ONE-MONTH PERFECTING TRAINING
GENERAL SUBJECT
THE LORD NEEDING THE OVERCOMERS
SERIES FOUR
PRACTICING THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY
Lesson Eleven
The Bible—the Divine Romance of a Universal Couple
(Group Practice)
Gen. 2:18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart.
Adam here typifies God in Christ as the real, universal Husband, who is seeking a wife for Himself Adam’s need for a wife typifies and portrays God’s need, in His economy, to have a wife as His complement.
Isa. 54:5 For your Maker is your Husband; Jehovah of hosts is His name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
Throughout the centuries, God has had a romance with man. God created man with the purpose of having a counterpart (Gen. 1:26). His intention in creating man was not mainly to have servants. If we read the Bible in a pure way, without any preoccupations, we shall realize that God’s purpose in creating man was to gain a counterpart.
Hosea 2:19 And I will a betroth you to Myself forever; Indeed I will betroth you to Myself In righteousness and justice And in lovingkindness and compassions.
The entire Bible is a divine romance, a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them. When we as God’s people enter into a love relationship with God, we receive His life, just as Eve received the life of Adam (Gen. 2:21-22). It is this life that enables us to become one with God and makes Him one with us.
Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
The Bible reveals that in the universe there is a divine romance between God and His elect. The Bible is the record of a romance, in the most pure and holy sense, of a universal couple. The male of this couple is God Himself, and the female is God’s redeemed people as a corporate being. The Bible shows us that we, as God’s elect, are His wife and that between Him and us there must be a marriage union based upon mutual love.
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
As the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem comes out of Christ, her Husband, and becomes His counterpart, just as Eve came out of Adam, her husband, and became his counterpart (Gen. 2:21-24).