Without Spot

Jul 29th, 2012 Without Spot

Today’s Passage – Song of Solomon 5 – 8 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text)

(Second Milers also read – Luke 13 – 14; Psalms 136 – 140; Proverbs 29)

Scripture Memory for July – Hebrews 1

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –Psalm 121

Read “No More Excuses” by Dr. Rick Flanders

“How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!” – (Song of Solomon 7:6)

“Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.” (Song of Solomon 4:7)

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2)

“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”(Ephesians 5:27)

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful song written through the pen of Solomon. On the surface it would seem that this song represents a dialogue between Solomon and his wife; but considering he had 1000 wives and concubines, we would certainly be left wondering which wife this song refers to. This song then must go much deeper than any earthly relationship. I believe that the intimate relationship so beautifully detailed here is the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church. Keeping that in mind, consider the little phrase in chapter 4 where the bridegroom says of the bride, there is no spot in thee. This is an amazing statement, because in reality there certainly are many flaws in any person; but the amazing thing is that this Man sees no flaw at all in His bride.

When I think about the unconditional love that Christ has for His Church (the Bride), and me in particular, I am blown away. How can he possibly love me? When I think about how spotted and flawed I am, I recognize my complete and total unworthiness. The only thing that I deserve is judgment: yet He loves me; and more than that: He does not see any flaw in me at all. Mind boggling! I guess that is what Romans 3:22 meant when it said that believers receive the righteousness of God. He sees me as completely righteous; flawless. Amazing!

God has given me two practical thoughts this morning while I contemplated this passage:

1 Do I appreciate Him – I know I am totally undeserving, yet He treats as if I am. This should cause me to live my life in surrender to whatever He wants from me. This should completely humble me. The Bible tells us that the love of Christ constrains us. I have often thought that was speaking about our love for Him, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it is His love for us that constrains us.

2 Do I appreciate others – If I am undeserving, yet accepted unconditionally; why then do I have such a hard time unconditionally accepting others, especially those that are a part of His bride as I am? Why do I see everyone else’s flaws. Should not I try to see others as Christ sees me?