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Song of Solomon 5:5 - Who do I belong to?

Good afternoon friends,

Quite frankly, I wasn't really comfortable with this passage when I started this morning.  As I mentioned last time, Song of Solomon tends to be either "proper expression of human sexuality" or "allegory to Christ and the Church"  As I worked through this today, I think I am beginning to see it is "both ... and".  God is so gracious to give us examples and illustrations of what His design for life really is.  Removes all excuses for not understanding or misapplying.

Blessings,

Jeff 

One of the things this episode highlights is the reality that husband and wife belong to each other.  Here the bride has gone to bed and is reluctant to respond to her lover.  As a single person, she was generally independent.  And that independent streak does not go away overnight.  She seems to justify her decision because it is inconvenient.  She says she is concerned about her feet getting dirty and the bother of having to get dressed.  But as the observers, we see that her priorities are out of order.

I have been listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermons on Romans.  In chapter 7, Paul is addressing our "before and after" in relation to sin and the law.  Before conversion (in the flesh) we were subject to sin and the law.  They held absolute sway over how we lived.  We belonged to them, or as MLJ points out, were married to them.  But when Christ died on the cross, we died to sin and the law through His body, that we might belong/be married to Christ.  

So what does Romans 7 have to do with the Shulammite and Solomon and us?  God's plan in marriage is to give us insight into the mystery of belonging to another.  When a person is regenerated, he or she belongs to Christ or is married to Him.  That is our real relationship.  Yet sin dwelling in our members, resists this truth.  Sin says it is OK to not submit to Christ in all things.  Just like the Shulammite thought it was OK to not submit to Solomon.    

When we see the Shulammite's priorities are out of order, we should be asking ourselves where are my priorities our of order?  God uses this picture as a mirror for us to see that we make the same mistake.

Instruction - What God expects - The truth of my union with Christ, belonging to Him, being married to Him would drive out influence of sin that dwells in my members.  It is the "upward call of God in Christ"  We never get there, but every victory says to the world "I belong to Christ"

Thanksgiving - The mystery hidden for ages and generations now revealed to the saints.  The mystery is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Confession - degrading the gospel so that salvation is just a minor adjustment, adding Jesus to life to make things go better.  Union with Christ is not proclaimed or understood.

Petition - Show me where priorities are out of order with the reality of belonging to Christ.

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