In 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” Here we see that Christ is the believers’ one Husband, the unique Husband, for us to love. We should belong only to Him, and we should appreciate Him and love Him. As our Husband, Christ has attracted us, and we have been presented as a pure virgin to Him. Now we should care only for Him, allowing nothing to replace Him in our heart. Our love for Him should be pure, and our whole being should be focused on Him.
As those betrothed to Christ, we should take Him as our Husband. Taking Christ as our Husband is a most intimate matter. If we marry Christ, taking Him as our Husband, our life will be changed. We will realize that we must have a wife’s fidelity, and we will learn how to enjoy Christ as our life, walking and behaving in oneness with Him. Then we will become those who gain Christ and enjoy Christ, loving Him and living with Him.
The apostle Paul betrothed the believers to one Husband in order to present them as a pure virgin to Christ. Just as the apostle engaged the believers to Christ as the unique Husband, when we preach the gospel, we should represent Christ in His courtship of His chosen people that He may marry them. In other words, when we preach the gospel, lead others to salvation, and baptize them, we should have the feeling that we are betrothing them to Christ as one Husband in order to present them as a pure virgin to Him. In fact, to preach the gospel to others, to bring them to Christ, and to baptize them into the name of the Triune God are to present them as a pure virgin to Christ and to marry them to the Triune God embodied in Christ. We need to learn the truth that Christ is the one Husband and that we should betroth others to Christ as one Husband. This truth will strengthen us with assurance to exercise our authority to betroth others to Christ.
The word virgin in verse 2 means to be the bride for the Bridegroom (John 3:29), the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7). In this sense, all the believers of Christ are female. Spiritually, we all, brothers and sisters alike, are virgins betrothed to Christ (S. S. 1:3). All the believers, especially the brothers, need to realize that they are a part of the virgin to Christ. Before the Lord and to the Lord we have to consider ourselves as females. We have to love the Lord, just as a virgin loves her husband. A brother may be a husband, but to Christ he is a part of His wife. We all are virgins and are parts of the corporate virgin to Christ. If you behave yourself as a man before Christ, you insult the Lord’s headship; you must behave yourself as a virgin before the Lord. Paul betrothed the believers as a chaste, pure virgin to Christ.
Moreover, God has a jealous heart, an envying heart, toward us because He wants us to be solely for Him and to turn toward Him. He does not want us to have any other love apart from Him, just as a husband desires his wife to love him and wants his wife to be only for him. Therefore, we need to be blindly and foolishly satisfied with Christ alone. We should not know anything but Christ and have the attitude that nothing is as good as Christ. He is the best, and we simply love Him.
The goal of the Lord’s recovery is to recover Christ Himself as the unique Husband for us to love. We should belong only to Him. As long as we have been brought as a pure virgin to this Husband and love Him, appreciate Him, and belong to Him, we will be preserved. This will keep us, sanctify us, and transform us. Christ is a lovely person, the unique, universal Husband. We have all been presented as a pure virgin to Him. We are for Him, and we should be attracted to Him, loving Him, appreciating Him, and treasuring Him.