we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In it’s stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.” (AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God).
Theme…Who we think we are reveals a lot about who we understand God to be.
The more I get to know God the more I understand who I am.
Genesis 1:26 – “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”
If this is true, and it is, then the more I understand God the more I understand myself and my relationship with God.
This rules out completely evolution.
God’s word to Jeremiah explains this.
Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
The passage before us, 3:6-11, establishes the foundation of our unbroken union and communion with God.
Being a Christian does not mean what many people think it means. At the very core of Christianity is this “unbroken union and communion” with God. This simply means that we have a relationship with God that is based upon fellowship and companionship. Not the technical Christianity that many people are satisfied with and find to be terribly unfulfilling.
What the bride sees in the groom…
I. Her Security (3:6-8 NLV).
“6 “What is this coming up from the desert like smoke? It has the smell of special perfumes, with all the perfumes of the traders. 7 See, it is the traveling wagon of Solomon. Sixty of the strong men of Israel are around it. 8 All of them use the sword and are very able in war. Each man has his sword at his side, keeping watch against trouble in the night.”
Nothing is more important than security. What is the basis of my security as a believer?
Do I have the confidence to truly trust God for all the aspects of my life? Or, am I trying to do it in my own strength? The bride does not rest upon her own resources.
The reason many people are up and down is that their security and confidence is rooted in their emotions.
There is nothing wrong with emotions. Some people need to have a little more emotional element in their life. This, however, can never be the basis of our security. Because, one day we might be up and the next day we might be down.
The reason our emotions vary so much is that they are affected by outward stimulation and susceptible to manipulation. This the advertises and politicians know only too well.
Paul explained this in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
“Conformed to this world” refers to outward stimulation.
“Transformed…” refers to the work of God within our lives.
My security does not rest upon my understanding of the situation or the circumstances of my situation. When I allow those things to happen, I compromise my confidence in God.
The bride here is establishing confidence and security in God because of what God has already accomplished.
We do not have to reinvent the wheel, as they say. We need to understand where we really stand with God and that when we are standing with God nobody can compromise our confidence. “If God before us…”
I like the phrase used here, “All of them use the sword and are very able in war. Each man has his sword at his side, keeping watch against trouble in the night.”
Isn’t that the kind of security you want?
Very simply put, this is saying that God’s security is my security. Whatever can destroy God can destroy me. As we know, God stands victorious over any enemy that might raise its head.
My security is in the fact that I am under God’s care. His strength is my security today.
The bride also sees in the groom…
II. Her Identity (3:9-10 NLV).
“9 King Solomon has made for himself a beautiful wagon from the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made its long pieces of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple cloth. The inside of it was made beautiful by the daughters of Jerusalem.”
Two phrases are important here. “Has made” and “he made.”
When we think of creation, we think of something that is intentional and with a purpose. God did not just create a bunch of stuff and fling it out into empty space. Rather, with great intention and purpose God created the heaven and the earth. And along with this intentional creation was mankind.
Jesus in going up to the mountain to be alone showing that his identity was in the father. Consequently, he had to take time to be with the father.
We know what broke the communion between man and God. That was sin and man was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Then, on the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin and brought back into human possibility God’s intentional purpose for us. It is in Jesus Christ that we truly find our identity and purpose.
This identity cannot be established by the things we do or what happens to them.
Most people make this common mistake. They identify themselves by what they do, their activities, or even what they cannot do or don’t do.
For the Christian, our identity is in Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, men and women are “lost.” The essence of that word “lost” is that they have lost their purpose and identity in life.
In this passage, the bride is discovering her full identity in the groom. As she gets to know him and fellowship with him and establishes unbroken communion with him she begins to understand who she really is.
This may be a hard concept to grasp, but the idea here is that the groom is not fulfilled apart from the bride. Everything the groom does is with the bride in mind.
We live in a society that is very much confused. We are confused about our gender, about our sexual orientation, about our ethnicity and the list goes on. Just when you think it cannot get any more confusing, it does.
The only way to deal with the confusion is to understand two things.
1. Who is Jesus Christ?
2. How do I relate to him?
When I answer these two questions, I begin to move out of that cloud of confusion and I begin to see clearly what God has in mind as far as I am concerned.
To know Jesus Christ in the fullness that he has made available to us is to understand what he thinks about us and what our purpose in life is all about.
Finally, the bride sees in the groom…
III. Her Authority (3:11 NLV).
“11 Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon as he wears the crown his mother put on his head on the day of his wedding, on the day his heart was glad.”
If I understand my security in Christ and realize who I am in Christ, I then come to the awesomeness of his authority in my life.
This matter of authority is very important. It brings to me not only the power to do something, but the right to do it.
Somebody may have the power to do something, but not have the right to do it.
Someone else may have the right to do something, but not have the power to do it.
The authority I find in God that is my inheritance as a child of God enables me to do what God created me to do and to be everything that God wants me to be. It is the fulfillment of my creation.
Many people misunderstand the aspect of this authority. They think it to mean that God will do whatever they want him to do. Here many people quote Scriptures out of context to prove the point. Remember, God is not at our beck and call when we snap our finger.
My authority in Christ does not give me the power or the right to do what I want to do. Rather, it gives me the power to do what God created me to do to honor God.
If I understand my true identity, I will realize that in my own strength I cannot fulfill that identity. My security is not in what I can do or what I can understand, but rather it is in my complete surrender to the Lord Jesus.
Some people come so close to this, but they never make the vital step into this authority that we are talking about.
Are they really Christians?
I cannot truly answer that question. I can see though that they are not living the kind of life that is involved in understanding their security and identity and authority in Christ.
They are living their life the best they can, which falls short of God’s expectation.
I certainly believe in positive thinking. I do not like to be around people who are negative in their thinking and speaking. However, I do understand that positive thinking only goes so far. If I am going to take the lead into this area of unbroken union and communion with God, I have to leave all thinking behind.
Solomon understood this when he wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6, “5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
“Trust” leaves my thinking far behind in the dust. My trust does not come from me thinking through a problem, but rather in understanding who I am in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion…
The more I get to know my groom, the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I begin to understand what it means to be a Christian. To know who I am is the most liberating aspect of the Christian life.
And that understanding will have three ramifications to it.
• My security is only in Jesus Christ.
• My identity is lost apart from Jesus Christ.
• My authority is rooted in Jesus Christ.
This is a wonderful union and communion with God that brings into my life the benefits of this wonderful fellowship.
There is nothing more wonderful than this fellowship that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ and the more I allow it to be the focal point of my life the more I will be caught up in the beauty of who Jesus Christ really is.
