Sunday, November 4, 2007

Glued To Christ

"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (I Corinthians 6: 16, 17)

"Joined" is from a Greek word that means, according to Strong:

1) to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together
2) to join or fasten firmly together
3) to join one's self to, cleave to


We might just as well add the words "attached to," "adhered to," "stuck to," etc. The believer is literally "stuck to" or "stuck on" the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ too is "stuck on" the believer. Jesus and believers are "tied to" or "bonded to" one another in the strongest of all bonds.

"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19: 6)

"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." (Ephesians 5: 21)

In other words, what God has "glued together," let not one attempt to unglue. The big question concerns what kind of glue holds people together? Is it a strong super glue, or is it some inferior cement that lacks adhesive strength? Time proves what kind of glue holds people together in their relationships.

The true believer is "married" and "joined" to Christ in his soul. He and Christ are glued and cemented together, yea, super glued!

"I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." (II Corinthians 11: 2)

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7: 3, 4)

These two verses speak of the Believer being married to Christ. Christians are "joined" and attached to Christ, as a lover attached to lover. Christ is the Husband and the Believer is the wife. When a sinner trusts in Christ and obeys the gospel, he is being "espoused," "married" and "joined" to him. It was prophesied in the Old Testament:

"And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee." (Zechariah 2: 11)

Being "joined to the Lord" is contrasted, by the prophets, with being "joined to idols." "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone." (Hosea 4: 17)

Paul too spoke of the sinner as getting his freedom from former husbands prior to being married to Jesus Christ. Our former husbands are the idols of our hearts as sinners. We must be divorced of these before we can be joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this is perfectly illustrated in the book of Hosea and in Hosea's marriage to Gomer.

A believer who is truly joined in heart and soul to the Lord will not be pulled away from him. The glue that binds his heart and soul to the Lord is strong, for it is the grace and love of God. Paul said that God's love, in the heart as glue, absolutely "endures all things" (I Corinthians 13: 7).

"For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." (Jeremiah 13: 11)

"In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." (Jeremiah 50: 4, 5)

"Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him." (Deuteronomy 13: 4)

"Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." (Acts 11: 23)

Friends, to what is your heart and soul married, spiritually speaking? Are you attached to sin as to a lover? Are you wedded to idols?

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