Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | FOUNDATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN MISSION: VISION AND BIBLICAL FOUNDATION / 369

drama, a divine romance, a marvelous and epic true myth and legend of an undying love relationship between an Almighty God, and a people. We are living witnesses of it, and as those who believe in the truth of the Gospel regarding Jesus of Nazareth, we too have actually become a part of that people, called and chosen to live out that drama of the divine romance. What is the nature of this divine romance? You see it in the Old Testament between God and his people Israel: Isa. 62.5 – For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. Again, we read of the Lord’s determination to delight in his people like a bridegroom: Isa. 62.4 – You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. The righteous of the Lord will be adorned as a bride at a wedding – his wedding. (Cf. Isaiah 61.10: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”) The God of heaven sees his people as a bride, and himself as her bridegroom and lover. This same dramatic image is seen most clearly in the drama of Christ and his Church, with our Lord as the bridegroom and the Church as his bride. The following texts give a sampling of the reference of Jesus as the bridegroom of his people: Matt. 9.15 – And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” John 3.29 – The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. Rev. 21.2 – And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The clearest and most direct association occurs in our devotional text itself:

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