Jesus As Your Personal Bridegroom

“For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body. [AMP]

In my last post, Christianity is A Relationship – Part 2, I mentioned that we would take a look at the different roles that Jesus plays , and in this post I want to look at you as the bride of Christ with Jesus as your personal Bridegroom, and how that ties into living in victory and abundance.

Moreover, I am sure that most men do not think of Jesus as their personal Bridegroom or Husband, but before we get it into that let us just make sure that we are on the same page when I speak of “…living in victory and abundance.”

LIVING IN VICTORY AND ABUNDANCE

To have victory or to be victorious in life is to be fulfilling the purpose for which we were born on a consistent basis in relationship to the times, seasons and circumstances in our life. In other words, are you doing what God wants you to be doing right now, consistently?

As to abundance, it is about having enough to fulfill the purpose(s) that God has assigned you with enough left over to enjoy life and living. In other words, it might not be a fancy car and a mansion on a hill, but not to break out in cold swear when the phone rings in fear of the bill collectors or not to be worried about how much month is left over after the money is gone.

This is highly personal and different for each one of us, although we follow the same principles and truths. I am not saying that you have to agree with me, but to understand the context that I am speaking of when I am using these words.

Even thou I am sharing a somewhat smaller picture of what most people think of a victory and abundance, I also have to say that my experience is when I take responsibility for my life and step out in faith on God’s personal word for me, using His principles, I find that life is both supportive and cooperative. That it is possible to not only to have victory and win, but also to have victory and win in a very big way, to experience great material and emotional abundance and to assist others in winning as well.

JESUS AS YOUR PERSONAL BRIDEGROOM

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” 

Ephesians 5:22 – 24 [KJV]

When you look at these verses with the church being that of individual people instead of an institution, verse 23 takes on a completely different meaning from that what is commonly taught. Jesus Christ is your personal bridegroom. Looking at Jesus as my husband has even influenced how I, as a man, chose to interact with my wife, because as funny as it may seem, I am a wife as well.  I want to include verse 22 from the Amplified version, “Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husband as [a service] to the Lord.”

To make this verse personal, it says, Michael be yielding and obedient to Jesus as your husband as your reasonable service to God. Looking at it this way tells me that most, if not all of the trouble and friction that I have with my wife is a reflection of an area of my own life that I have not or am struggling to submit to God.

One of the roles that our wives play in our lives (as human beings) is to show us those areas where we still need to grow. It’s that most of the time we don’t like how our wives communicate this truth to us. I know this to be personally true, because there is still a heck of a lot in my life that I have not personally yielded to God and there are still many, many areas in my life where my obedience could greatly improve and my wife and I’m sure yours as well is quick to point this out.

And yes, I do see all of the men reading this rolling their eyes. Nevertheless, before you tune me out totally, keep reading. No, I am not letting the women off the hook for their choices. Yes, your wife has to be responsible for her actions but you, as her husband and as head of the house are responsible for setting the atmosphere for her to act in a way that both makes you happy and aligns with God’s Word.  

It is about me as husband to realize that God wants me to treat my wife the very same way He wants to treat me as His wife.

Let’s go to Hosea 2, please keep in mind that although God is talking to Israel, He is using Hosea and Gomer as real life examples, and that tells me that these principles are both universal and to be personalize for me to apply as an individual in my own relationships. 

^“And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me Ishi [my Husband], and you shall no more call Me Baali [my Baal].  For I will take away the names of Baalim [the Baals] out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned or seriously remembered by their name.  And in that day will I make a covenant for Israel with the living creatures of the open country and with the birds of the heavens and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and [abolish battle equipment and] conflict out of the land and will make you lie down safely.  And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.  I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord.  And in that day I will respond, says the Lord; I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they shall respond to the earth [which begs for the rain it needs],  And the earth shall respond to the grain and the wine and the oil [which beseech it to bring them forth], and these shall respond to Jezreel [restored Israel, who prays for a supply of them].  And I will sow her for Myself anew in the land, and I will have love, pity, and mercy for her who had not obtained love, pity, and mercy; and I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people, and they shall say, You are my God!”

Hosea 2:16 – 23 [AMP]

For the sake of time, instead of me breaking each of these verses down let me simply pull out some to the major or key points.

• God desires to have an intimate relationship with me as my husband, my supporter and provider. He supports me emotionally and provides for me materially, as well as to impregnate me with His desires for my life and I get to call these desires my dreams, goal and aspiration.
• He wants our relationship to be so rich and substantial that I will not even be able to remember any of my former lovers.
• He wants to create for me an environment of peace where I will feel safe and secure.
• He continuously desires to deepen our intimacy in five key areas: 1) Righteousness, 2) Judgment, 3) Loving kindness, 4) Mercies, and 5) Faithfulness. A passionate and precious bonding in these five areas will reveal to me God’s heart and His desire to meet my every need Spiritual, Soulishly and Physically.
• In verse 23, the amplified bible breaks down the Hebrew word Racham as “love, pity and mercy”. However, as I dig into the word Racham, I find that it speaks of God’s compassion for me that is expressed by tender affection, He loving longs to be in fellowship with me. He always has mercy for me when, not if, I mess up. And He loves me so deeply that He places a part of Himself inside of me, via His Holy Spirit. God and I are One Spiritually, intimacy at it highest level of existence.

Before I get into others roles that Jesus plays in our lives, I want to spend some more time in Hosea, and share how God wants for us as men to submit to Jesus as His wife, as well as how He wants us to treat our wives, but I will save that for the next post.

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