AGUEST SAIDQuote:
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There is a sacred secret within this
There is, dear Loz (the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!)! To add to the other truths shared here I'd like to elaborate, if you will permit me (thank you!)... as most don't understand how that "union" occurs... or WHY. It is this:
JAH's holy spirit, His "life"... is His blood, breath, and seed (semen). Just as it is with man. No blood, no life. No breath, no life. No semen, no generation of life. People who deny the conception of our dear Lord in the woman Mary don't understand HOW such could have happened... or they attribute it to a person/entity other than the MOST Holy One of Israel, JAH of Armies.
All that occurred, however, was that He put HIS spirit... in the form of seed... in HER. HIS life essence. This joined with HER seed... the life essence that was in HER... and our Lord was conceived. It was an "immaculate" conception because no seed was spilled to effect the act. The result was another "Adham", a being half flesh (per the physical vessel he inherited from Mary, a woman of flesh with ITS blood)... and half spirit (per the LIFE force in him... holy spirit... from JAH, a spirit being).
Adham was the same: half flesh (per the physical vessel than came from "Hagar," the earth)... half spirit (per the life for in HIM... holy spirit... that JAH blew INTO him... holy spirit in the form of His BREATH... to bring him TO life).
Both of these were children, sons... of JAH... be of HIS life and reproductive powers IN them. That power, however, had not yet come to full in either of them - they were not "mature" enough. Unfortunately, Adham never attained that power - by means of his choices, he sold JAH's regenerative power... HIS seed... to Death. That is how Death came to be captive over us all.
Christ, however, received more of that power when he came up from the Jordan... when JAH removed His spirit from the temple... and put it in our Lord. And from that point, our Lord used that power for all manner of good REgenerative purposes - healing, resurrecting, etc. But there was more, much more, to come. When he gave his life and then ascended back to the Father... he received FULL power! What does that mean? It means that while he previous powers healed/resurrected... they only did so TEMPORARILY! When his kingship was bestowed on him, though, he received "ALL AUTHORITY... in heaven AND on earth". He was GLORIFIED... and became the TRUE "Joseph," second only to JAH (Pharaoh).
Now... what to DO with all of that power?? Build the TRUE temple of GOD!! A temple made of PEOPLE... which people are "dedicated" to his God and Father, the MOST Holy One of Israel, JAH of Armies! But because JAH is holy... that TEMPLE must also be holy... and so its "materials"... the foundation, pillars, stones, etc., must be holy.
And that's where the Bride of Christ comes in - "she" must be a "wife"... clean, chaste, and loyal to her "husband" and no other man.
Unlike what many think of it today, marriage was (and is, actually) a CONTRACT... as is a "covenant." And so, when a "man" enters into marriage... the other party is his "wife" (gay marriage aside and beyond the scope of this discussion). Hence, when JAH instituted the Law Covenant at Sinai, those who entered into with Him... the "other party"... Israel... became His "wife." He considered Himself "married" to "her." Why? Because He took on the responsibilities of a HUSBAND as to "her" - He vowed to care for her, provide for her, treat her lovingly and tenderly, and protect her. In exchange, He asked for what MOST men want in a marriage: her love and loyalty, her explicit devotion, her respect, and for her to honor Him in her "household." To teach her children to love and respect Him... honor Him... and be loyal to Him, as well. Also, to keep His house "clean", prepare His "food" according to how HE likes it, etc. Everything a man wants in a "wife."
(Note, I said "in a 'wife'", because that is a particular role, actually, unlike today where "partner" is more accurate. Eve was to be more of a "partner" than what a "wife" came to denote - her error is what led to her being a "wife"... in the sense that her craving CAME to be for her husband AND he CAME to dominate her. It was not always that way... nor was it meant to be. I digress.).
Just as Adham/Eve were to "fill the earth and subdue it," so, too, the Christ. And like Adham... he is to do it with a "wife", a partner. HIS "Bride."
That "Bride" are those who are joined to Christ in the SAME way the Father joined to "Hagar" to create Adham... and to Mary to conceive our Lord:
by means of holy spirit... God's life force! By means of the FULLNESS of God's blood, breath, and seed now in HIM... our Lord "unionizes" with US... his BODY. We are then CONCEIVED... IN THE SPIRIT... and awaiting a NEW BIRTH... to be born AGAIN... but this time IN THE SPIRIT! We have not been so born YET; however, the TOKEN that is holy spirit makes it "good as done"... and so one can say, for certainty, so long as they've made the calling and choosing SURE (i.e., received the "sealing"), they can say they are "born-again." It is not ACCURATE, but it is assured!
Because of this "union"... we, together with HIM... make up the "christ-child"... the Body of Chosen Ones to/of JAH (Mischa...Jah). He being the Head, and we the Body (of that "child"). I say "child"... because, by means of that union... we become ONE. Just as he and JAH are one. And so, by means of God's REPRODUCTIVE power now in HIM... he "conceives" children FOR God.
This occurs because, through Christ, GOD's seed combines with the seed of God's SPIRITUAL wife... "Sarah"... who is "Jerusalem Above"... the SPIRIT realm... which/who is FREE. And because SHE is free... HER children... those seed who are fertilized by God's holy spirit... HIS seed... are not bound to the physical vessel, but are given "white robes"... SPIRIT vessels... which are incorruptible and immortal. They don't sleep, rest, pee, poop. They are not bound to size or strength, or anything that flesh with IT'S blood is bound to. Except two things: like physical man, they must also eat... and drink. But, like all spirit beings who wish to live (eternally), they eat ONLY from the Tree of Life... which is the Christ... and drink from the river/fountain that flows FROM him. They do not require physical food/drink.
They eat the "leaves" of that Tree (of Life, which Christ is!)... which is his flesh... and drink the "water"... which is his blood. They do it now, symbolically, but... like Adham/Eve and all spirit beings (Adham/Eve being half spirit)... they must and will do so as spirits. Psalm 78:25; Revelation 22:1, 2; John 6:50, 51
Why a union? Why a "husband/bride" relationship? Because of same desires that JAH wanted from Israel... and responsibility to give TO Israel: in exchange for HER love, loyalty, respect, honor, and caring of his "house," HE loves, cherishes, cares for, provides for, and protects HER.
This not just an abstract relationship, however; it is not a unconsummated marriage. It is VERY much consummated... except by means of... yep, holy spirit. Through Christ, God gives HIS seed... now also Christ's seed (because it is him and he is the one that dispenses it)... to these. Just as man gives his to a woman. For God and Christ... this is a SACRED union because it is done as an ACT OF LOVE... versus union with a concubine (one who is in the union either merely as a means for physical release and perhaps even companionship... or solely to produce children). A wife, in the eyes of God and Christ, is one who is loved dearly... AS a man loves HIMSELF. And so, while a man may have affection for a concubine, even love... it is not the same as for a wife. A man doesn't usually make a concubine a wife (which is why she is a concubine). Because the wife position is for the woman he loves... AS he loves HIMSELF.
Now, of course, I know that there are "first" wives, and "second" wives... and so on. Those are wives by means of contract, union, cultural/societal dictates, etc. But there is only one TRUE wife... and it is the woman to whom the man gives more than his care and possessions to, more than he gives his protection to. It is the one he gives his HEART to. Which is why there was to be only ONE wife... and she until either she commits fornication/adultery (and so show herself UNWORTHY of the man's love and heart)... or dies.
Because Christ gives his HEART to his "Bride" (to each individual, individually), he is giving MORE than just his body... but ALL that he is (and because there is more than one for whom he does this, they ALL, TOGETHER... make up his "Bride"). And what he asks in return from that Bride... from those she is made up OF... is that "she" do the same: have NO OTHER husband than him. As a group OR individually.
Which is why such ones CANNOT adhere to the Law Covenant... because that is the Law "of MOSES"... Israel's "first" husband. Since the law of THAT husband was fulfilled... and removed... by Christ, HE is now the husband and so HIS law must prevail. Otherwise, one is committing "spiritual adultery" - living by the law of another man/husband.
Because he is a spirit, however, and not flesh with its blood... he is free... and so, unlike a man of flesh who can only "love" one woman at a time (even in a menage a trois/orgy - still only one at a time)... he can love them ALL... at any given time! And that love, that "union", is just as a man "loves" a woman: with heart, mind, soul, spirit... and body. The only different is that his body is NOT of flesh with its blood, but of spirit... and so it is the SPIRIT of the members of his bride that he "loves"... "knows"... as a man who makes love to a woman "knows" her - in the most intimate sense of the word.
It is an erotic love? No. Such is for the flesh, not the spirit. Where physical love excites the flesh, spiritual love excites the spirit! Where physical love requires members of the physical body (and not necessarily genitals, but certainly some form of "touch"), spiritual love does not. Its "union" goes far, far beyond that. It is PERFECT, in every since. No seed spilled, no undesirable reflexes or reactions, no obscene actions, no pain, no ups and downs. Perfect and all the time. And it doesn't "feel" like physical union (that is the PHYSICAL union)... because it is not physical. But it grants a greater euphoria, greater peace, greater sense of fulfillment, etc., because it IS greater.
[And for anyone who might be reading this - SA waves at the usual suspects - and want to try and sully it by trying to compare it to the physical (and I say try, because it really isn't even in the same ballpark, let alone same realm), I would say to you that to even TRY think along the same lines... is not only futile (there truly is no comparison between the two... one is physical, one is not, not by ANY stretch, and they are not alike in ANY way... except perhaps to leave one feeling "loved")... but asinine. If you're of the mind to TRY to make a... mmmmm... mundane... physical... obscene thing of it... go ahead. It will only show just how (very) small your mind is (and possibly another of your organs) and your inability to go beyond your own limited scope... and flesh. For which I pity you... because you truly have NO idea.]
And so, yes, there is much more to the "union" with Christ than just the word "union." It is a TRUE bond, not only in affections, but in spirit... and by means of the blood, breath, and semen... holy spirit... of God. All of these are LIFE... and all of them bind a "man"... to a "woman."
I hope this helps and, again, peace to you!
YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,
SA