You are United to Christ
The star of every wedding is the bride. But as a pastor, I get a close up of someone else: the groom.
Have you seen the eyes of the groom when he first sees his bride? Tears, excitement, awe. When you look into the groom’s eyes, all you see is the bride. You see why he loves her and why they’re both here.
Have you looked into the eyes of Jesus? They’re filled with inexhaustible love.
Take a deeper look, and you’ll see a bride—pure, set apart, and perfect. You are that bride. He cannot live without you. Which is why He decided to marry us, to unite Himself with our spirit, promising never to leave us or forsake us.
In marriage, the bride gets a new name, a new home, and a new family. The same is true for us. God gives us His name. He makes us His home. And He welcomes us into His family forever.
The Bible says that our relationship with Jesus is just like marriage. We become united with Jesus. Our spirit and His Spirit are joined. This is how He lives in us. We’re inseparable. We’re close, near, together. Religious people speak of “getting closer to God,” but the Bible never uses these terms. Instead we see that we are close, together, near, united, and one.
Sure, we’re learning about Jesus, but we’re not getting closer to Him in proximity. We don’t have to work hard to somehow get close to God. Nor do we lose our spot when we mess up. He lives in us all the time, no matter what. This means He hears our every cry and prayer.
God is not off in heaven asking us to work our way to Him. Instead, He’s in our heart reminding us that He worked His way to us. It was His work that made us close, not ours.
A widow. Ungodly. Foreigner. Unclean woman. This is Ruth. She goes to a foreign land with her mother-in-law to work and survive. She thinks the rest of her life will be spent looking for scraps and being an outsider.
Godly. Pure. Full of honor. This is Boaz. He’s a landowner. One day he stumbles on this woman named Ruth who’s working on his land. He’s kind to her and gives her food to eat and allows her to keep coming back for more.
In that day, a kinsman-redeemer was one who could marry or help one of his relatives. Boaz became that for Ruth, who proposed to marry Boaz. She did this by going to lie at his feet in the middle of the night.
According to the tradition of the day, Boaz shouldn’t marry a foreigner. He shouldn’t marry someone unclean. He shouldn’t marry someone who was ungodly. This wouldn’t be good for his business or his name. It was reckless.
But Boaz married Ruth—not because of what she offered him or could do for him, but because of his love for her.
In the same way, God our Redeemer did not save us and unite Himself to us because of what we could do for Him. God simply wants relationship with us. That’s it. There’s no catch. Ruth didn’t have to earn or deserve Boaz’s love. She became married because of his love for her. The same is true for you and me with God.
In the Old Testament, God dwelt in a place called the Holy of Holies. No normal person could enter this place, because God’s holiness would kill them. Once a year a priest could enter after being purified and washed through the ceremonial requirements. And that was it. Why? God can live only in set-apart, perfect places.
In the New Testament, God dwells in you, the holy of holies. The perfect place. If the God of the universe is united to you, what does that say about you?
Hearing God’s Opinion
“You should hear and see what people say about us. They love our expression. Each time you let Me express Myself through you—people go crazy. You and I are so compatible. I’m closer than you know. No matter what you go through, I’m with you in it all. I can’t wait for you to experience all that I have for you. No matter what you choose, I’m united to you. You’re free to do what you want, knowing My will for you is to trust Me in every moment.”
"But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
1 Corinthians 6:17
Have you seen the eyes of the groom when he first sees his bride? Tears, excitement, awe. When you look into the groom’s eyes, all you see is the bride. You see why he loves her and why they’re both here.
Have you looked into the eyes of Jesus? They’re filled with inexhaustible love.
Take a deeper look, and you’ll see a bride—pure, set apart, and perfect. You are that bride. He cannot live without you. Which is why He decided to marry us, to unite Himself with our spirit, promising never to leave us or forsake us.
In marriage, the bride gets a new name, a new home, and a new family. The same is true for us. God gives us His name. He makes us His home. And He welcomes us into His family forever.
The Bible says that our relationship with Jesus is just like marriage. We become united with Jesus. Our spirit and His Spirit are joined. This is how He lives in us. We’re inseparable. We’re close, near, together. Religious people speak of “getting closer to God,” but the Bible never uses these terms. Instead we see that we are close, together, near, united, and one.
Sure, we’re learning about Jesus, but we’re not getting closer to Him in proximity. We don’t have to work hard to somehow get close to God. Nor do we lose our spot when we mess up. He lives in us all the time, no matter what. This means He hears our every cry and prayer.
God is not off in heaven asking us to work our way to Him. Instead, He’s in our heart reminding us that He worked His way to us. It was His work that made us close, not ours.
A widow. Ungodly. Foreigner. Unclean woman. This is Ruth. She goes to a foreign land with her mother-in-law to work and survive. She thinks the rest of her life will be spent looking for scraps and being an outsider.
Godly. Pure. Full of honor. This is Boaz. He’s a landowner. One day he stumbles on this woman named Ruth who’s working on his land. He’s kind to her and gives her food to eat and allows her to keep coming back for more.
In that day, a kinsman-redeemer was one who could marry or help one of his relatives. Boaz became that for Ruth, who proposed to marry Boaz. She did this by going to lie at his feet in the middle of the night.
According to the tradition of the day, Boaz shouldn’t marry a foreigner. He shouldn’t marry someone unclean. He shouldn’t marry someone who was ungodly. This wouldn’t be good for his business or his name. It was reckless.
But Boaz married Ruth—not because of what she offered him or could do for him, but because of his love for her.
In the same way, God our Redeemer did not save us and unite Himself to us because of what we could do for Him. God simply wants relationship with us. That’s it. There’s no catch. Ruth didn’t have to earn or deserve Boaz’s love. She became married because of his love for her. The same is true for you and me with God.
In the Old Testament, God dwelt in a place called the Holy of Holies. No normal person could enter this place, because God’s holiness would kill them. Once a year a priest could enter after being purified and washed through the ceremonial requirements. And that was it. Why? God can live only in set-apart, perfect places.
In the New Testament, God dwells in you, the holy of holies. The perfect place. If the God of the universe is united to you, what does that say about you?
Hearing God’s Opinion
“You should hear and see what people say about us. They love our expression. Each time you let Me express Myself through you—people go crazy. You and I are so compatible. I’m closer than you know. No matter what you go through, I’m with you in it all. I can’t wait for you to experience all that I have for you. No matter what you choose, I’m united to you. You’re free to do what you want, knowing My will for you is to trust Me in every moment.”
"But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
1 Corinthians 6:17
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