Our Savior's Love

“Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” (So 8:6-7 AV)

What love the Father hath bestowed upon us that he would send forth His Son to be our Savior and Husband that we might be called the sons of God.  These verses above reveal to us the depth of love which our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ has for His church and each individual believer.  Jesus Christ died for us; therefore, His love is strong.  He is jealous for us and strives on our behalf.  His love for us burns as a vehement flame.  Nothing can quench His love for us.  However, the last phrase really spoke to my heart this morning.  It brought me back to my early adult years, remembering when I first fell in love with my wife, and watching others do the same.

The word ‘…contemned…’ means, “to despise, hold in contempt, hold as insignificant.”  Let me draw a picture.  Two people are building a relationship with one another.  They become friends.  Then close friends.  The closer they become, the deeper their love grows.  Then it happens.  The LORD speaks to their hearts and they realize it is God’s will for them to marry.  The planning starts.  They pick the color scheme, the cake, the venue, the menu, and most importantly, the date.  Something else happens.  These two people become so enchanted with one another; it is though no one else exists.  To some, it is annoying and even boarders on rude.  However, if we would step back for a moment and observe this relationship, we see it is something beautiful.  This is the meaning of the underlined phrase above.  When those who do not love Christ as they should see someone who does, they despise it, hold it in contempt, or determine it a phase that shall pass.  This door swings both ways.  Not just the love a saint has for his or her Savior, but more importantly, the love He has for us.

To put it another way, Christ is enthralled with His beloved.  Like Isaac who sported with his wife Rebekah, Christ loves His church and each individual saint with a love the world cannot understand.  He loves us with a love that cannot be quenched.  He has us as close to the heart as a God can.  To describe His love for us outside of what the Bible directly states does a disservice.   His love is like the focused love of a pending Groom.  His eye is only for you!  Oh, what love!