the proposal

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."
- 2 Corinthians 11:2

We were friends for 5 years before we decided to take the risk of evolving our friendship into something more. Now, he has been my boyfriend for 1 year 3 months 25 days, and for us, the next step is for him to get down on that one knee of his with *coughs* a ring inside an open box (no hint intended).

But nope, this post isn't about my boyfriend proposing. It's about another Man's.

When a man proposes, he is offering himself to be a husband, and with it, a set of husbandly commitments and responsibilities, to name a few:
• Love her (Ephesians 5:25)
• Sanctify her (Ephesians 5:26)
• Forever be with her (1 Peter 3:7)
• Lead her (Ephesians 5:23)
• Provide for her (1 Tim 5:8)
• .. and more..

Now Jesus' relationship to the church has been likened to that of a bride and groom. Therefore, being your bridegroom, Jesus is offering to do to you the things a husband would do to his wife!

All these wasn't so easy to get back then. First of all, this bride-bridegroom kind of relationship was only available to the nation of Israel, and even for them, the needed to obey the law and sacrifice all the sacrificial offerings without fail for them to qualify to receive these blessings.

But now, it's freely given to us! "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?" - Romans 8:32

Did you catch that? FREELY! For us to be fully taken care of by our heavenly Groom, all we need to do is to say a simple "yes!" to Him. How gracious! And yet, free doesn't equal to cheap. For Him to be able to "freely" give, Jesus needed to pay dearly. His very own God-life, scourged, beaten and tortured for hours before eventually dying a gruesome death on the cross.

A man needs a ring to prove his love for a woman. Jesus did it with His nail-pierced hands, crown of thorns, and a beaten body. All so that He can be a husband to you.

So friends, He has made His loving proposal a long time ago.

What will your answer be? :)

Be blessed!

by Unknown 10:15 AM 0 comments