The Inseparable Duo!!!

THE INSEPARABLE DUO!!!

Crack!Crack!Crack! The whiplashes on the bared back of innocent ”Majnu” in the Laila-Majnu Movie (the Eastern Oriental equivalent of Romeo and Juliet) made me move uneasily in the Cine theatre seat (I was all of 10 years then in 1976). The background musical effect of that musical maestro Madan Mohan (who died before completing the film whereby the baton was carried forward by Jaidev, seamlessly) added a ring of agony to that tragic melodrama being played out on the Big Screen. Lo and behold...something unbelievable started unfolding in front of the movie audience!!! When Majnu was getting whipped, the scars of whipping started appearing on his anguished sweetheart’s (Laila) back also (who wasn’t far away from the whipping scene), leaving an Arabic King who had ordered whipping of Majnu dumbfounded at the intensity of passionate love between these two legendary lovers’. I would stop here. I am rewinding in using this “Bollywood” related illustration merely for the sake of making a point about “union of hearts” between two lovers’. By the way, I bade goodbye for good to the World of movies in October 1983 after accepting Christ as my Saviour. He has given me all the “joy” (John 15:11/16:24) since, which no entertaining media can give. Hmmm... proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof!!!

Coming to the ”made for each other” relationships in the spiritual realm, one doesn’t have to look beyond “God-Israel” consanguinity of OT Dispensation “Christ-Church” Covenantal relationship of Grace Age to understand the subject better. Didn’t the Heavenly Father say to the persecuted Jews “for he who touches you touches the apple of my eye” (Zech 2:9) and didn’t Christ confront Saul the persecutor of the Early Church with these words “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me” (Acts 9:6) rather than words such as “Why are you persecuting my followers”? In this message by dwelling on the inseparability of Christ and His Church, I would like to bring forth the deep similarities between the Bridegroom (Christ) and His Bride (the Church comprising of His blood-bought Christians’).

Creation...

If the virgin birth of Christ was a miracle wrought purely by the power of God (Luke 1:35), then the spiritual birth of a Christian too on receiving Christ as his personal Saviour is a singular act of the Almighty with no human plan or passion involved. Let the Scripture take over at this stage...

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”- John 1:12-13

In fact, John goes onto record in his first epistle that in every saved individual who has received this new life from the El-Shaddai God there is a “Seed” (in Greek “Sperma” the root word for the English word “Sperm”) of God present, giving the person concerned at once the Holy Character of the Omnipotent One (1 John 3:9).

Yet another similarity, we need to focus on at this stage is the means the Heavenly Father used. If He sent the Holy Spirit upon Mary to bring about a miraculous conception, then on the Day of Pentecost the Heavenly Father sent the same Holy Spirit upon the Apostles to bring about the Birth of a Church ...with the laity numbering up to about 3000 (Acts 2). If Virgin Mary was the means to bring about the birth of the Bridegroom, then the Apostles were the God-ordained instrument to bring about the birth of the Bride. Sadly at Christmas time, while the misguided Catholic Church focuses solely on Virgin Mary to it’s detriment, who was no more than a holy means to bring the Saviour to this World, some of the Charismatic Churches on the Pentecostal Sunday every year focus only on the Apostles grossly neglecting regenerate 3000 souls who are the prototype for every born-again Christian in the last 2000 years. Talk of a Birthday speech where plaudits abound for the parents with none reserved for the Birthday child....

On the Birth of the Church on the Pentecostal Day, doesn’t the Infallible Scripture speak of how genuine repentance preceded the Salvation experience of the 3000? It says “Cut to the heart” (read- thoroughly convicted of their sins) on hearing the Gospel, in contrite spirit they accepted Christ (Acts 2:37). Has not the new-birth experience of every Christian in the last 2000 years borne the same pattern?

Progression...

If Jesus grew in stature and wisdom in the eyes of man and God by humbly obeying His earthly parents (Luke 2:51-52), the Early Christians (who I reiterate are a role-model for all the Christians who followed thence) too grew spiritually by listening to their “spiritual earthly parents” (read Apostles- Acts 2:42) besides giving themselves to prayers and fellowshipping. Hey, in matters of spiritual growth it pays a new Christian well to carefully follow the advice cum the example of his “spiritual parent” who preached the Gospel to him whilst winning him over to Christ (1 Cor 4:15-16)!!!