Title When Christ Enjoys the Church
When Christ Enjoys the Church
For the spring day of my soul 7
2009.07.01
“My sister, my bride, I have come into my garden, and have gathered my myrrh and my incense, ate my honeycomb and honey, and drank my wine and my milk; eat, my friends; drink, my beloved, and drink abundantly” (Song of Songs 5) :One).
I. Text Commentary
The text is the bridegroom's answer to the bride's song, "I want my beloved to enter the garden and eat of the beautiful fruit" in the last verse in chapter 4. This song records the beautiful love story of Solomon and the Sulami woman, and symbolically depicts the beautiful love relationship between the Church and Christ.
II. Church like a locked garden
The locked garden was open only to the bridegroom. This garden represents the church. The bride is telling the groom how precious medicines and spices are growing in this garden.
A. A garden full of fruit
The name is a mountain, but a mountain is also a mountain, like a lump of sand that stands in the wilderness with hardly any plants growing. However, the mountain pictured here is a mountain full of trees that are full of beautiful fruits.
B. Water flowing from a spring
What could be the reason that this garden, where the bridegroom was waiting, could be a garden full of beautiful fruits? It was because of the water flowing from the spring. There was a spring, a covered well in the middle of the spring, and a sealed spring in the middle of the well, and the well of living water became a stream and flowed in a whirling mountain valley. When the water flowed around this mountain in abundance, it was able to soak up the waterway and open its arms to the pouring sunlight, allowing the trees to grow. All land and all mountains, without water, life slowly dies and becomes like a desert. But with water, a desert can turn into a garden.
What is that water is the grace of God that flows through the church. When God's grace working together with the word of truth flows through a person's personality, a desolated and garbage man changes and becomes a saint. This amazing work is only revealed by the grace of God. When God's Word and the grace of the Holy Spirit flow into the church, the devastated church experiences spiritual restoration. Remembering that God's grace is directly related to our spiritual life, we should ask for God's grace to always flow to the church.
The water of grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit, and this grace of the Holy Spirit flows along with the understanding of the Word of God. The grace of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are like hinges that open and close a door, and do not work separately.
When the church becomes like a locked garden, the members drink the water of life in their souls. If I ever slip out of grace and experience exhaustion, I will soon drink from the fountain and experience a wonderful spiritual refreshment. Living in the presence of God while doing this is called the church life of the saints.
III. The Joy of the Church: Enjoyment
The joy of the church is that Christ fully enjoys our church. In other words, the joy of the church lies in the joy of God. Today, the cause of this kind of faith is perverted a lot. So we try to use the Lord for our happiness. We believe that our goals and plans are central to us, and that the Lord should work as if he were dancing to our accompaniment.
There is a scene where the groom enters a locked garden and enjoys many things there. There were three things: the first was myrrh and spices, the second was honeycomb and honey, and the third was wine and milk.
Myrrh and spices are used medicinally. This shows the healing function the church has. When Christ was on this earth, he proclaimed the kingdom of God and healed many sick people. This is not to show that the work of healing the sick, which will continue until the end of the world, will be the central work of the church, but rather the message of the gospel that when the kingdom of God is established on this earth, those whose souls are in a desperate state will be healed. It is to show the omens.
Therefore, the church where the water of grace flows has amazing power to heal people. It is not just healing health, emotions, or mind, but God healing all human souls that are broken by sin and unable to love God.
Next is the honeycomb and honey. In the Bible, honey usually means joy. When the church is overflowing with the water of grace and full of fruit, the church is filled with spiritual joy. You must have experienced that when you come to church for a week, eat the word of God sweeter than honey, and restore your relationship with God, spiritual joy springs up.
There are two kinds of joy. It is the joy that human beings arouse in their own hearts and the joy that comes from correcting their relationship with God. The first one rises from below and the second one comes down from above.
It means wine and wet food. The service the church can give to the world is that the church becomes the church. The reason why the church exists in this world is that the wine of God's Word and the milk of God's Word overflow with it, giving them the bread of life that cannot be obtained anywhere else in this world.
IV. christ invites
After enjoying the garden to the fullest, Solomon invites his friends and loved ones. Here we meet the inviting Christ. Come into this garden, my friends who are struggling with life, you who are sick, and you souls who are weary and tired of wandering away from God. This is the heart of the Lord. The Lord is still calling many people. He is calling for thousands of people who are thirsty and hungry and need treatment. Therefore, we must become a church that reflects the heart of Christ who invites us. Each member of the saints should cultivate a garden full of fruit, and furthermore, it should be communicated to others so that they can enjoy it as well as themselves.
V. Conclusion
The spring days of our souls are inconceivable apart from Christ. Therefore, with all my heart, mind, and character, I hope that the grace of God will always flow in your heart, like a watered garden. So, I hope that your church will become a garden full of fruits pleasing to God. 2009-07-01