This is part 2 in a series of posts explaining the meaning behind my blog Finding the Beloved. Read on to learn more about how you can find true love through a relationship with God.

In my previous post, Finding the Purpose in Your Darkness, I shared about the foundational purpose behind everything that we go through in our lives. This purpose is to come to know our God and Creator. Once we meet Him, the circumstances that we go through are all meant to lead us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him.

I call God the Beloved, because with Him we can share the most intimate kind of love, the love of our soul being joined to His. In the Bible the Beloved is revealed as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. This is why I use the words God and Jesus interchangeably.

There is an old worship song called Jesus, Lover of My Soul. But what does this mean when we say that Jesus is the lover of our soul? Many people do not know they can know God like this. This could be unfamiliar or even uncomfortable to them. However, this language comes from an ancient truth of the Bible. Here I’d like to unpack for you more about what Scripture reveals about this and what this means for us all.

The Search for Love

Everyone is searching for love. Deep down inside, we have the desire to be known, seen and loved fully for who we really are.  This is because we were created for relationships and intimacy. What is intimacy? One definition is simple put: “in-to-me-you-see”. This means being vulnerable enough to reveal to another person what is really going on inside of your heart. This isn’t easy because many of us fear that if we let someone else see who we really are, flaws and all, they will leave and not continue to love us. So even though we are searching for love, we fear it at the same time.

Love hurts. This is because we are flawed human beings who cannot love perfectly. Yet we continue to desire and search for someone to love us fully and completely while seeing all of us, even the parts of us that are ugly. This is true love, and it is not easy to find.

The search for true love is the central focus of books, songs and movies in just about every culture. I believe that this search for perfect love is so pervasive in our lives because it is a legitimate desire that has been placed there by God. This desire is meant to be fulfilled.

What many people do not realize is that the perfect, unconditional love that we all long for and try so desperately to find can only be truly fulfilled by God Himself. Human love is meant to reflect this love and it can fulfill our desire up to a point, but it cannot fulfill it perfectly.

The Love of God is Different

The Bible uses a word for love that communicates a kind of love that is very different from human love, which is flawed and limited. This love is called “agape”. Agape is the Greek word used in the Bible to describe perfect love, the kind of love that only comes from God.

God’s love is unchanging, perfect and always seeks the highest good of His beloved, no matter what he/she does, because God’s love does not depend on our worthiness.  Agape love depends on God’s nature and flows from His innermost being. Therefore, agape love is unconditional. God our Father doesn’t change. Therefore, His love for us is unchanging and constant.

So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

Romans 8:38-39, The Passion Translation

Who is the Beloved?

The name “Beloved” comes from the word agape, and it is spelled “agapetos” in the Greek. This word means dearly loved, esteemed, favorite, worthy of love. The Father used this word to declare over His Son Jesus when He was baptized, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) This same word is used to refer to Christ several times in the New Testament and it is also used to describe Christ-followers, who are God’s dearly loved children (Romans 1:7, 12:19; 1 Corinthians 10:14; Philippians 2:12, etc.).

All of this is very significant for us. This means that just as Jesus was declared “Beloved” by the Father, we also become the “Beloved” through our faith in Christ. This says a lot about the kind of relationship that we can have with God. Through Jesus you become worthy of love and you are God’s “favorite.” Through Jesus you also have access to a close and intimate relationship with the Father like Jesus had.

Marriage: A Picture of What We Can Experience with God

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

Psalm 139:1

The word used for “know” in the above passage is the same word that is used for a man having intimate relations with his wife (Genesis 4). To be known by God in this way means to be known in the deepest, fullest sense.  He sees through us to the deepest thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows exactly how we think and feel as well as what we desire. He knows our deepest fears and our greatest hopes and dreams. He understands why we do the things we do. He knows us completely, and knowing all, He loves us fully. Again, the word used here for “know” mirrors the union between husband and wife. There is something important for us to notice here.

Throughout the Bible, the imagery of marriage is used to represent God’s relationship with His people.

In the Old Testament, God is pictured as a husband to His often-adulterous wife, Israel. Throughout the prophets we hear God as a broken-hearted husband who is calling His wife to leave her idolatry and evil practices and to return and be faithful to Him alone.

The Song of Solomon comes just before the prophetic books. This is a very intimate love dialogue between King Solomon and his bride and it is interesting that it is included in the Bible. Many throughout the centuries have interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of the love relationship between God and His people Israel, or Christ and the Church.

In the New Testament, Paul clearly describes the relationship between a husband and his wife as a symbol of the relationship between Christ and the Church. The New Testament also describes Christ as the Bridegroom who will return for His Bride, which represents the Church. The Church at the end of history is described as a bride who has put on white garments, pure and spotless, made ready for her husband which is Christ (Revelation 19:6-8).

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25-27

What This Means for Us

So, why is all of this so important for us to know?

The fact that God has chosen to use the imagery of the intimate relationship between a husband and wife to describe His relationship with humans is extremely significant. His choice of this symbolism throughout the Bible reveals the kind of relationship that He designed us to have with Him.

When we study Scripture, we see that God is not looking for a cold, formal and distant relationship with His people. It is clear that He is looking to have a close and intimate relationship with them. As a husband and wife find union in marriage, God desires union with us, Spirit to spirit. We need to know this because it shows us the kind of relationship and that is possible to have with our Creator. When we become aware of this, we can open ourselves up to knowing Him this way and seek after it.

As the Beloved God is an intimate lover in a spiritual sense. He is the “Lover of our soul” as the old song sings. Open your heart to the Beloved today, and you will find true love.

Put it into Practice

The starting point to having a deep, intimate relationship with God is understanding the story of Jesus. Watch a five-minute video to learn more here. You will find resources at the end of the video to help you begin a relationship with God today.

If you are a Christian longing for a deeper relationship with God, take some time to reflect. What is your relationship with God like? How would you like your relationship with Him to be? Talk to Him about it. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you as the Lover of your soul. Here is a Bible study that will take you deeper. I also think you will find this article helpful.

Share in the comments below how this blog post impacted you today.

Did you enjoy this post? I think you will also enjoy the post: Becoming the Beloved.

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