Love For Christ

The following references are taken from the Song of Songs.

Love for Christ is lost through self-preoccupation. (5:3)

In 5:2 we behold a dark scene. It is night, rain pours down from the Eastern skies as a shadowy figure knocks upon a door. "Open to me," he says, "my sister, my love, my dove, mine undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of night." The beloved has come for his maiden.

But notice his words, for such language expresses Christ's thoughts of us. We are children of God ("my sister") 1 Jn. 3:1, objects of His love ("my love") Gal. 2:20, pure in His sight ("my dove") Jn. 13:10 and washed in His blood ("my undefiled") Rev.1: 5. Yet how these truths often grow cold upon us when the warmth of our love for Christ is replace by the cool indifference of self-will. Notice the response of the maiden dwelling in the house:

"I have put off my tunic, how should I put it on? I have washed my feet, how should I pollute them?" (5:3)

Notice how many personal pronouns ("I") are here! The night has come and she can only think of herself. Where was the strength and vigor of that love she expressed in the days when she was enraptured with him alone? (1:2) In those days, when self-centered thoughts threatened to lead her astray, (1:6) she would quickly turn to the thought of his loveliness! (1:7) But we do not find such determination here. The love of youth was growing cold and so, as the darkness hangs thick around her, she hesitates at his word.

Does this not also happen to us? Is it not true that self-will and circumstances often quench the kind of love and faithfulness shown to Christ in the past, in the days when His love was always before us? What is the remedy? The apostle says, "As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him." (Col. 2:6) When you and I believed the gospel, faith found its total repose in Christ. We received a Person through faith and the object of that faith never changes. Not only does the object of faith remain constant, but the attitude of faith does also. The same purity of faith and simplicity of love that found Him is to hold Him.

Does the freshness of His love still grip your heart as it did during the early days of your Christian walk? Two truths that often fill the mind of one newly converted are 1) Christ's love for him and 2) His willingness to die for him. These are simple truths, yet even the apostle, though mature in the faith, still remembered the Son of God who "has loved me and given himself for me." (Gal.2:20) After all the time that had passed since his conversion, the love of Christ was still a personal thing to him, it was still valued and treasured in his heart.

A learned theologian was once asked, "What is the greatest theological truth that you have discovered during your many years of rigorous study?" His response was, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." May the faith and love that we showed to Him when we believed be the same faith and love that keeps us from self and cleaving to Him!

"My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door; and my bowels yearned for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself; he was gone." (5:4-6a)

When the freshness of our love for Christ is gone, there will be disobedience to His word. (Jn 14:24) This leads to a loss in fellowship. (1 Jn. 1:6) The beloved is gone. All this answers to the scene of the maiden opening the door only to be met by the darkness of night.

If we delay to heed His call, we too, like the maiden, will open the door only to find Him gone. Delayed obedience is disobedience and this leads to a loss of fellowship.

But there is something else. The fragrance of myrrh meets her at the door. In the East, it was customary to rub this fragrance upon the door of one sought after. It speaks of a longing and desiring for someone else. Though the maiden did not respond to the beloved's voice, this did not mean that he forgot her or that he no longer wanted her.

This is also true with our blessed Lord. Though fellowship can be lost through disobedience, He still desires after us for "even when we are faithless, he remains faithful." (2 Tim. 2:13) Such is His great, unchanging love for us!

Love for Christ cannot be gained through the efforts of the flesh and mere legality. (5:6b-7b)

"My soul went forth when he spoke. I sought him, but I found him not; I called him, but he gave me no answer." (5:6)

Notice, the same personal pronoun that would keep her in bed (5:3) is the same personal pronoun that would seek the beloved - "I sought him...I called him." The flesh can attempt to seek Christ, but will never find Him. It can be active, but never fruitful. It can be involved in much religious work, but will be void of true spirituality. This is illustrated in Martha's example. How many times do Christians, feeling distant from God because of sin, attempt to approach Christ on the ground of self only to realize that "in my flesh, good does not dwell." (Rom. 7:18)

"The watchmen that went about the city found me; they smote me, they wounded me..." (5:7)

The watchmen are those who keep order according to the law. They offer no help to the maiden, instead, they rebuke her and she feels it.

Not only is it wrong (and quite useless) to cultivate affections for Christ according to the "old nature" or "flesh," it is also wrong to go about it on a mere legal footing. The Christian is not under law, but grace. (Rom. 6:14) Grace, not law, is the rule of the Christian's life. The apostle Paul understood this when he said, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any force, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love." (Gal. 5:6) It is the heart attached in love to Christ and, therefore, willing to trust him that will enjoy blessed communion and growth with God. Such a heart is provoked, not by law or keeping rules (being circumcised or not), but by the knowledge of the wonderful grace and liberty shown to us in Christ! (see Gal. 5:1)

Love for Christ is cultivated through the knowledge and enjoyment of who He is. (5:10-16)

Neither self nor legality can aid the maiden in her quest for her beloved. She turns to the daughters of Jerusalem and cries out -

"I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved...What will ye tell him? That I am sick of love." (5:8)

The maiden tells these women that if they could find her beloved, then they must tell him that she is "sick of love," that is, lovesick. She loves him, wants him, and needs him. She is driven to the end of herself and is only left with one motive in her heart - love for him. Notice their response:

"What is thy beloved more than another beloved, thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" (5:9)

This is their question: "What makes your beloved so special? How is he any different than another woman's lover?" It is this question that provokes her to contemplate the manifold glories of her beloved. She could do this now because she has finally laid aside self. Her heart was lovesick, filled with adoration for him and, being compelled by this question, could now rehearse what made the beloved so wonderful in her eyes. From verse 10 to verse 16 the maiden rehearses each personal feature that her beloved possessed which made him uniquely special, standing "head and shoulders above the rest." Space does not permit us to go into detail regarding each feature, but let the reader know that these manifold glories of the beloved find their anti-type in the glories of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the "chiefest among ten thousands!" (5:10)

Reader, have you been driven to the end of yourself? Is the one motive of your heart to love and adore the Son of God? Are you "lovesick" for Christ? When the world challenges you to prove His unique Person can you immediately burst forth in the kind of praise and worship that takes into account the manifold glories of Jesus Christ? Do you know His glories as Son of God, as Son of Man, as Advocate, as High Priest, as Bridegroom, as Head, as Judge - shall we go on? Can you speak of His essential, moral, official and acquired glories? Christians are not to learn factual precepts, but a Living Person. We are not to "learn about Christ," but "learn Christ." (Eph. 4:20-21) We are not to "know about Him," but to "know Him." (Phil. 3:8) The difference cannot be overstated. Mere doctrine will not do. We must enjoy the Person who is the Truth. This cannot be gained in theological schools, but rather through a day by day walk of faith and dependency in "the Father and His Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3) This kind of walk is maintained by the blessed Holy Spirit who "takes the things of Christ and reveals them to us." (Jn. 16:14) The more we are yielded to His ministry in our lives, the more of Christ we shall learn - the more of Him shall be made manifest.

As the maiden rehearses (through remembrance) the unique glory of her beloved, notice what happens - the daughters of Jerusalem now want to know where the beloved dwells...and she, the maiden who knew not where he was, would now tell them!

Love for Christ can create, by our testimony, the desire in others to know Him. (6:1)

"Whither is thy beloved gone, thou fairest among woman? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? And we will seek him with thee." (6:1)

When the eye is fixed on Christ, all becomes simple and clear. The maiden finally losses sight of herself and fixed her eyes on her beloved. Because she has a "single eye," she is no longer tossed to and fro. She is no longer confused as to where her beloved is. Actually, as she speaks of his glory, those that she would look to for help, now look to her!

When the soul is occupied with Christ, when He holds the first place in our hearts, our lives will overflow with His grace and this can create in others the desire to seek the One in whom we adore. When this happens, we will not need to elicit help from others in order to find Jesus, for we will have Him and enjoy Him for ourselves!

Do you recall what the Samaritan women said to those in the city after she had talked with Jesus? "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?" (John 4:29) She does not say, "Come, let me show you the Christ," but rather, she includes the fact that he was a man who "told me all things I had ever done." It was what He said that communicated to herself the glory of His Person. Time spent with Him brought conviction through His word, conviction that led her to see His glory. She, having been driven to the end of herself by the grace of God and word of God, could immediately bare witnesses to the all-knowing glory of God - he was the Messiah. And what was the effect of this? "They went out of the city and came to him." (John 4:30)

When one can personally bare witnesses to His power, His glory, and His grace, then others shall be drawn to the Savior. The power that lay behind the witness of the maiden in the Song of Songs and the maiden of Samaria was a relationship enjoyed. There is a Living Christ in glory. Are you enjoying Him above all else? The fruit of our testimony depends upon this, for apart from the vine we can do nothing. (John 15:5) May our hearts be full of the glory of Christ (because of time spent with Him) and may that glory cause our mouths to declare His greatnesses so that others may come to him!

Love for Christ leads us to Him and brings stability of faith. (6:2-3)

My beloved is gone down to the garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: He feedeth his flock among the lilies." (6:2-3)

This is the maiden's response! She is no longer dismayed as to where her beloved is - he has gone down to the gardens. And not only is there the knowledge of WHERE he is for her, (vs. 2) but also WHAT he is to her. (vs. 3) "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." The knowledge of where He is brings with it the knowledge of a relationship based on mutual love!

This is how the maiden found her beloved. She found him by detaching her heart from self and the world and attaching her heart to him. And when she knows where He is, the confidence of love is re-kindled - all is assured.

So it is with us. When the heart makes everything of Christ it will not only know where He is, it will also enjoy His wondrous love.

And where is our Beloved? Is he not in heavenly glory? But He is not there alone, for God has "raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:6) The Christian has been spiritually raised with Christ and sits with Him "in the heavenlies." Do you believe this? It is true. When faith sees Him where He is, it must also acknowledge that "he has taken us into favor in the Beloved," for that is the place the believer occupies in Christ. (Eph. 1:6) We are objects of the Father's love in Jesus, "the Beloved"! When we behold, by faith, Christ in the glory and learn our association with Him there as the Beloved of God, we too will cry out with the maiden "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine!"

Listen to the cry of one who laid aside self and law, trusting in the delivering work of Christ by the power of the Spirit -

"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)

This is the cry of the beloved, the cry that acknowledges His unchanging love for us. When we are dwelling where He is and see the marks in His hands and side (the extent in which His love was willing to go), we shall then learn the greatness of His work and the security it affords us. We shall see the One who "loved us unto death." And nothing can separate us from that which love has won and set us in through Christ.

"Most blessed and varied are the results that flow from the soul's entire occupation with Christ. To lose sight of self, and have Him for our one object, is immediate - certain blessing. When Christians slip into a low, dull state of soul, what will most speedily and effectually bring them out of it? Becoming filled and occupied with Christ for themselves, and speaking of Him to others."

- Andrew Miller


Vin Santanelli