First-Love
But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love]. Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God’s will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent. —Revelation 2:4-5
I apologize in advance if the nature or content of the concept I am about to share is offensive to anyone. Not because the nature of the topic is in and of itself is offensive, but because some that may be more conservative and reserved I this area may feel uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassed by its mention. What I will briefly share about is the parallel that exists between natural sexual relations between a man and a woman, more specific a husband and a wife; and the relation of God’s Word with His Bride.
In today’s medical advancement, vast progress has been made in the area of fertilization. This advancement has brought much joy to many who are unable to naturally of their own will produce a child. Now from the onset to avoid any misunderstandings, I would like to clarify that in no way, shape or form do I believe that the inherent worth and value of any child conceived by artificial-insemination, in-vitro method or any other means is of any less worth, value or dignity. It is my Biblical understanding and unshakable belief that each and every human life is uniquely sacred, a gift of God that is made in His own image—therefore immeasurably priceless.
I now invite you to consider the following thoughts within the marital confines or marriage-bed covenant context and as it relates to the church or the Bride and her Bride-Groom Jesus Christ.
In today’s multi-media generated culture and information-age, it is my belief that we have become impersonal in our relationship with God. Just like within a natural marriage between one man and one woman which lacks communication and romance becomes cold and distant, so have we de-romanticized and abandon the passionate relationship we once had with our Bride-Groom.
We have traded being enamored for being entertained and intimacy for illegitimacy. I believe that the flame of passion has been almost extinguished, barely still flickering and what now burns brightly in the night is the light of our cell-phones, iPads, PC’s or wide-screen TV sets. Without intimacy, we can sleep in the same bed with our spouse and still be alone and no closer to them than a stranger. In reality, a marriage like this is more of a two-tenant rental arrangement that shares the same space and splits the bills 50/50. It is a distant, superficial and platonic co-existence void of any up-close and personal intimacy.
After we say “I do”, within the marriage bed, there would be a stark vast difference between artificial insemination and natural consummation would there not? Both would and will produce the same exact results of consummation and conception, but only one would involve the actual physical intimate passionate participation of both. Artificial insemination may yield the same results of conception, but it is not the same as conceiving through the process of passion’s intimate ejaculation.
Could it then be that we have reduced our relationship with God and His Word from intimate first-hand revelation to second-hand imitation and regurgitation? When a husband and wife have sexual-relations, the climax at the end releases a seed into the wife’s womb that will transform her into an incubator of that seed. That living seed will grow and in due season bear fruit according to its own kind from which the seed came. This is why a child who does not know their father is labeled illegitimate, because they don’t legitimately know their source of origin. Could it be that instead of genuine, passionate, legitimate and intimate relations with God through His Word, we have become content, complacent and satisfied with the artificial-insemination of anonymous donors that is producing illegitimate fruit in our lives? As I stated earlier, both procedures of fertilization yield the same results, and both produce life with immeasurable inherent value and intrinsic worth, but one is a first-hand intimate process of “knowing” one another—the other even though it is an invasive medical procedure, it lacks the intimate act in which two become one-flesh.
The marriage bed for all intents and purposes is not a place of superficiality, but of passionate intimacy where a husband and wife lovingly get to “know” each other like no one else in this world ever will. It is a place where for the rest of their lives, “till death do us part” that they will be stripping away layers upon layers of themselves, discovering and revealing things that no one else will ever know or see. This is what we call “intimacy” or for clearer visualization—“into-me-see”. Maybe this will clear the image I’m trying to convey slightly, we can see our spouse a million times without clothes, but we may never have seen them naked—this is what I mean regarding intimacy.
What kind of marriage would it be if a strange outsider would be brought into the marriage bed to perform the intimate sexual duties of a husband or wife instead of only those two in the marriage covenant? Would it not be a tragic betrayal that would end in a tragic and painful estrangement ending in divorce? I am convinced that if we are honest and genuine with ourselves, we have done and are still in some way doing this very same thing. We are allowing other things or other’s relationship with God to substitute and take the place we should have as the Bride in our own relationship with the Bride-Groom.
My only point today and I pray you may hear my heart is this: Let us all return to our passionate first-love with the Bride-Groom! Let us go before God ourselves and drink water from His well instead of from the cup which others have already tasted from. Let us personally eat from His abundant feast, from the table where He invites us to come and sit, instead of waiting for bread-crumbs to fall or eat of that which has already been chewed and spat out. Let’s each and every one of us return to our first-love! God desires passionate intimacy so that as a result His Word may release the seed that will conceive and produce and give birth to the fruit of His life first in you, then for the benefit of others to receive.
Him Her And Them 