“Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” “Before I was even aware, my soul had made me as the chariots of my noble people.” Song of Solomon 8:5, 6:12
The greatest call to mankind is that of God giving him the mercy and grace to love God, with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is a call to selflessness, and Christ-centeredness. It is a call to turn away from all the lesser things of this creation, especially those things which have to do with sin, Satan, and the world, in order to turn to the Great Beloved, the God who is Love, revealed in the glory of Christ, especially as He is seen suffering and dying on the cross. It was out of love for those whom He came to save, a love to be known by the very Spirit of Christ. The first fruit and manifestation of the Spirit of God in the life is always love, for in the love of God is the great expression of the divine life in Christ. So then, in light of the perfect, and all-encompassing love of Christ revealed in the work of redemption, the shedding of His blood so that all sins can be forgiven and washed away, and the saving life, received by faith by those who would trust in Christ alone, is not only the demonstration of the love of God, but the very proof that God IS love, and this beyond the comprehension of man to fully know it. That which is impossible to grasp with regard to this love and the endless dimensions of it, declared in truth, is revealed in part by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Man was created to not just know the truth about this love of God, but to know, and experience, the essence of it, Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.
So then, the great calling for lost, helpless, and hopeless sinful men, is to respond to the call of God to surrender all to Christ, in order to know all in Him, specifically to know this love of God which passes understanding. We see this in a limited, yet illustrated form and measure, in the book of the Song of Solomon. This book is a song of love, one which reveals in some respects the great Lover of our souls, Christ, and His bride. His call to her is to rise up and come away, to leave all to follow Him. In this relationship, we find the wondrous work of salvation ever working in the bride’s heart, saving her from selfish love, where the Great Beloved exists in her eyes only to bless her. However, there will come a day, after having experienced this love of God, that she will discover what selfless love is, for she will declare: “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.” (6:3)
In the same Song of Solomon, we find another aspect of this relationship with God in Christ. Christ is always the Beloved, but He is so much more, especially as revealed in this sinful world. In Joshua’s day, a man with a drawn sword approached him, identifying Himself as “The Commander of the army of the Lord.” (5:14) This Commander was the Lord Jesus, having come as the supreme Soldier to fight in a war. His call to Joshua was to be His soldier, so that His will would be done in an environment of spiritual conflict. We find this conflict alluded to in the Song of Solomon, when Solomon wrote that “…sixty valiant men” surrounded Solomons’ travelling couch. They were expert in war. The call of the Beloved was for the bride to accompany Him, the Great Captain, into conflict. He speaks of His bride as, “…looking forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners.” (6:10) Because of communion with her Captain, her Beloved, the Spirit of the Captain, would make her to be an overcomer and victorious.
Christ’s call is to love in spiritual conflict.
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.