The Love of God in Christ: Jesus and His Bride (Part 1)

Now, when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If that man were a Prophet, He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, and she is a sinner.’ Jesus said to Him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Did you notice that Simon was only thinking this, but Jesus answered him? There’s a very little difference between what you say and what you think when it comes to the Lord. And he replied, “Say it, teacher.” A certain money lender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. And when they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more? Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one who has been forgiven more.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged correctly.’ Turning around toward the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? Simon, I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears. She has wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the moment I came in, has not ceased kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason, I say to you, her sins, which are many, have already been forgiven, because she loved me very much. But he who has forgiven little loves little.’ He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.’ Those who were there with Him at the table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

What saved her, brothers? I’m not so clear. Did you see any faith in this passage of Scripture? Two words that we will find when we get to the epistles that always go together. You will find this out. Your faith has saved you; go in peace. And it came about soon afterwards that He began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who were contributing to their support out of their private means. So, there were a lot of women following the Lord. Now that’s Luke 7. There’s one more passage to read, and it’s John 11.

John 11 makes reference to something that happens in John 12. I’m going to read it. John 11:2. And it was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Now, let’s come to chapter 12 and read the story. The writer got ahead of himself. Mary, therefore, took a pound of pure, very costly, genuine ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples who was intending to betray Him, said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief and he had the money box. I’ll bet some of you didn’t know that, did you? And he used to pilfer it. What was put in it? He cheated. Jesus therefore said, ‘Let her alone, in order that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.’

God is love. He was love before He ever created the universe, and He wanted to express that love. To do so, He would need a counterpart. He created the universe, and He created only one other being capable of love, and that was man. Then came a picture: the Old Testament picture of Israel as God’s bride. Brothers, I want you to know that for over a thousand years, God watched the picture fall into sin. She didn’t want to marry him; she preferred something else. He saw it. He saw the need. He saw the weakness. God had waited throughout all eternity to have a counterpart. Then He waited thousands of years for a counterpart. And one day in the fullness of time, He came to get His wife, and He was incarnated into God, was incarnated into the human race. He was born, and He grew up. I don’t know when it began, but at some time in His youth, He realized he was both man and God. And He knew that it was not good for man to be alone.

I can only tell you this: that He loved for 30 years on this earth as a human being, and now He had not only the love of God driving Him but also human love. He was God, and He was man, but His Godhood… don’t ask me to defend this, because I may be wrong. Many people have said this, and some don’t agree with it, but it would appear that His Godhood was not completed until the day He was baptized. Now, if you don’t agree with that, that’s fine. If you believe He was total before that, great. All I know is that on that day, the Holy Spirit rested on Him and not just dwelt within Him. He had the Lord’s presence around Him constantly resting on Him, as well as the Life of the Father dwelling within Him. All I can tell you now is He is a complete God, and He is a grown, complete man, and He is looking for his wife.

Is He a man? Is He God? You say yes, I’ll say no. But if you say no, I’ll say yes. But last night, for a point, I said no, He is not God, and He is not man. Was He a human being? Can you say that of Him? Did He belong only to the human race? Did He belong only to the race of God? Did any other human on this earth belong to any other race but the race of man? Did any other god, or did God Himself, belong to any other creature other than His own self? Then this One, who stood there on the banks of the Jordan River, has to be one of a kind. I said last night He was a new species. He was all God. He was all man. But He was not just a man, and He was not only God. He was a new species. Now, can you follow that?

There’s an incident that I believe took place right after His baptism. He came up out of the water, and at this moment, He is complete. And it is this moment He begins looking for His bride. What will His bride be made of, tell me. God and man? God will supply the God part. (laughter) Where will He get the man part? From the world. From the fallen, sinful man untangled and snarled and enslaved in the world. Brothers, I don’t like to say this, and yet I know it’s true. He will get His wife from harlotry. I don’t think I will make that statement again. Will you keep it in mind? He will get her from a fallen state. But I want you to know it’s hard to keep up with God. It’s really hard to keep up with God. God isn’t limited by time; at least He wasn’t until He became Christ. And back in eternity, He looked at time, and He could see it begin, and He saw it end. He saw us all, and as I said, one day, He watched Esau and Jacob being born.

Now, brothers, we are made in God’s image. I’m going to tell you something about God. You may think it’s capricious, and you may think God ought not to be that way, but I’m telling you it is the way of God. Do you have the element of love within you? Where did you get it? God, because you’re in the image of God. Alright, Bill, have you fallen in rather than everybody? No. Did you fall in love with somebody? Could you tell me someone you fell in love with? Audience: I fell in love with Gretchen.

One day, you just fell in love with Gretchen. Is that right? Gretchen? Is that true? He just fell in love. That kid did not fall in love with everybody. You fell in love with Gretchen. God is like that. The reason I know God is like that is that Bill is like that, and Bill is in God’s image, and one day in eternity… which was a non-day because eternity doesn’t have a day… one day, God saw Esau and didn’t even notice him. Who was the nicer person, Esau or Jacob? Do you know? No appearance whatsoever, brother. He minded his mother. He was good to his daddy. He stayed at home, tended things, minded, and obeyed. He did everything the Bible tells you he should do. But God fell in love with Jacob and paid no attention to Esau.

Brothers and sisters, in some way that I cannot understand, one day, God fell in love with you. He really fell in love with you. What kind of love did He fall in love with? With divine love. You don’t like divine love too much? No. Up till this week, you’ve never been able to identify with divine love. Is that not true? No. Just “He loved me, kind of felt sorry for me” kind of a thing. Did He love you? Yes or no? Really love you? How much did He love you? He loved you with a burning passion. With a burning passion. A divine burning passion. He became a Man, and He had marked you out to be His bride.

Now, I need a single sister, and this is the only one I see nearby. Oh, here’s another one. I’m sorry. Kathy, are you the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ? Praise the Lord. You know that’s really bold, but you all know Kathy doesn’t really mean that, do you, Kathy? Do you mean that, Kathy? But still, you’re not convinced because you know that Kathy is not really the one who marries the Lord. But you don’t know God. When God saw Adam, He saw the whole human race as one man. And when God saw Kathy, He saw her as His bride. Well, but is she all of His bride? Well, you might say no, but brothers and sisters, as far as God is concerned, yes. His love towards her is not limited because she is a part. It is total.

Now, one of these days, some ugly boy may come along and ask Kathy to marry him. But I want you to know that, on a human level, no man can match Christ as a lover. For sheer power, emotion, and passion, He can’t be matched. But He is not only human; He also has the drive of divine love. And with that, He loved you and loves you. I said last night that Jesus can do one other thing: He can love the part as though it were the whole. I gave an illustration. Do you remember? The Song of Solomon. He spoke of the girl and told her how much He loved her forehead and how beautiful it was to Him. How beautiful her eyes were. How lovely her cheeks are. How beautiful her neck is. What are these? They are members of her body. He loved them, and He had deep affection for the whole, but He had the same deep affection for the part.