Taking Christ as our Husband by having a Personal and Affectionate Relationship with Him

We must take, experience, and enjoy Christ as our Husband by having a personal and affectionate relationship with the Lord.

Our destiny, as seen in Rev. 21-22, is that we will be the bride of Christ, the wife of God for eternity; He will be our Husband and we will be His wife.

We see the matter of the romance between God and man from the very first chapters of the Bible, for God created man in His image and likeness and brought all the animals to him; Adam named them all, but no counterpart was found for him. This shows God’s need to have a counterpart.

The entire Bible is a romance in the most pure and holy sense, a romance of a universal couple; the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit is the bridegroom, and God’s redeemed people are the bride.

After Adam named all the animals and finding no counterpart for himself, God put him to deep sleep and opened his side, took out a rib, and built the rib into a woman (Gen. 2:22); then, He brought the woman to the man, and the two became husband and wife.

This is what God is doing today – He is building a woman, the church as the bride of Christ, the wife of the Lamb, consummating in the New Jerusalem.

The rib, the bone that God took out of Adam’s side, signifies God’s unbreakable eternal life; God uses His eternal, indestructible, resurrection life to build a bride, the counterpart for Himself.

We see this further in John 19:34; when Christ died, a Roman soldier pierced His side, and out came blood and water.

Blood flowed out from Christ for our redemption; it was shedding of the blood of Christ that we are redeemed to be His counterpart, and it is by the application of His precious blood every day that we are cleansed from every sin (1 John 1:7, 9).

Christ paid a great price to redeem us, to repossess us at a cost; He paid the price of His own blood in order to purchase us to be the church, the Body of Christ.

Water flowed out of Christ for our regeneration and organic salvation; this water signifies the eternal flowing life of the processed and consummated Triune God, who is realized as the life-giving flowing Spirit. On one hand, we were redeemed, on the other hand, we were given to drink one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

Our beverage today is the life-giving Spirit which flows freely from Christ. As we drink of Him, there are living of living waters flowing out of our innermost being (John 7:37); our Christian life is a life of drinking and flowing the Spirit.

Before we were saved, our life was vanity of vanities, vapour of vapors, the futility of futilities, and emptiness of emptinesses.

When we lived in the world apart from Christ, our life was empty, like a vapour, and everything we did was futile. But praise the Lord, one day by His mercy we received Him, and we were transferred out of vanity and into the Song of Songs!

When we enjoy the Lord in the genuine church life, we are filled in spirit, and we let the word of God dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16).

Our Christian life is a history of love, a romance between us and the Lord, and our relationship with the Lord is personal and affectionate, for He is our Husband and we are His bride, His wife.

We need to take Christ as our Husband and have a Personal Relationship with the Lord

There are four words that describe our relationship of love with the Lord: persona, affectionate, private, and spiritual; we need to have a personal and affectionate relationship with the Lord, and our relationship with Him must be private and spiritual.

We are in a romance with the Lord, and daily we need to take care of our love for Him, having a fresh and new love.

The romance in Song of Songs portrays that our relationship with the Lord must be personal; the loving seeker in this book says, Draw me… (S. S. 1:4a). It’s not “Draw us, Lord”, but “draw me, we will run after You”.

If we are drawn by the Lord personally, especially in the morning, there will be an overflow of the Lord into others, and we all will pursue Him together.

When we personally pursue the Lord and allow Him to draw us, we will be so attracted by Him that even others will be attracted to Him through us; we will run after Him and they will run after Him together.

The Lord’s drawing power is our pursuing power; the power to pursue Christ is His drawing power.

Every day we need to ask Him to draw us personally; we take Him as our Husband by having a personal relationship with the Lord, one-on-one with Him.

He drew us to Himself first by regenerating us, and day by day He continues to draw us to Himself by infusing Himself into us and arranging all things in our environment to work out for good.

For us to have a personal and affectionate relationship with the Lord, we need to follow the pattern of Abraham, who was the friend of God for the desire of God (see 2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23; Gen. 18:1-33).

Spiritually speaking, Abraham is our spiritual father, and we are his heavenly descendants as believers in Christ; therefore, we also need to be the friend of God.

The best way to talk to God as a friend is in prayer, and the best prayer is to talk to God as a friend. We may even tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, I want to be Your friend. I want to talk to You face to face as a friend, having no obstacle between us. Draw me, Lord, and we will run after You. Make me a friend of God who cares for the desire of God. I love You, dear Lord Jesus, and I want to develop my personal relationship with You. I take You as my Husband. I love You, Lord Jesus! I want to linger in Your presence and have a personal and affectionate relationship with You, my dear Husband!

We need to talk to God as a friend. Moses was also a pattern in this matter, for he was a companion of God for the interests of God (Exo. 33:11); he was God’s partner in His enterprise, having the same business interest as God.

We need to be God’s companions, those who care for the desire of His heart to build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God.

We need to follow the pattern of David and Asaph, who sought the shining face of God in and for the house of God (Psa. 27:4, 8; 80:3, 7, 14-19).

We need to ask the Lord to allow us to dwell in His house to behold His beauty and inquire in His temple.

Every day, we need to turn our heart to Him, have any veil removed, and behold Him with an unveiled face; we need to behold His beauty, His loveliness, His pleasantness, His attractiveness, and His glory.

This will cause us to be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:16, 18).

As we abide in the Lord and have fellowship with Him, we absorb Him; then, His words abide in us, and those words become the words of our prayer to Him, for proper prayer is to absorb God and express to Him His words that abide in us (John 15:7).

Amen, may we seek His face and open to Him.

We must follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus, who lived in the presence of God without ceasing (Acts 10:38c; John 8:29; 16:32); such a One lives in us. We can simply stay in contact with the Lord, and we will live in the presence of God.

By our spiritual breathing through calling on the name of the Lord, we can live in God’s presence; He hears our breathing, our cry, even from the lowest pit (Lam. 3:55-56).

We need to follow the pattern of Peter, whose love for the Lord was restored (after he was exposed of his natural love for Him and failed) for Him to shepherd the Lord’s sheep and follow the Lord unto martyrdom without any confidence in his natural strength (John 21:15-19; Mark 16:7).

We also need to follow the pattern of Paul, who was constrained by the love of Christ to live in the person of Christ as an ambassador of Christ to be well-pleasing to Christ (2 Cor. 2:10; 5:9, 14, 20).

It is good to have many conversations with the Lord regarding this, tell Him in a personal and affectionate way,

Lord Jesus, we come to seek the shining of Your face in the house of God and for Your house. Grant us to dwell in Your house to behold Your beauty and inquire in your temple. Unveil us, Lord, so that we may see You face to face. We come to seek Your face. We desire to live in the presence of God without ceasing by calling on Your name to breathe You in. Oh Lord Jesus, we love You! Cause us to love You more. Constrain us with Your love to live in the person of Christ as an ambassador of Christ to be well-pleasing to Christ. We want to develop our personal and affectionate relationship with You, dear Lord, so that we may be filled with Christ, pursue Christ, magnify Christ, express Christ, and impart Christ into others!

We need to Maintain and Develop our Personal and Affectionate Relationship with the Lord, who is our Husband

The romance in Song of Songs portrays that our relationship with the Lord must be affectionate (S. S. 1:1-2).

The seeker in this book says, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; nothing is more intimate than this.

After we believe in Christ and receive Him as the divine life into us, we need to love Him; our relationship with Him is personal and affectionate.

His name is like ointment poured forth, and we love to call on His name, for when we call, we get the person of His name (S. S. 1:3).

Christ’s name signifies His very person, His being; He is the compound Spirit signified by the anointing ointment in Exo. 30.

Christ’s name as His person is the anointing ointment; He is compounded with God, man, His death, the effectiveness of His death, His resurrection, and the power of His resurrection.

When we call on His name, we sense a sweetness, for His name is so charming and His person is so attracting.

The Lord’s love is so attracting and His name is so charming; His very person is captivating, and we are drawn by Him to love Him in an affectionate way whenever we contact Him.

Throughout the centuries, Christ has drawn and captivated millions of His lovers to pursue after Him and He is still doing this today.

After a person receives the Lord as his life, he must have a very personal seeking after Christ; no one can do this for him, and no one can do anything for you in this matter.

As believers in Christ, our relationship with Christ is personal and affectionate. We ask Him, Draw me, and we tell Him, Kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth.

Even as brothers, we need to be personal and affectionate with the Lord and tell Him,

Dear Lord Jesus, draw me. Kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth, for Your love is better than wine. Lord, Your name is like ointment poured forth, and I love to call on Your name. I love You, Lord, and I love to call on your name. I want to maintain and develop my personal and affectionate relationship with You. Lord, You are so wonderful! Your love is so attracting and Your name is so charming! Your person captivates me. I love You, Lord Jesus! Kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth!

Our God is not only great, almighty, sovereign, majestic, or unapproachable; He is also personal and affectionate with us.

Regardless of how great, how sovereign, and how almighty and majestic He is, God wanted to build up His relationship with man, so He took the personal and affectionate way: He became a man and courted us in love.

When we read the gospels, we cannot but love Him, for His person is so charming and wonderful. The Lord who indwells us is our Father, and grace is our mother (Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:24-26; Isa. 66:12-13).

He cares for us in an affectionate way, and He wants to be affectionate with us, caring for our needs and comforting us. The Lord who indwells us is our Husband (Matt. 9:15; 2 Cor. 11:2-3) and our Brother (John 20:17; Rom. 8:29).

He is our indwelling Husband, and we will become the wife of Christ who dwells in Him.

The Lord who indwells us is our Friend (Matt. 11:19; John 15:12-17) and our Counselor (Isa. 9:6).

The Lord who indwells us is our Advocate (1 John 2:1), our Comforter (John 14:16; 16:7, 13), and our Shepherd (Psa. 23:1; 1 Pet. 2:25). How we love Him! How we love to pursue Him, know Him, enjoy Him, and be intimately connected to Him!

Lord Jesus, we seek You in a personal and affectionate way. You indwell us to be our Father, our Husband, our Brother, our Friend, our Counsellor, our Advocate, our Comforter, and our Shepherd. We love You, Lord Jesus. Thank You for being so personal and affectionate with us and in us. Thank You for caring for the inner condition of our real person. Thank You for comforting us and caring for us in love. We want to remain intimately connected with You and develop our personal and affectionate relationship with You. Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You and we take You as our Husband!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message given by Ed Marks on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs,” chs. 1-2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 8, entitled, Taking, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Our King, Our Lord, Our Head, and Our Husband for the Building Up of the Body of Christ to Consummate the New Jerusalem.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I love Thee, Jesus, / And Thy love to me / Draws me, ever to seek Thee / And run after Thee, / Draws me, ever to seek Thee / And run after Thee. / Thou art beloved, / Yea! Altogether lovely, / The One in whom my heart delighteth. (Hymns #1154)
  – Lord, in this close sweet fellowship, / Lord, be with me so intimate, / So personal and affectionate; / A sweet relationship. / Lord, daily change my inward being / Lord, all my heart possessing / In all my being—transforming / To be Your bride and queen. (Song on, Divine Romance)
  – We must enjoy, experience, and take Christ as our Spouse, / Our Husband, the pneumatic Christ, will build our spiritual house; / Affectionate and personal, our Husband is our Friend, / Our Advocate, our Comforter, our Shepherd without end. (Song on, King, Lord, Head, and Husband)