Day 119: Oneness 2 (SoS 2:16)

My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. (Song of Songs 2:16)

We're on the Bride's statement: I am my Beloved and he is mine.

Marriage is the only institution used to refer to Christ and His Church. Ephesians 5: 22-32 particularly refers to that. 

Just as there are responsibilities and benefits in a marriage institution, there are rights and expectations in our union with Christ. Let's look at them.

Concerning the husband, Ephesians 5:25-30:

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 

From the above scripture, Christ's duties to us as His Bride is to love us. To cleanse us by His word, nourish, and cherish us.

Ephesians 5:22-24:

 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  

Our only duty as Brides of Christ is to submit to Him. We must remain subordinate to His leadership and authority at all times individually and collectively. 

Another description of our oneness with our Beloved Jesus that we see over and over again in scripture and even in the above passage is that Jesus is the head and we are His body. So when we say He is ours and we are His, the head is for the body and the body is for the head.

The head signifies authority, leadership, and decision-making. The body executes the decisions of the head. Both are interdependent. There is no head without the body and no body without the head. There is no church/new creation without Christ, and there is also no Christ the Savior without the church.

In our physical bodies, the head (representing the brain in this context) interprets impulses from the body and directs it to respond. The head automates the functions of the body's critical organs and systems that keep both alive.

The body contains the heart, lungs, and other critical organs without which the head cannot function. 

We must understand and live with the consciousness that our union with Christ is the life of our lives. He belongs to us and we belong to Him. It's a covenant relationship sealed by His blood.

What is the benefit of this oneness?

This is entirely skewed in our favor. There is nothing we have that did not come from our Beloved Jesus. John 1 says all things were made by Him and without Him, nothing exists including us. 

When we came into this union, we didn't come empty rather we came to him ravaged by our debt of sin. We came with burdens of death manifested in poverty, lack, sickness... etc. But Christ bore our grief and sins. It was he who paid our debts and redeemed us. He didn't redeem us and leave us empty. He made us one with Him so we can partake of His inheritance. 

Just as 1 Peter 1:7 says husband and wife are heirs together, Romans 8:17 says we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

So, in summary, again, our only duty is to submit to Christ. To subject ourselves to His authority and direction. That is how we show our love for Him. Our oneness with Him means all that is His is ours. His authority, power, wealth, healing... Name whatever you want. It's all in our union with Christ. When we live conscious of these truths, the hills and mountains become pebbles for us and we can leap over them alongside our Beloved Jesus.

PRAY WITH ME:

Dear Lord Jesus, I submit to Your Lordship and authority today. I realize that all that is mine You have given and is rightfully Yours. On the basis of my covenant union with You, all that is Yours is mine. Open my understanding to these truths so that I may experience Your triumphant life with you. Amen.

REFLECT & ACT:

• What does it mean to you to be in covenant union with Jesus?
• Do you submit to Christ's authority and leadership? 
• Meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:15:

 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.