GOD’S FLOWER GARDEN IV: THE LILY
TRANSFORMED UNTO NEW LIFE
Song of Solomon 2:1
God’s flower garden is made up of many varieties of beautiful flowers; and they all speak silently of God’s love. Mentioned in the Bible are the rose and the lily (Song of Solomon 2:1).
We associate the yellow rose with the sunshine in our souls because Jesus our friend resides within. Friendship is a precious gift of God’s love.
Symbolic of the purity of the life of Christ is the white rose; and we know that He expects us, His friends, to emulate holiness in our own lives. The Lord our God has said to us, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
The favorite of all roses is the red rose which represents divine love - the kind of love that God showed to His creation when He sent Jesus into the world to become our Savior. The essence of divine love is found in the best-known verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave . . .”
Divine love gives – and it gives sacrificially! Love between a husband and a wife may be “romantic” (eros); the relationship between the two certainly needs the element of “friendship” (phileo); but true love – lasting love – love that never fails – is love that gives, sacrificially (agape).
Solomon spoke of his true love as a Rose of Sharon. Why? The fertile soil of Sharon was the place where the most beautiful roses grew in Canaan. Roses of Sharon were not planted or cultivated by human beings; they grew in wide open fields rather that inside a wall-enclosed garden planted by man.
Jesus is likened unto the Rose of Sharon – meaning that He is the truest and best expression of God’s love to us; His love is not confined within a garden wall; His love is available to all - a gift of God that is free for the taking – just as the roses of Sharon could be taken by anyone.
Each time you see a beautiful rose, think of God’s love for you and your love for others – and give thanks to God for whispering His love to us in and through so many wonders of nature! He “whispers” His love to me.
The other flower mentioned by Solomon is the lily. He described the love of his life as a lily – symbolic of picture perfect purity.
Jesus is likened unto the lily of the valley. This beautiful creation of God symbolizes innocence. It is a flower whose stems, unlike the stems of roses, has no thorns. As a poet wrote,
“The modest rose puts forth a thorn, the humble sheep a threatening horn, while the Lily white shall in love delight, nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.”
When I give my wife a rose in celebration of an anniversary, can you guess what I do with the thorns? Yes, of course, I cut them off; which, to me, symbolizes the absence of thorns in our relationship.
Folks, our loved ones do not want us to give them thorns; they want the flowers. I, for one, certainly do not want to be a “thorn in the side” of anyone – especially those I love. Rather than be a “thorn” – here is what you and I should desire in our close relationships: a sweet spirit as fragrant as that of a rose and a friendship as pure as that of a lily.
The lily grows free of thistles or thorns; it symbolizes the purity and innocence of true love; and, because of its symbolism, this beautiful flower is widely used in Easter celebrations.
At Easter time, the beautiful Easter lily represents not only the innocence of the One who was crucified for our sins, but reminds us of the purity of our new life in Christ.
This beautiful flower sprouts from a seed; it branches upward toward the heavens with a majestic stem; at the end of the stem there is an element of life that finds itself tightly enclosed inside nature’s protective covering; then, by way of a transforming process, it is set free from its confinement; the enclosure opens up so that the lily becomes a beautiful blossom – a glorious transformation!
Jesus died and was buried; on the third day, by the power of God, the stone was rolled away from the enclosed tomb, whereupon Jesus the Son of God came forth in response to the command of God.
Resurrection! What a glorious and victorious transformation from death unto life! And, just think about what He said, “Because I live, ye shall live!”
Folks, when you and I repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the seed of new life is planted within us, so that our old self dies; but, just as Christ was raised from the dead and lives forevermore, our old self is transformed by the power of God unto a new life in Christ - so that we who have been born into the family of God likewise, the Bible says, will share in the glory of His resurrection.
Resurrection is the central theme of Christianity. If there had been no resurrection, Paul said, our faith in Christ would be in vain. But, he shouted, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
All around us are reminders of God’s power that breathes new life into His creation. If we just take the time to notice, there is much compelling evidence of His presence in His world.
As for me, I look no further than the flowers that bloom in May, or any other time of the year, to be reminded of the new life that God breathes into His creation.
Yes, Solomon in all his glory spoke the truth centuries ago when he likened true love to the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley.
Yes, Solomon’s reference to these beautiful symbols of divine love has been rightly interpreted as a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ who would be the ultimate expression of God’s love for His creation.
Yes, Jesus Christ – in His life, death and resurrection – epitomized the divine love of God that is greater far than tongue or pen could ever tell. Even so, the beauty of the rose and the purity of the lily speak a language all their own – a silent language that conveys to us that God really does care about His children and provides for His own.
Jesus captured this thought in that part of the Sermon on the Mount where He talked about the futility of anxiety:
“Why do you worry? See how the lilies of the field grow. They toil not; neither do they spin. Yet I tell you that Solomon in all his splendor was not arrayed like one of these.”
Folks, roses and lilies do not worry; they just smell sweet and speak a silent language of love.
Life would be so much better for all of us if we could just slow down, smell the roses, and enjoy the beauty of the lilies.
Consider yourself to be a flower stem in the garden of God. As you receive His showers of blessings into your life – a life that is planted in the soil of His Holy Word - allow the Spirit of God to cultivate your spiritual growth, so that the nutrients you absorb from His Word cause you to become a full-grown, mature plant that produces beautiful, fragrant flowers.
Your life may produce the flower of friendship . . . compassion . . . kindness . . . goodness . . . a sweet spirit . . . a pleasant smile . . . a happy countenance. Whatever the form of your flower, each and every flower in God’s garden is an expression of divine love; for, you see, love is the theme of God’s flower garden into which He desires you and me to be planted.
My hope for you is that your life has been, still is, will continue to be firmly and securely planted in the garden of God’s love so that your life may radiate the beauty of friendship, purity and divine love that grow only in God’s flower garden.
"Brothers and sisters in Christ, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Amen.
