SINGLE, BUT MARRIED TO CHRIST

Hosea 2:19-20

Hosea 2:19-20
"And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. 20I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord." NRSV
God states he wants to be married to us. He states that if we will be his wife that we will know Him.

The New Testament gets even more specific who will be the bridegroom.

John 3:28-29
"You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' [29] "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full.
Jesus is the bridegroom

When does the actual marriage take place?

Rev. 19:7-9
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

Until Jesus comes back, we are not actually married to Christ, we are betrothed to Him. Remember what Hosea 2:19-20 said:

Betroth-to promise "by one’s truth." Men and women were betrothed when they were engaged to be married. This usually took place a year or more before marriage. From the time of betrothal the woman was regarded as the lawful wife of the man to whom she was betrothed. However, the consummation of the marriage did not take place until the marriage ceremony. The ceremony could go for a week.
We are to live as if we are married to Christ, but the actual marriage ceremony will not happen until He returns and we receive our glorified bodies.

Do we live our lives as if we are betrothed to Christ? As singles, do people look at us and see that we are in love. You know what I mean. You have seen people in love. They spend every spare moment with their lover. They will do silly things for and with their lover. They will talk for hours on the phone, even if it is long distance. They make plans for the future. They become inseparable. There is a look in their face.

How about us singles that know Christ. Can the same be said about us?

For some yes, for some no.

What does scripture say?
2 Cor. 11:2 -4
"I am anxious for you with the deep concern of God himself--anxious that your love should be for Christ alone, just as a pure maiden saves her love for one man only, for the one who will be her husband. But I am frightened, fearing that in some way you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to our Lord, just as Eve was deceived by Satan in the Garden of Eden."

Many of us have been led away from our pure and simple devotion.

Rev. 2:1-7
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: [2] I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. [3] You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. [4] Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. [5] Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Good deeds, but lost first love. Remember what Paul said, ‘pure and simple’ devotion.

One more scripture
What drives us, what controls our life, what determines why we do good works?
2 Cor. 5:13-15

"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. [14] For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; [15] and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf".

HUNGER

Hunger for His love-pure and simple
Hunger for fullness
Hunger for holiness
Hunger for His return when see the ugliness and pain of this world

Many times it is not fun to be single. It can be lonely. But with Christ it can be very exciting, and we have much more time to be servants of the Lord. God may bless us with a marriage partner. Whether he does or not, we can look to the greatest marriage there is-

Rev. 19:7-9
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." [8] And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. [9] And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

Let Him clothe you with His righteousness. Be married to Christ and trust Him to provide a spouse if it is in His plans.