His Love Call To His Bride

By Ron McGatlin

The reality of being spiritually in love with Jesus is the force that will change the world.

Once we understand that our natural affections and romantic feelings are a replica of the spiritual for making us aware of our relationship with God, the door is opened to the most fulfilling life with God possible in this world. How could we ever understand the love and longing of God and our passionate need for Him if God had not given us natural affection as a picture?

Re: (Genesis 2:18-25)

Adam was created and communed with God before having a wife.
Jesus was with the Father from the beginning and also had no wife.

God formed a wife for Adam from Adam's body.
God is forming a wife for Christ Jesus from His Body.

God instructed man to leave his original state and be joined to and cleave to his wife.
Christ Jesus left His original state in heaven to be joined to and cleave to His Bride/Wife.

The man and his wife are to be open, transparent, and intimate with one another.
Christ Jesus and His Bride/Wife are to be open, transparent, and intimate with one another.

The man and his wife are to become one flesh (one with one another).
Christ Jesus and His Bride/Wife are to become one.

Re: (Ephesians 5:22-33)

The husband is to deeply and tenderly love his wife.
Jesus loves the church (Bride/Wife) and gave himself for her.

The wife is to be subject, submit, and adapt to her husband.
The Bride/Wife of Christ is to be subject to, submit to, and adapt to Christ Jesus.

The husband is the head of the wife.
Christ Jesus is the head of the church (Bride/Wife).

Adam, made in the image and likeness of God, had no mate. Among all creation there was not found a suitable mate to receive the natural love within Adam. So it was with God. Man was created to become the spiritual mate to Spirit God. Human beings are the only beings in all creation formed in the image and likeness of God and suitable to be the object of His passionate love. The spiritual Bride is being formed from the Body of Christ just as Adam’’s mate was built up from his body. The longing of God for His mate is like the longing in mankind--His replicated image and likeness.

Experiencing passionate love and oneness with God

Probably the most frequent question that I am asked is in regard to how a person can move into the real passionate fire of the love of God and experience deep love and life-changing oneness with God? Pay close attention, that question is about to be answered.

There are natural hormones released within people that draw them into natural romance. Looking at the person of our affection and especially gazing into the eyes of one another releases a flow of hormones. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.

There are spiritual hormones released within our spirits that draw us to Jesus in passionate love. As it is in a natural romance, the presence of Jesus in the Spirit causes a release of spiritual hunger (hormones) that draws us to Him. His spiritual delicate, soft, sweet smile and the loving, longing look in His spiritual eyes cause an explosion of love within us. His love call is irresistible if we continue to look into His spiritual eyes.

The only way His call will be resisted is by turning our face away from Him and looking elsewhere. The love of the spirit of the world also has a powerful draw. If we look to the spirit of the world, we will be drawn with strong affection toward the things of the world and will move toward them and not toward God.

We must experience what it means to keep your eyes upon Jesus, look full into His wonderful face and fall in love with Him alone. Stop! This cannot become a trite religious slogan but a deep and real personal reality. Most who fail to fall in love with Him are already in love with another. They have another lover. Their spiritual hormones within are being stimulated, which creates a strong drawing to another spirit. Many things or spirits may be involved. However, they all relate to the spirit of the world or the spirit of religion. Many may seem noble and good or greatly pleasurable and temporarily rewarding. However, turning our face toward any of them will stop us from gazing into the spiritual face of Jesus and falling in love with Him.

The natural affections between a man and a woman in love are strong and life changing. If the man and the woman are good, righteous people, then the life changes will be good for both. However, if either or both are infested with evil in their hearts the life changes may be bad. If we are in love with the spirits of the world or religion, our lives will not be holy and righteous. Many have had bad experiences falling in love both in the natural and in the spiritual. Some have whole-heartedly looked into the face and fallen in love with religious stuff or worldly stuff that in the end left them with much pain. The spiritual hunger in them was released toward the wrong lover.

Due to past experiences, many people approach a natural or spiritual romantic relationship with great caution and fear. Some people react with caution and fear when the presence of God draws them toward Himself. Meeting His spiritual longing gaze and looking upon his soft, faint smile stirs their spiritual hormones and fear causes them to quickly turn away. Usually they turn toward something seemingly safer such as spiritual wilderness isolation. Some will turn toward an old familiar lover from the spirits of religion or the world.

Replacements for Jesus

Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, is the only head of the Body and the only Husband of His chosen Bride. The gathered called out people of God (the ekklesia) are His family. Due to the lack of the presence of Christ by the Holy Spirit, the religious church developed a system of governance apart from the true head and attempted to represent the head, Christ Jesus, to the people.

Among the many problems generated by this departure from the ekklesia system is that in many ways the leaders became replacements for Jesus. This has often led to the affection designed for Jesus becoming focused on them. The spiritual hormones were stirred and a romance developed with pastors and leaders with the affection that was intended for Jesus. Obviously anyone in that situation cannot fall in love with Jesus. They have another lover and Jesus will not push Himself on anyone. His love will draw us. However, the decision to turn toward only Him and away from others is one that we must make.

How people are hurt in church

The spiritual affection within us for Jesus causes us to be so in love that we give our all to Him. In the case of the replacements for Jesus, because of that affection people will give their all including their money, time, and loyalty. This really becomes complicated because the leaders and the system are not Jesus and do not posses His flawless character. No man or system is designed to do what only Jesus can do. They become tempted by the deep affection of people and may take for themselves from the people. The people can easily confuse the spiritual passion burning within them for natural affection and many immoral relationships develop to the painful detriment of all involved.

How people are healed in Jesus

Pain always works to make us bitter or better, depending on how we respond to it. If we respond in resentment and fear, pain will become bitterness and poison our life and harm others. If, however, we turn our faces toward the drawing love of Jesus and experience the true love of God flowing into our being, we can forgive everyone and everything that has previously harmed us and instantly our pain becomes an increased flow of passionate love. We have more love and more desire for Jesus because of the pain we have suffered and forgiven.

The world will be changed, not by armies and not by religion, but by the pure holy passionate love of Jesus flowing into His people and out to the dry thirsty people of the world. There is no other way. The passionate love of God that draws us into deep spiritual romantic love with Him and consumes our hearts and lives completely will conquer the world.

Rom 5:5: Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Rom 8:39: nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Keep on pursuing Him.
His love will never fail.

Ron McGatlin

www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net