[T]he Bible begins and ends with marriage– the marriage of Adam and Eve is the high point of the creation story in Genesis, and the marriage of the New Adam and the New Eve, Christ and the Church, is the high point of the story in the book of Revelation. Furthermore… the first human words spoken in the Bible, “This as last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” (Gen 2:23), are words of the bridegroom’s desire for his bride? And… the final human words spoken in the Bible are… the words of the Bride’s desire for the coming of her Bridegroom: “The Spirit and the bride say ‘Come!’… ‘Come Lord Jesus'” (Rev. 22:17, 20).

The whole story of our salvation… is framed by the desire of the bridegroom for union with the bride, and the desire of the Bride for union with the Bridegroom. Bring those two desires together to meet in the middle of the story and guess where you are… the “sacred love” of the Song of Songs.

The Song of Songs is first… a duet between passionate human lovers. But it is also, as countless saints attest, an image of the passionate love God has for us and we are meant to have for him… We exist because God wants to make a gift of himself to us, and because God wants to share his own infinite goodness and bliss with us. And that bliss is what we desire at our deepest level…

Being a Christian, then, means learning how to direct eros toward that which truly satisfies: the “nuptial union” of Christ and the Church. In short, these heavenly nuptials are what we long for (desire); they’re what we’re created for (design); and they’re what we’re headed for (destiny). 

– Christopher West, Fill These Hearts, 2013, Image Books. –

You can read my review of Christopher West’s new book, Fill These Hearts, on Good Reads.