Love: The True Saviour

I know I haven't continued in my exploration of the subject of love, and I had fully intended to take it up where I left off, but I must confess, it's been awhile since I read C.S. Lewis's work on the subject, and I may have to review it once more before I'm able to do so (since my memory is pretty awful). I have been considering an aspect of the topic, though, and planning on writing about it since before my last written entry. I had planned on waiting until my full exegesis on "The Four Loves", but since I feel like writing, and since I've contemplated a bit on this particular facet lately, I think I'll go ahead and share my thoughts.

As many of us know, marriage (the love between a man and a woman) is a picture of Christ's relationship with the church. Christ showed his love for the church in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. The church, in response, demonstrates her love in obedience to Christ, as He graciously sustains her. In the same way, husbands are to "love their wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:28); a self-sacrificial love. And wives are to "be subject to their own husbands in everything" (Ephesians 5:24). Though this is not a perfect picture, because our love is so often tainted by sin, it does help us to better understand God's perfect love.

Unfortunately, though, this image is often glorified on its own, rather than pointing toward something better. I often hear love songs on the radio (or on my ipod) that could almost be mistaken for worship songs (many times worship songs, I think, are also mistaken for secular love songs). The lyrics to such music are often surprisingly accurate in what the songwriter seems to be seeking. I suppose it could be generalized that they're looking to their lover for a perfect, fulfilling, sanctifying love that will never fail and never end. Unfortunately, they're looking to the wrong person. That's why you also hear bitter love songs about how the one whose love was never-ending has failed you. Newsflash: People will ALWAYS fail you. People break promises. People are selfish. People die, and people leave you. People will break your heart. Even the one you commit to in marriage will fail you, in some way and at some time. As is so aptly sung in "Just a Man" by The Classic Crime, "I'm not your saviour". The only love that is perfect comes from the true Saviour, the only sinless One, who will never leave you and cannot fail you.

My intention is not to beat down on human love. The love between a man and a woman, when it is built on the correct foundation, is a beautiful thing. It's an incredible gift, and a glorious opportunity to give while at the same time receiving; a mystery. Much of what a man is to be to a woman is what Christ is to the church. I thank God for the joy He offers to be able to share life's journey and my pursuit of Him with someone else, and to be able to better understand His love through that. I am certainly not advocating withholding a part of yourself from your spouse, because of fear of them failing you. That would be wrong, and not fair to him/her. "The two shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). You and your spouse belong to one another; don't hold your heart back from him/her. I must admit, I'm a sucker for love songs. The lyrics may not all be true (in light of sin), but I do believe that God fully intended for us to be able to revel in our love for that special person, and tell them in beautiful words (hopefully with consistently beautiful actions, since love really is a verb) how dear he/she is to our heart. That is a gift. But we must remain careful not to lose sight of the One to whom that love points, and we must not put our ultimate hope in the wrong place.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand