"betrothed To God"

Betrothed to God

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Today, we’re continuing this journey we started at the first of the year as we begin the transformation that God has called us to. Last week we looked at who we are in Christ, and that is, children of God. This week we’ll be looking at being the Bride of Christ, and the betrothal process which is key to God’s transformative work in our lives and in the church.

Weddings are celebrated in almost every culture around the world. They normally follow a period of engagement where lifelong plans of love and family are made. And then the day arrives, and the two become one.

This is a reflection of Christ and his church. We are told in Ephesians 5:31-32 that it is for this reason that a person will leave their parents and be united to their spouse, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, Paul said, as he was speaking about Christ and His church

When we realize what the Father and Son did for us through the ancient Hebrew betrothal process, then this whole transformational/change we’ve been talking about gets a little bit easier and will make sense, because we’ll see how much Jesus loves us, and how much He and the Father gave up for us.

In Hosea 2:19-20, the Lord says, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” (Hosea 2:19-20 NKJV)

Hosea said this to his brethren, the Jewish people, but earlier in verse two He brings charges of harlotry and adultery against Israel saying that she is no longer the Lord’s, that is, God’s wife, and He no longer was her husband.

But in His mercy, God would bring them back, and in the valley of trouble and the valley of weeping would now be a door of hope, and a well of living water, where the Jews will once again call God the Father their husband, as they turn away from their adultery and harlotry to other gods. And then comes our verse that He will betroth Himself once again, thus making them His wife and He, their husband.

Now, why is this significant? Because from this relationship would come the Messiah, Jesus, where He, as the bridegroom, would take for Himself a bride, the church, which is now made up of both Jew and Gentile, that is, you and me.

This is how much God loves us and cares for us, that He has betrothed us to His Son, who paid the bridal price with His own blood so that we who are His church, who believe in Him, would now live with Him forever. (Now, we’ll talk more about the bridal price as we go along.)

I hope this whets your appetite and curiosity for this whole betrothal ceremony that reveals just how much He does love us, and then how through this betrothal process a great transformation can and will take place.

Now, what I have described is a Biblical picture of our relationship to and with Jesus Christ, and one that every Jew would know and understand, and hopefully by the end of our time together we can know and understand it as well.

In fact, this is such a beautiful image of our relationship with God that the enemy, Satan, seeks to strike at its very heart and turn it into something that becomes a mockery and distorts the picture God has given us to understand our relationship with Him.

And to show how serious God takes this betrothal process, consider what the Apostle Paul said.

“For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2 NKJV)

Now, the actual term “bride of Christ” does not appear in the Bible. However, the teaching is certainly there. And Paul explained this relationship in Ephesians 5:32, explaining how a marriage looks, but then said, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Paul also said in Romans 7:4, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” (Romans 7:4 NKJV)

Therefore, the church is not a wedded bride but a betrothed bride.

The Proposal

It all begins with the proposal, which begins the covenant of marriage, which is something that lasted for well over a year. Today in our culture we would call it the engagement period, that starts off with the engagement ring. But from then to now, it has changed quite a bit.