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III.

THE WHOLE BIBLE BEING A DIVINE ROMANCE


The entire Bible is a divine romance. This means that the Bible is a very romantic book. This is
true in particular of Song of Songs. Certain modernists doubt whether Song of Songs should be
included in the Bible. Even some proper Christian teachers have had doubts about this book.
When I was young, I also wondered why such a book is in the Bible, a book concerned with a
romance between a man and a woman. This book is a portrait of the love relationship between us
and Christ. According to Song of Songs, our relationship with the Lord should be very romantic.
If there is no romance between us and the Lord Jesus, then we are religious Christians, not
romantic Christians. If you wish to know what I mean by romance, I would encourage you to
read and pray-read Song of Songs. Pray-reading this book of romance will cause you to become
romantic with the Lord. You will be beside yourself with love for Him. The Bible is a divine
romance, and our relationship with the Lord should become more and more romantic.

A. Full of God's Datings of Man


As a divine romance, the Bible is a full record of God's wooing, even of His dating, of man.
Again and again in the Scriptures, God comes to man in this way. Two examples are God's
coming to Jacob at Bethel the first time (Gen. 28:10-22) and also the second time (Gen. 35:9-15).
Another example is God's coming to Moses at Mount Horeb (Exo. 3:1-17).

B. Full of God's Courting of Man


The Bible is also full of God's courting of man. As a young man wants to give constant attention
to the woman he is courting, even to the point of bothering her, so the Lord bothers us by
courting us. The Bible records God's courtship of His people. In the New Testament we see that
when the Lord Jesus called His disciples, He was courting them. Again and again, the Lord Jesus
bothered Peter in this courting way. It is significant that it was not Peter who came to the Lord; it
was the Lord who came to Peter. In John 21 the Lord inquired of Peter, Simon, son of John, do
you love Me more than these? (v. 15). Twice more the Lord asked him, Do you love Me? (vv.
16, 17). By asking these questions of Peter, the Lord Jesus was courting him. He did not want
Peter to love Him as a child honoring a parent, a friend caring for another friend, or a rich person
pitying a poor person. Instead, the Lord wanted Peter to love Him with an affectionate love, with
a love like that of a young woman for the man who loves her.

We should not read John 21 apart from John 3. The One who was asking Peter if he loved Him
was the very Bridegroom who came to have the bride. Based upon the revelation of the Lord
Jesus as the Bridegroom in John 3, we see that His conversation with Peter in chapter twenty-one
was conducted in the way of courtship.

The same is true of the Lord's word in John 14:21 and 23. In verse 21 the Lord says, He who
has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be
loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. This is a word
spoken by the Bridegroom to His bride. It is a word of dating and of courtship. In verse 23 the
Lord continues, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and
We will come to him and make an abode with him. The Father and Son making an abode with
the one who loves the Lord Jesus is a reference to living together in married life. To share the
same abode with the Lord Jesus is to live with Him as His spouse.

Although the Lord often spoke as a Bridegroom conversing with His bride, not many Christians
have realized this aspect of His word. The tendency has been to take the Lord's word in an
altogether different sense. Therefore, I hope that this word concerning God's dating and
courting of His people will revolutionize our concept. The Lord's coming to us is His dating
and courting of us.

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