Lesson 49. Heavenly Relationships

As children grow older, they have many questions about starting a family and the birth of a child. They are very curious in this regard. One way or another, children somehow obtain the necessary information, and the older they become, the better they understand what takes place between a husband and wife and how a child comes into the world. In the past, people learned about this only from someone’s words or from books; now it can be seen in every detail. Unfortunately, the enemy of the human soul attempts to distort such knowledge and plunge people into an abyss of passion and lust, perverting the pure attraction of a man toward a woman and vice versa. Satan seeks to drag it through the mire of extramarital relations.

But let us examine the proper situation.

As they learn about our world, young people acquire many good things. Somewhere deep within, they dream of finding their other half and establishing a Christian family. Young men and women begin studying this subject, seeing the example of their parents and observing other families. Without practical experience or knowledge of the depth of family relationships, but imagining them in their own way, young people begin preparing for marriage. Some are frightened by it. Others are drawn toward the opposite sex. Yet their knowledge remains at the level of theory and dreams. Many years of waiting pass in this way. Friends establish families, have children, and share the joys and sorrows of married life, while you have only theory and no understanding of what such a way of life looks like from within.

Then the answer to your prayers and expectations arrives: the Lord presents you with the long-awaited gift, and your heart becomes completely attached to that person. All your thoughts and feelings are directed toward the candidate for your other half. The novelty of the relationship makes your head spin, and in prayers of thanksgiving and blessing you soar toward Heaven. A season of fasting and prayer begins as you desire to understand whether this is the right person. Yet you still have no practical knowledge of how a family works. You know that this will come after the wedding and for now simply believe that everything will be wonderful. In your imagination, the “honeymoon” appears very sweet indeed. But all this is only words and fantasies. From the object of your love, you can receive nothing except conversation and charming smiles.

Then the moment comes when the wedding date has been set, the time agreed upon, the celebration arranged, and the guests invited. Everyone waits with eager anticipation. The bridegroom and bride come forward and, before many witnesses, promise to care for one another through the various circumstances of life and to love each other until death separates them. God joins this new family, and you are declared husband and wife. At that moment, you understand that you possess every right to your other half and that your family life has now begun.

The marriage ceremony, celebration, gifts, and congratulations all fade before the moment when the two of you remain alone to know one another. Theory becomes practice. You enter the world of family relationships and begin seeing it from within, now possessing your own personal experience, feelings, and emotions. You no longer need to search for someone, because you have a friend who will gladly meet all your physical and emotional needs. The intimacy of this relationship becomes yours forever. By mutual consent, you unite in one another’s embrace and receive everything that rightfully belongs to you two alone.

The chief purpose of your family is not the fulfillment of shared plans, the building of a home, or the birth of children, but knowing one another throughout your entire lives amid all life’s difficulties and joys. When the proper course is set toward achieving this very purpose, everything else becomes an auxiliary and accompanying factor in your growth in knowing one another. Any other goal removes the foundation of the relationship and builds upon an incomprehensible foundation. And the winds blew, and the waters rose, and that house . . . Write the rest yourselves.

Let us transfer this model of relationships to the spiritual life.

I hear much about agape love and read much about it, studying the subject and trying to understand what it looks like from within. What does a person who possesses it experience? What thoughts and feelings fill that person? The more I learn about the beauty of such relationships, the more I desire to possess them. My whole nature reaches toward God, my entire being thirsts for the knowledge of the Eternal, and my soul languishes in expectation of that very love which endureth all things and never fails. I know where and by whom it is written about; I know people who speak about such love. But I want to know it from within and personally taste all its fullness so that I may always have access to it. Yet I cannot receive it casually, outside marriage to the One Who is Love. I must enter a lawful relationship, giving my entire self in exchange for Christ. Jesus does not merely desire to present me with Heavenly merchandise; in this symbol, He longs to give me Himself as well. Without embarrassment, the Word of God calls those who receive this gift the Bride of Christ, pointing to the intimacy of the relationship between them and Jesus.

There will be no divorces in Heaven. As a consequence of this relationship, I receive that very Heavenly love which unites me so closely with the Heavenly Friend of my soul, my dear Jesus, and makes our relationship so intimate and strong that nothing can separate us. I unite with Jesus; I am in Him, and His love is in me. The purpose of our union becomes knowing one another more deeply. Through this knowledge, I better understand the character of our Heavenly Father, Who also blesses our union.

I love, and this condition of soul is now always available to me. At any time I may approach this source of inspiration, and I need not seek anything elsewhere. Love becomes my eternal possession. In her manifestation toward my neighbors, I see the manifestation of God’s love toward people. From now on, I understand all the actions and directions of God described in the Book of books. I comprehend the chief motive in all the works of the King of the Universe—love. And this love is available to me in all its fullness. At the same time, I remain an ordinary person immersed in my cares and thoughts, struggling for survival upon our restless Earth. Yet my inward world reaches toward Heaven, and only in Heavenly fellowship do I find peace and satisfaction.

The joy of intimacy with Christ becomes my continual possession and brings happiness into my life, along with a deep desire to know Jesus still more fully.

I now know from within what agape love is and how great and boundless it is. My human mind, damaged by sin, is being healed, although it retains scars and memories of past mistakes. I study love within myself, testing it in different directions, and I am amazed by its greatness and power. It is the mightiest weapon in the entire Universe, placed within the earthen vessel of my soul so that its power may be attributed not to me, but to the One from Whom it proceeds.

I love. This is victory; this is the very best acquisition. This is knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom He hath sent. This is life more abundantly. And it is available to everyone whose soul thirsts for such a relationship and strives toward it.

I build my house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

1. Read Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; Matthew 25:10; and John 3:28–30 in the light of this lesson.

2. What did you understand from this lesson?

3. What revelations did you receive?

4. Does this School deepen your knowledge of God’s love?

5. Who is the Bride of Christ? What does this mean to you?

6. What does it mean to know God?

7. Why does the Lord desire to be our Husband? Isaiah 54:5.