Thursday, November 26, 2015

In our last visit we considered what it means to be born again as seen in John 3:1-16. As you read on in John 3 Jesus is described as the bridegroom. A bridegroom alone is an unfulfilled picture of love. A bridegroom married to a bride is the most beautiful picture of a love relationship. And it is the unique picture God presents in His Word of the kind of a relationship He wants each human being to have with His Son, Jesus Christ. Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting with many couples planning to get married. Some I knew for years before they sat in my office in pre- marital counseling. Others I met for the first time when they came to me to prepare for their marriage. I always took time to get acquainted with how they met, got into a relationship and saw it develop to the point where they wanted to get married. After listening to them describe how their relationship developed I usually point out to them that had I asked them if they had a relationship when they first started dating they probably would have answered “Yes.” If I asked them the same question after they were dating for some time they would have answered “Yes,” as well. And if I asked them as an engaged couple, they would answer “Yes.” They would answer “Yes,” if I asked the same question after they were married. But the relationship was different at each of those intervals. Their answers were correct, but their answers described different degrees of relationship. In our next visit I’ll show how all of this helps us to better understand our relationship with Jesus.