Jesus Loves the Church

NIV Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . .

“Jesus loves the Church! How do we know? Because the Bible says that He gave himself up for her. How did He give himself up? He did it on the Cross. Jesus loves the Church so much that He makes her his Body. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (NIV 1 Corinthians 12:27) How much more intimate can one be than to share a body with someone else?

Jesus is passionate about the Church. He paid the highest price for her – his own blood. Therefore, next to the Father’s glory, the church is the most valuable thing in heaven and earth to Christ. He delights in the church:

Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves. (Song of Solomon 1:15 ESV)

You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! (Song of Solomon 4:7-10 ESV)

Christ loves the church with an infinite love. The church “is the object of a special and exclusive love. As the love which a bridegroom has for his bride is such as he has for no one else, so the love which Christ has for his church is such as he has for no other order of creatures in the universe, however exalted.”

“As the bride belongs exclusively to her husband, so the church belongs exclusively to Christ. She sustains a relationship to him which she sustains to no other being, and in which no other being participates.”

Jesus Loves His Church.

–Bernie Gillespie 10-08-06