Are Christians really serious about imagining connection with God as a love relationship? Because we don’t consistently apply love relationship rules and realities when it comes to the divine relationship. e.g. In love, absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder. Couples are often encouraged to spend time apart in order to better appreciate each other and not take each other for granted. Yet, in the divine relationship, taking time away and spending time apart is frowned upon. e.g. In love, developing individual interests and lives is thought to be a healthy way for couples to allow each other room to breathe and grow. One beneficial by-product of this is the equipping of each partner with more to bring to the relationship’s table. Yet, in the divine relationship, this is discouraged.Many contemporary Christian songs, distorting Paul’s edict to husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:25), depict the relationship between the Lord and his church as a romance. But the balance of scripture doesn’t cast the divine-human connection as a romantic relationship at all. The weight of scripture defines the relationship as a master-slave arrangement. Paul doesn’t refer to himself as a spouse, but as a slave (Rom 1:1). [The word translated ‘servant’ is the original Greek doulos which means ‘slave.’]
Christians who think themselves in a love relationship with God think too highly of themselves. We are simply not, in this life anyway, capable of matching the intensity and purity of love God has for us. It would be a woefully one sided relationship; and most of us don’t consider that love at all, but tragedy. God, because He is holy and perfect, will always love us way more than we love him. That’s just the way it is.
The bible reveals Jesus as Lord (Ph 2:11), not Lover, or Husband, or Best Friend. He is the Royal Master, not our Road Dawg.
I love God, but I’m not in love with Him. I wouldn’t insult Him that way.
What about you? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
