Not sure that I am going to have the words to describe this really weird space I'm in at the moment. A few weeks ago I shared the "Heart Changes" post. It's hard to see heart changes and harder to describe them, but I have gone from a position of no assurance to a stance of complete assurance. It's not even a feeling as such, more of a knowledge. I haven't been prepared for what the heart changes have meant in practical terms. I am worrying a lot less. A lot less. The depression is still there but it's manifesting itself more in physical symptoms than emotional ones, which has been an interesting change. Another thing completely different is my attitude to speaking out about my faith. A few times lately I've found myself in the middle of a conversation with someone and bringing up my faith and beliefs almost without knowing it; without being aware of it really. I have a new and overwhelming thirst to know...who, what, where, when, why (in Biblical terms that is). Stuff that made no sense before is suddenly finding a place where it makes complete sense. I realised a few weeks ago (for the first time, sadly enough) that the Bible is not a set of books, but one single book with one single message, divided up into 66 parts. The message of Genesis is the same as the message of Revelation and the same message as Isaiah, and Habbukuk and Haggai and Ephesians and everything else that you might care to name.
That was driven home on the Sunday morning when Mr G preached on Obadiah. He was preaching about the message which the prophet Obadiah was giving to the people of Edom. They were the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother...Jacob who had his name changed to Israel. In the middle of Mr G's sermon the penny dropped. He was talking about relationships. In the context of Obadiah he was discussing the pride and arrogance of the Edomites; their excessive view of their own importance; their lack of care for the Israelites who were being scooped up and carted off into slavery by the Babylonians. Far from caring for the Israelites, who were after all their relatives, the Edomites stood by and watched them being taken away and assisted in the rounding up and capturing process.
The whole point of the Bible is the relationship between God and His creation. It describes a relationship broken and then a relationship restored. The pattern of broken and restored relationships is repeated over and over and over again.
God created the world and had a personal one-on-one relationship with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve sold their relationship with God for a lie and sowed the seed of sin in the human race. The relationship between God and man was severed. God made a way for his people to have a relationship with Him, but it was not the close and personal relationship that Adam and Eve had. It was a relationship fraught with rules and regulations. It required constant sacrifice and required a specific group of people being set aside for the ceremonies necessary for God to forgive his people. With the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus came a restoration of that relationship. No longer was there a need for an intermediary; no longer was there need to make atonement for sin. Jesus' death was the final atonement for sin for all time. No more sacrifice, no more offering of an animal's blood for the remission of sin - Jesus' death on the Cross accomplished complete pardon and restored the ultimate relationship...once again it was possible to be right with God.
A right relationship with God seems to be the necessary element for right relationships across the board. It is the foundation on which all other relationships are modelled. What is marriage? It's a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the church.
In our wedding service we chose a passage from Ecclesiastes:
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
(Ecclesiates 4: 9-12 from biblegateway.com)
At the time I was very disappointed with the way in which our minister used that passage in his message at the wedding. He took the point of view that the three strands were husband, wife and the marriage itself, which I believe to be a mistranslation and probably explains why we stopped attending there. The cord of three strands here refers to husband, wife and God. When God is at the centre of the marriage, what can stand against it? What can break that cord? That ultimate relationship - the one that transcends life on earth and will continue into heaven, unlike marriage, is the most important one to get right. I pray that we will continue to do so.
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