Knowing God is the whole battle.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God,” John 1:2 KJV
To truly love the bride of Christ we must know Christ. We must be deeply acquainted with the Father’s heart for all people and when we adopt His heart for the church we are able to love her.
One way to know God and His heart is to study the Bible. It gives us insight into who He is, how He feels and what He may do. In John 1:2 we see that God is His Word. Know the Bible and know God.
The other way to know God is through worship. Worship is how humanity responds to a Holy God. Intimacy with God can be felt through sweet communion with Him in Worship. Proskuneo is the Greek word for worship. It literally means to kiss the hand. Have you ever kissed the hand of your maker? It’s intimate and not in a sexual way. It is a spiritual closeness reserved for those that are in the Spirit.
Prayer is another way humanity can know God. Speaking to God, learning to recognize His voice and choose to obey what He says is the mark of those that know Him.
When we put these three things together, we are able to know God so deeply we become one. We begin to become like Him. This enables us to do what God desires and want the same things God wants.
What does God desire for His people but that they would be with Him, that they would love Him and love each other? Therefore, let us consider three main attributes of the triune God and His heart for the church through the eyes of the Israelites. This will give us insight into what the posture of our hearts should be for the Bride.
Three Main Attributes
In Exodus 34 there is an account of God passing by His servant Moses and proclaiming His own attributes. This list encompasses those attributes.
- Love
- Mercy
- Long-suffering
We must remind the remnant to keep on loving and forgiving. We must encourage each other to suffer long with one another and most importantly we must recall how much Christ loved the church. The church is a central character in God’s story. Our generation is falling away from the church in record numbers.
“It seems all-too-often our churches are actually causing more damage than good, and the statistics are showing a staggering number of millennials have taken note. According to this study (and many others like it) church attendance and impressions of the church as well as people leaving the church, are the lowest in recent history, and most drastic among millennials described as 22- to 35-year-olds. Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile (an all-time low). 59 percent of millennials raised in a church have dropped out. 35 percent of millennials have an anti-church stance, believing the church does more harm than good. Millennials are the least likely age group of anyone to attend church (by far),” said public school teacher Sam Eaton in a recent article written for Faithit.
If we look at the body as individuals, we might find it hard to endure its imperfections. We may struggle to forgive the humanity of our leaders and fellow sojourners but for the cause of Christ, we must endure.
We must keep on the road to Zion with our eyes on the prize; our God. When we adopt the heart of our God for His Bride we can love her and suffer long with those, who are in-fact like us, who make up the Church.
This is how we love the church. Through love, mercy and long-suffering; like Christ.
Brittany Henry is dedicated to reconciling lost men and women to their God through influence. By serving her family, writing spiritual songs, authoring books, and building wealth through entrepreneurship she is an example of how women should conduct themselves as strangers in the earth. To learn more about her contributions to the Kingdom of God visit FVANETWORK.com and BrittanyHenryMinistries.org
This blog was originally published on behalf of Cornerstone College of Virginia.