Over the years I have studied the Song of Solomon, using many different teachings and interpretations from others, to help me understand our relationship as the Beloved and the Lover, the Bride and the Bridegroom, the church and Jesus.
As a woman, it is easy for me to relate to the analogy of the bride preparing for her bridegroom, Jesus. However, I have often noticed and pondered how difficult it can be for some men to relate to this concept. Isn’t a “bride” a woman after all?
So many men grow up relying on media role models like John Wayne, “Rambo,” and Harrison Ford. To be a true man is the message of “self” reliance, “self” sufficiency, and “self” gratification.
I propose that men can learn to see themselves as “the Bride of Christ,” once they view the life, love, and sacrifice of Jesus as seen from the perspective of John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21: 20).
In John 1:14, Jesus is portrayed as the glory of God, full of grace and truth. How different a reflection of love, compared to that of Hollywood stars. A love glorifying God and others rather than self.
Through the eyes of the disciple John, we see the unattained legalism of the law fulfilled in mercy and grace, a role model set before us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The Song of Solomon can have a sexual undertone, which is beautiful in the sanctity of marriage, but that is only one interpretation. The other is the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as they prepare the bride, the end times church, for the wedding of all eternity. It will be such a glorious celebration, and we need to be prepared, clean and whole, making ourself ready to receive in fulness the One who loves us so completely.
How can a man live and love like a bride? Follow the example of Jesus and those whom He loved.
(More will be added to this blog
as I develop the revelation of the bride through the eyes of John.)
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