Paul makes the point here that we could not have received better promises than the ones given
to us by God through Jesus Christ. These
promises are far and above anything that was offered in the law of Moses and are
now even better than life itself, for these are promises that define life as abundant
life, zoe life in Christ.
Paul goes on
by recognizing that because of these promises that exceed any expectation of
what we could have ever imagined we have the deepest respect for God for what He
has given us. It was undeserved and unmerited,
but Jesus saw something within us, something for Himself, a bride which He would
die for so that we might partake with Him in His glory.
It is from that understanding that we worship
God for this precious gift of Jesus and what He has offered us.
How
essential it is that the bride must be purified before the wedding feast, Paul
makes it clear that “we must remove every contamination from our lives” which
in itself is an impossibility, for if we could become better, we would have
become better, that is unless we have the Holy Spirit working within us on our
behalf preparing us and making us separate (holy) unto the Lord.
Holiness isn’t
something we can achieve on our own, only God can make us holy. I am reminded of the story of Isaac and the
bride in Genesis 24. If you read the
story through the lens of Christ you find some interesting parallels, it is
like the scene from the script of a play.
Abraham is representing God, Isaac is representing Jesus, and the
servant is representing the Holy Spirit.
Abraham declares to his servant after Sarah dies that he will not look
for a wife for Isaac from the land of Cannan, but go to his homeland of ‘Ur Kaśdim’ and search there. So the
servant begins his search for a suitable wife for Isaac. Already there is providence at work here, the
servant goes to the homeland of Abraham to search for a wife, and the story progresses
as he finds Rebecca, prepares her and brings her back to Isaac. Read the story for yourself to see the
parallels to Christ.
In our lives
the story is not that much different, Jesus is a bridegroom in search of a
bride. The Father sends out the Holy
Spirit (the servant) to search for a bride for His Son. When the Holy Spirit finds us and we interact
with Him, He tells us about Jesus who is a groom in search of a bride and there
is a wedding that is planned for us. We negotiate
with Him and enter into (contract) covenant relationship with Him.
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| Our Bridegroom, The Lion of the tribe of Judah |
This is where we are
brought into separateness (holiness) during this time of the journey. The Holy Spirit assures us that the voice of
the Father has always been with us and it wasn’t our imagination alone.
We encounter many difficult situations en route to the wedding feast, the Holy Spirit is there to help us and guide us
through those difficulties so we keep our single focus on what we are moving
towards. We have one
destination and that is union with Jesus, that is what this journey is all
about.
During the journey, we are being
changed (transfigured) to reflect the very nature of the bridegroom Himself so
that when we finally meet Him we will know Him fully and He will know us for we
will be like Him.
During this journey we
will meet many others who have also been encountered by the Holy Spirit and who on the same journey to the wedding feast, it is through discernment of the Holy Spirit
that we know these other brides so completely and fully that we sense we are connected to them, we encourage them
to keep on the path they are on to the very end for the treasure that awaits them.
Holiness is
a journey, not a destination. As we
pursue holiness the Holy Spirit will guide us as we seek to purify our lives
from anything that stands in the way to our maturity in Christ. Paul saw this as a process of growth while we
are alive, not just an outcome when we die.
The enemy is
working overtime to contaminate our lives with anything that is not of faith so
that we are drawn away from holiness as being non-essential for this life, and
it is true, holiness is non-essential in the natural world. But in God’s Kingdom holiness is more than
essential, because it is the fundamental characteristic of Christ and His bride. Holiness is separateness from this world.
May you find your own journey with Jesus full of Joy as you pursue holiness with the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as He takes you to your ultimate destination which is to your bridegroom.
Be Blessed;
Stephen
Barnett
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