THE BIBLE—
A ROMANCE OF A
UNIVERSAL COUPLE

The Bible is a romance. Have you ever heard this before? It may sound secular and unreligious. However, if you have entered into the deep thought of the Bible, you will realize that the Bible is a romance, in the most pure and the most holy sense, of a universal couple.

GOD IN CHRIST
AS THE BRIDEGROOM

The male of this couple is God Himself. Although He is a divine person, He desires to be the male of this universal couple. This very God, after a long process, has resulted in Christ as the Bridegroom.

GOD’S REDEEMED PEOPLE
AS THE BRIDE

The female of this couple is a corporate human being, God’s redeemed people, including all the saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament. After a long process this corporate person results in the New Jerusalem as the bride.

THIS ROMANCE
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

This holy romance is repeatedly revealed throughout the Old Testament.

The Story of a Marriage

Immediately after the record of God’s creation, we find the story of a marriage (Gen. 2:21-25). In this marriage Adam is the type of Christ as the husband, and Eve is the type of the church as the wife. In Ephesians 5 we see the couple that is typified by Adam and Eve—Christ and the church. The type of Adam and Eve reveals that the persons of this universal couple must be of the same source. God created one person, Adam, and out from this person a wife came. Eve was not created separately by God; she came out of Adam. Eve was made out of a rib, a piece of bone, that came from Adam, indicating that both Adam and Eve proceeded out of the same source. In this universal couple the wife must come out of the husband. Likewise, the church must come out of Christ. The two persons of this couple must be of the same source. They also must be of one nature. Furthermore, they must share one common life. Eve had the same nature and life as Adam. The two persons of this couple were of one source, of one nature, and had the same life. Without doubt, they also had one living. They lived together. Eve lived by Adam and with Adam, and Adam lived by Eve and with Eve.

This couple is the secret of the universe. The secret of the whole universe is that God and His chosen ones are to be one couple. We, God’s chosen ones, and God are of one source, of one nature, and have one life. Now we also need to have one living. We are not living by ourselves or for ourselves; we are living with God and for God, and God is living with us and for us.

God as the Husband
and His People as the Wife

Several times in the Old Testament God referred to Himself as the Husband and to His people as His wife (Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19). God was desirous of being a husband and of having His people as His wife. Many times the prophets spoke of God as the Husband and of His people as His wife. Humanly speaking, we always think of God in a religious way as the Almighty, feeling compelled to worship Him. But do you married brothers expect this from your wives? Suppose your wife thought of you as a giant, and she approached you adoringly, bowing herself, and kneeling down to worship you. What would you say? You would say, “Silly wife, I don’t need such a worshipper. I need a dear wife to embrace me and kiss me. If you will simply give me a little kiss, I will soar into the air.” Our God certainly is the almighty God, and as His creatures, we must worship Him. Many verses speak about worshipping God in this way. However, have you never read in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea that God desires to be a husband? In ancient times God’s people built the temple and established a system of worship complete with priesthood and sacrifices. One day God intervened and spoke through Isaiah, saying, “I am tired of this. I am weary with your sacrifices. I want you to love Me. I am your Husband, and you must be My wife. I want to have a marriage life. I am lonely. I need you. I need you, My chosen people, to be My wife” (Isa. 1:11; 54:5).

The Full Romance
in the Song of Songs

Among the thirty-nine books in the Old Testament, there is one book called the Song of Songs. Have you ever read a romance like the Song of Songs? As far as I am concerned, the Song of Songs is the finest romance. It speaks of two people who fall in love. Although I do not like to use this term fall in love, I cannot deny the fact. In Song of Songs we find a woman falling in love with a man, saying, “Oh, that he might kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. I am thirsty for this.” Immediately, her beloved is at hand, and the pronouns change from him and his to you and your (1:2-4). “Your name is sweet, and your love is better than wine. Draw me, my beloved. Don’t teach me; draw me. I don’t need a pastor or a preacher. I don’t need an elder or even an apostle. I need you to draw me. Draw me, we will run after you.” What a romance!

In the case of Adam and Eve, we saw that the couple had one source, one nature, one life, and one living. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea we saw that God desires to have a wife who will live together with Him. God longs to have a marriage life, to have divinity live together with humanity. But His people failed Him. In the Song of Songs, however, we see the genuine marriage life. What is the secret of such a romance? The secret is that the wife must take her husband not only as her life and her living but also as her person.

The Lord used several figures of speech to characterize His seeker in the Song of Songs as she passed through the various stages in the growth in life. The first figure He used was a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots (1:9). Horses are strong, energetic, full of personality, and seek a definite goal of their own. Gradually, by the working of love, this seeker was changed from a mare to a lily that was fragrant, beautiful, and blossoming (2:2). In figure, the seeker became a lily, which is without will, emotion, or person. Eventually, she became a pillar. Although the word pillar denotes something strong, the seeker was likened to pillars of smoke (3:6), not pillars of marble. She was like pillars of smoke that stood erect and steadfast in the universe, yet she was very flexible. I like to see young wives being pillars of smoke, saying, “My will is in my husband’s heart, my emotion is in him, and my mind is in his head. I am simply a pillar of smoke.” A pillar of smoke has no person of its own.

The seeking one in Song of Songs eventually becomes a palanquin to carry her beloved (v. 9). She no longer has a person of her own; her Beloved, Christ the Lord, is now the person within her. She herself is a palanquin bearing the person of Christ. Later, this seeker becomes a garden growing something to satisfy her Beloved (4:12-13). Finally, she becomes the city (6:4), the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2), without any person of her own but with the strong person of Christ within her. Praise the Lord! This is the holy romance.

THIS ROMANCE
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Now we need to consider this romance as it is portrayed in the New Testament.

Christ as the Bridegroom
in the Gospels

There is no doubt that the Gospels give us a full record of Christ as our Savior. However, have you noticed that the four Gospels also tell us that Christ has come as the Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34; John 3:29)? He has come for His bride. When the disciples of John the Baptist saw many people forsaking John to follow the Lord Jesus, John told them not to be troubled, that Christ is the Bridegroom, and that all the increase belongs to Him (v. 30). The Bridegroom has come for the bride. What is the bride? The bride is the increase of Christ. Each of the four Gospels presents Christ as the Bridegroom coming for the bride.

The Husband and Wife
in the Epistles

In the Epistles Christ and the church are portrayed as husband and wife (Eph. 5:25-32; 2 Cor. 11:2). The Epistles clearly liken Christ and the church to husband and wife. If we know what is unfolded in the Epistles, we will see that Christ is revealed in them as our Husband and that the believers are revealed as His counterpart, as His wife. We must be one with Him in source, in nature, in life, and in daily living.

The Marriage of Christ
and His People in Revelation

In the book of Revelation Christ is unveiled as having a wedding (19:7), and the New Jerusalem is presented as His wife (21:2, 9). In Revelation 19 we see that Christ will enjoy a wedding feast, and in chapter 21 we see that the New Jerusalem will be His wife. In Revelation 21 and 22, the last two chapters of the Bible, we see that the ultimate consummation of the whole Bible is this universal couple—the Husband and the wife.

THE UNIVERSAL COUPLE AND
THE UNIVERSAL MAN

Furthermore, the Bible tells us that in marriage the two persons of a couple are one flesh (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31). Adam and Eve were one flesh. Since they were one flesh, they were also one man. Likewise, the New Testament reveals that Christ and the church are one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Thus, Christ and His chosen people are one universal, corporate man with Christ, the Husband, as the Head (Eph. 4:15) and with the church, the wife, as the Body (1:22-23). Eventually, these two become one all-inclusive, universal, corporate man. In Ephesians 5 the church is presented as a wife, and in Ephesians 1 the church is presented as the Body of Christ. She is Christ’s wife and Christ’s Body. Christ is her Husband and her Head. So, Christ and the church are a universal, corporate man. This is the kernel of the divine revelation in the Word of God. The kernel is simply a couple and a man: a couple with the Triune God as the Husband and His chosen people as the wife, and a man with Christ as the Head and with His chosen people as the Body. In the couple the main aspect is love, and in the man the main aspect is life. This is the central revelation of the whole Bible.

© 1981 Living Stream Ministry

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