the Bible is a romance: God really loves us and He is continually courting us

The entire Bible is a divine romance, showing us that throughout the centuries God loved man and had a romance with man. From Genesis to Revelation we see a love story of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them!

In the Old Testament the people of Israel were not only the people of God but they were His wife, His beloved, and God was their Husband (see Gen. 2:21-24; S.S. 1:2-4; Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19).

In the New Testament the church is not only God’s people and the Body of Christ, but it is the Bride of Christ, the wife of Christ, to be God’s counterpart for eternity as the New Jerusalem (see Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17). Hallelujah, the Bible is a divine romance!

God is courting us and wooing us to marry us

As you read the Bible you can see that, sometimes more obviously and at other times more hiddenly, God loves man and He is courting man, wooing man, even “dating man”. In all His dealings with His chosen people, God loves man and comes to man to court man!

Even though Jacob was a supplanter and all-round not a nice person, God came to woo him at Bethel two times (Gen. 28:10-22; 35:9-15). Moses almost gave up on believing that he will rescue the people of Israel – but God met him and courted him at Mount Horeb (Exo. 3:1-17).

Time and time again, God appears to man, drawing man, infusing man, courting man, and dating man, and the result is that man “does crazy things for God”. Things man wouldn’t normally do by himself for anyone else, once God appears to him, he will do!

The Lord Jesus came in the New Testament and He contacted people, especially 12 disciples – He courted them and drew them to love them.

He asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15). The Lord wanted Peter to love Him not with a friend’s love but with an affectionate love. He is not only the Lamb of God (John 1:29) but also the Bridegroom (see John 3) coming to court us and to woo us to be His bride.

The entire Bible shows us in chapter after chapter and book after book a divine romance. Our relationship with the Lord needs to be a romantic one, full of love.

God really really loves us to the uttermost

What kind of love is this? We are sinners and we always forget about God, going about other things, people, situations, and matters.

This is not an “ideal love story” where we as the woman love Him unconditionally and there’s no problem with us. Rather, we leave God, we reject Him, we don’t spend time with Him, we consider other things more important than Him, and we don’t even see how many things He does to get our attention and to show us His love!

In His heart God has a desire, a deep longing, to be one with man organically in a loving way. He is a “crazy man in love”, doing a lot of things outwardly and inwardly to draw us to Himself.

There’s a particular love in God toward us, His prospective spouse, that enables Him to persist and encounter any negative thing and any problem we put in the way. He is determined, He is motivated, and He is in love with man.

God will do everything within His power to court man, woo man, date man, and draw man with bands of love to Himself that man would love Him to the uttermost.

And the Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:27 that He will gain such a beautiful wife – with no spot, no blemish, or any such thing! What a heart’s desire! What an economy!

Our background is not that good, our attitude toward Him is moody, yet the determination in God to have a counterpart is so strong and prevailing that the Lord will accomplish a full recovery, a full transformation in life with love! Hallelujah!

In love we partake of His life and live Christ

When we enter into this love relationship with Christ, at the time of our regeneration, when we respond to His wooing and courting us, we receive God’s life. In this divine life we receive from Him we can match Him and we are so attractive to Him.

We are now becoming just like Him to match Him as His counterpart. As we develop a sweet, intimate, and affectionate relationship with the Lord, we love Him more and more and we partake more of His life.

We all need to have such a sweet love, an intimate and affectionate love, between us and the Lord. The more we love the Lord in a sweet and intimate way, the more we will partake of His life and spontaneously live Him according to His nature.

We love Him, we partake of His life, and we live Him out! Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, we love You! Lord, thank You for Your love toward us. Cause us to love You more. We want to develop a loving relationship with You. May we be romantic Christians, those who love You intimately, sweetly, and affectionately. Lord, constrain us more with Your love that we may love You more!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, Life-study of Exodus (msg. 54), and, Life-study of Romans (msg. 1), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 1 (entitled, The Centrality and Universality of Christ and the Union of God and His People to Be a Universal Couple).
• Articles on the same topic (list not exhaustive):
  # The Divine Romance (and the limits of the knowledge) (via lifeandbuilding),
  # The divine romance in the Bible (via aChristianOnCampus),
  # God’s love and our response (via UnknownYetWellKnown),
  # 3 simple prayers to usher you into the divine romance (via holdingtotruth).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The Bible is a romance / In the most holy sense: / God and His chosen people / In love it so presents.
  # This divine romance / Is My heart’s deep plan. / I became a lowly man / To court My country girl.
  # God fell in love with man; / For only God’s love can / Make man just the same as He / In life and in nature.
• Picture source: romance (wikimedia).