THE WEDDING RING by Karen Colvin M.S., M.D. The earth is the LORDs, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. Psalm 24:1 NLT Why is God so committed to us? Why does He remain with us through our countless mistakes determined to rescue us out of evil’s embrace? There is an ancient love story about God and mankind. It began with the radiant love of our Creator who spoke into existence our world and our race. We were created a race of beings for Him to love and care for eternally. But the Creator had an enemy who hated all that the Creator cherished and loved. The enemy hated our race and sought to destroy it. The enemy succeeded in deceiving us through a lie and he dragged us into captivity. But the Creator, though brokenhearted, did not abandon us. His love for us was too deep to relinquish us to evil. We were His. Our world was His and He would fight for us. Within our race lived a man called Abram. Even as many of us were carried away into the indulgences of sin, Abram displayed faith in the one true Creator. Moved by Abram’s faith the Creator made a covenant, a binding commitment, with him; that He would bless him and his descendants on the Earth and that through his family the entire world would be blessed. This covenant was the beginning of the forging of an eternal wedding ring symbolizing the love between mankind and God the Creator. God changed Abram’s named to Abraham after this covenant was made. Abraham would be known as the father of faith of any man, woman or child of humanity who would believe, as he did, in the One true Creator. Through the generations of Abraham’s family a man emerged who was called Jacob. Jacob had many struggles in his life, much of which came from his own poor choices. One night Jacob had an encounter with God the Creator. He sent an Angel to Jacob. Jacob and the Angel struggled through the night because Jacob, knowing who the Angel was, refused to let Him go until he blessed him. After that night of struggle and faith, the Angel did bless Jacob. He was named a prince by God, for he had contended with God through a night of struggle, and now he would have power with God and with men. The blessing of God was placed on his life. Jacob was given the name Israel which means “contender with God”. (See Genesis 32:26-30). This event was another step in the forging of the wedding ring for God and man. The descendants of Abraham and Jacob, are known as the chosen people of God because of their faith in the God of their fathers. It was never about religion or biology – it was always about faith. The Love Story continued carried by faith through millennia of human history until the time came for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. Although the choices of God were made because of faith, biology needed to play a role in the wedding ring. We are flesh and blood beings. It was important that Isaac, the father of Jacob, was born out of the human flesh of Abraham and Sarah. A physical human nation needed to be born and established of God on the Earth to wear His wedding ring. A nation needed to be established who would serve the one true and living God. The irremovable wedding ring of God was place on the finger of the Earth because of people of faith! The ring bears the name Israel. It is the only nation on the planet that was called into existence by God Himself. It borders were defined by Him (See Genesis 15:18-21). The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would become a nation that would represent God’s covenant with mankind – God’s wedding ring would be worn by the planet Earth through the descendants of these men of faith. It would forever represent the covenant and commitment God had made to a man for all of humanity. Throughout human history the wedding ring would be tarnished many times but it would always remain in place as a symbol of God’s promise. It serves as a physical symbol of God’s covenant with mankind. God promised Abraham that through him all of the nations of the world would be blessed (See Genesis 18:18). God kept that promised with the sending of His only Son, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus the entire planet received the plan and hope of the Creator for humanity. The love story continued through Jesus Christ. He is God’s Son, born as a man out of the nation established by God because of the faith of a human being. God’s covenant had to include the flesh and blood of a human being of faith through which He could send His God-Man. Jesus Christ was born of the Spirit of God into the flesh of man. This is why one of the names of Jesus Christ is the “Son of Man”. Christ had to be one of us to qualify as a sacrifice for us. Thus, humanity’s Savior was born out of God’s covenant with man. He was born out of the nation that bore the wedding ring – the covenant, of God. Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord becomes a part of “spiritual Israel”. This is an act of faith in the one true God. They become a part of the ones who contend with God everyday, through their failures and mistakes. They hold on to Him because of their faith in the work done on the cross by the God-Man. God had a plan from the time we were deceived in the garden by His enemy. That plan was to reconnect with mankind through the marriage of God and Man within Jesus Christ. The Holy Scriptures refers to Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church or Witnesses of Jesus as the Bride. Jesus is the embodiment of the great marriage between God and humanity. See Matthew 25:1-12. When God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s death and suffering for the sins of His bride the marriage was complete – the bride could be saved. The bride could be rescued from evil. Most of the Bible is about this tiny nation that contended with God through thousands of years of human history. Israel’s presence on the Earth is a constant reminder that the Scriptures are true and that mankind has a covenant with God that can never be broken. Israel, though physically small as a nation is all God needed to stamp the Earth for His beloved humanity. Wedding rings are small but they shine bright as a symbol of promise and commitment. I believe God created Israel small deliberately; so as Babylon, in her arrogance, rises up against this tiny nation and fails to destroy her, there will be no doubt that God is on the throne and that He will forever protect His covenant – His marriage with mankind through Jesus Christ. Look for Karen Colvin’s new book, “Leaving Babylon”, coming soon.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:00:00 +0000
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