SPIRITUAL COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE – Ron McGatlin
Love is advancing in the hearts of the people of God across the world. Many of us are experiencing falling in love with God in His manifest presence with us and in us. His word is more alive and satisfying to us as fresh spiritual truth and wisdom flow into our hearts. The greater light of love opens us to new depths as Spirit realities are more clearly revealed.
There is an ever-increasing depth of closeness and intimacy between us and God as we continue day by day in love with Him.
In love with God, our hearts and lives are set aglow with the goodness and fulfillment of being and doing that which God has called us to do. Our workday becomes a service to our God and the people on earth. The work even seems easier with a measure of joy as we serve God by serving His people and His world according to His guidance and with His empowerment.
Our in-love relationship with God can be parabolically compared to a human natural love relationship. Jesus often used natural things to teach or explain spiritual things. The kingdom of God is further explained through parables.
NATURAL LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Consider a natural human relationship between a godly man and woman in comparison with our relationship with God.dom
When a young woman and a young man meet, there can be a spark of exciting life that springs up in one or both. This can be the birth moment of a lifetime together. Then, a season of courtship that is today commonly called dating, may begin. Courtship is an old word that means meeting outside in the courtyard. Courting is to increasingly get to know each other over a season of time.
The more you come to know one another, the more the feelings of compatibility increase, and love grows stronger and fills a big part of their lives. The next thing is commonly called engagement today, which is planning for a wedding and marriage. In a natural marriage, the wife takes on her husband’s family name, and they become as one flesh.
“So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5: 28-33.
SPIRITUAL LOVE AND MARRIAGE
When a person truly meets God in Christ Jesus, there is a Spiritual spark that takes place. At the same time or very soon, the unconditional love that God has for the person can be felt and recognized, which can lead to the beginning or birthing of responsive love in us to believe and receive Him in a new relationship of ever-increasing love. Faith grows in us as our spirit begins to be changed by His Spirit, and His Word is recognized as truth in our hearts.
Being thankful for Him and His love leads us to enter the gates of His courtyard to praise Him and to be with Him. The great respect and honor in our hearts toward Him floods our hearts with worship. Worshiping and Praising Him blends us together with Him. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4
We are at peace in His presence and filled with His righteousness and joy. We are so wrapped in love that we desire to be one with Him forever.
The season of gathering with God in the courtyard prepares us for even more intimacy in our love relationship with God.
BECOMING ONE IN MARRIAGE
We have COURTED OR DATED God and perhaps some a for a l-o-n-g engagement. However, probably most Christians since the first century have never entered into the marriage phase of relationship with God.
Personally, I believe the reality of marriage to God now in this life is possibly the most significant revelation that is beginning to be received by those deeply in love with God in this age or season of the great love of God outpouring on Earth. This revelation is NOT just in understanding, it is truly a real Spirit event in our lives that fully ends our old life and fills us with the life of our Husband and King. It is the reality of being the true Bride of Christ on Earth.
In the past, most Christians have never moved beyond the courting stage into the next place of engagement, which is desiring and planning to enter into becoming one with God in marriage. We have now entered that stage or season of the saga of God and mankind. Most of us have stopped at the courting stage because we had not yet believed that this was for now in this life. The marriage of the Lamb was believed to be a future event that we could not have today.
We could only hold on in faith until we could die and go to heaven or until God did another big event for us. We believed that all we could do was courting with a hope of engagement in this life.
Sunday became our regular date or courting day when we entered His gates with thanksgiving and sometimes on into His courts with praise.
How did we miss this?
Without having the Spirit of God’s revelation about the spiritual marriage of the bride and the coming or manifesting of heaven to Earth, mankind made a valiant effort to understand the Written Word of God. From a natural perspective those things yet unrevealed were interpreted by the best of natural minds with good intent. However, they and the people were not ready to receive more at that time.
In this season of falling in love with God, lids or covers are being removed, and glorious spiritual revelation is increasing with sometimes lightning speed. Our spiritual eyes and hearts are being unveiled to receive the truth of hidden mysteries. This is not one person’s natural-minded view; it is being revealed to a number of people who are truly in love with God. Not everyone is ready to hear, but many will.e
A KINGDOM PARABLE
Jesus wrote a Kingdom parable about the many who refused their invitation to the wedding of the King’s Son.
In Matthew 22, Jesus began by saying “The kingdom of heaven is like…” This is about the kingdom of Heaven coming to earth now. As in most of His parables, natural things are used to picture spiritual things for us.
“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’” Matthew 22:1-12.
PARABLE EXPLAINED
As with most explanations of parables, this is not the only interpretation of the meanings in this parable. This is written for this day or season and is not an exhaustive study.
Back to the parable: We quickly realize the King is God and the Son is Jesus. The arranged marriage is Jesus with His earthly Bride. The wedding is the celebration of the abundant life of God’s provisions for His Bride. The servants that were sent out are the prophets and preachers that are calling the people to the wedding.
The invited guests who made lite of the invitation and refused to come simply did not believe that this was truly a great occasion for them in this world now. In today’s world, some of these are probably religious people who have been led to believe that they cannot have this in this life now. Some of these people treated the King’s servants very badly and killed some of them. Many believers who have received fresh revelation are severely treated. Much like the political situation in America now, where the president’s haters severely treat those who gladly serve with him.
The people and the cities were destroyed because they refused the wedding feast and ceremony. This was, to them, a GREAT TRIBULATION. To the King and His people, it was used to cleanse the kingdom by removing haters. Selah.
Also, much of the original people of God, the Jews, have rejected the King and His Kingdom coming forth on Earth now. In His mercy, God has been longsuffering in calling for them. Yet they have certainly suffered great tribulation throughout history.
The first group invited were probably the Jews, and some of those were thought to be the most important citizens. Then, the King sent out more servants to the highways and byways to invite all of any kind to come.
It was important that they receive and put on a wedding garment before coming in. The wedding garment provided by the King is the righteousness of salvation in Christ Jesus. They must have put on Christ in preparation for entering the wedding.
Some of the new converts of today may enter into the fullness of great thankfulness and extreme praise and worship to God to quickly move through the courting and enter into the marriage of the Lamb celebration.
“’Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’” Revelation 9:7-9.
I used to think that these verses were talking about an event in heaven someday with little or nothing to do with life in this world. There is nothing in this passage that says that. Though it is surely taking place from heaven. It is timeless, and I believe it is attached to the same wedding that Jesus spoke about. The bride has made herself ready by wearing the wedding garment presented here in this passage as the white robes of fine linen.
This is not a one-day event it is the season when the people of God fall in love and accept the invitation of God to truly be the bride and become the wife of God and produce children of God, bringing the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
You and I are blessed because we are called to the wedding supper of the Lamb. The marriage that ends our life as it has been and opens the fullness of all that Christ Jesus has redeemed for us. A new and greater life in full loving connection and complete union as one with God, now in this life and forever.
We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. We will leave our old life and be joined to God, and the two shall become one flesh. This seems like a great mystery, but it is about Christ and the true church, the Ekklesia.
Ron McGatlin
basileia@earthlink.net
https://openheaven.com