As a single male who is a Christian philosopher seeking to get married, I have a love of at least there things. There are more, but today, I choose to write on these three. I love beauty. I love ladies. I love God. Some of us might be able to think of how two of the three can be connected. How can all three though?
<> Obviously, when we men talk about ladies, one thing we do say is that we love their beauty. Let me go on and dispel any idea some might have about me. I do believe a lady’s appearance is important and I am quite drawn to that. Why shouldn’t I be? Did not God give a lady a naturally beautiful form for a reason?
I have often asked a question to men. I give them a list of things in the universe such as a distant galaxy, the Grand Canyon, a gorgoeus sunset, a pristine waterfall, a majestic mountain, a priceless work of art, a wonderously carved statue. The last item I give will always be “A human female.” I then say “Name the most beautiful.” The lady wins hands-down every time.
What is it about us men with this specimen called the human female? If we catch a glimpse of a beauty and we want to be sure we saw, we will go to the ends of the Earth for what? We simply want to see her again. Our eyes automatically give us the clue that we have seen a slice of divinity, and I would dare say we have.
The lady is the last direct creation of God in the Genesis creation narrative. I believe she is the crown of creation in that she mirrors God’s beauty. She was seen without any covering. Many of us can wonder exactly how Adam reacted to hear a rustling in the bushes and see this beauty come out of them to meet him. Many more of us single guys have wondered exactly what the first lady created by God looked like.
We cannot separate her beauty from God’s. There would be no beauty in the effect if there was no beauty in the cause. The Psalmist said that he sought to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord in Psalm 27:4. Is it any coincidence that most guys seek to look upon the beauty of the female? Could our pursuit of the female, which is fully expressed in sexual intercourse, show how we are to pursue God?
After all, which man would be looked upon nobly if when asked why he was wanting to get married said “I just want to have constant sexual intercourse.” Many a married person would say that he’s deluded at that point. The single guy would understand the desire for intercourse as would the married person and I think it’s commendable, yet we would find one sorely missed if they merely wanted an experience.
After all, if you merely want an experience and you are not concerned about the person, then you are using the person. A person is not meant to be used though. They are meant to be loved. Persons are not things and as soon as we start treating them as mere objects, we start living out of step with reality.
Yet what if we changed this instead? What if we said we want to experience the person? Then, I think, we are on to something. Which of us would look at the nature of God and say “I merely want to know what he’s like.” That’s a good goal to have, but is it a good one to have if you say “I don’t want to know him. I just want to know what he’s like.” God is not meant to be treated like a lab rat or an object of curiosity. Neither is a lady.
In this then, we must avoid two extremes and go for the golden mean. We cannot treat God as merely an object of knowledge. On the other hand, we cannot have just an idea of experiencing God. It’s important to know who it is that you are experiencing, just as it is important to know who you are in bed with. Just ask Jacob how important that fact is.
Thus, we are to pursue God for who he is and desire to experience him based on who he is. Is this not the way we do in the romance relationship? Do we not as men pursue the girl and the more we see who she is, the more we truly want to experience her? The two are working hand in hand.
And what is this experience? Total revelation. The two become so interconnected that they are one. The sexual unity between man and woman is meant to be a lesser light pointing to the greater light of the unity of God in relationship with man. I can imagine my married friends telling me, “If that unity of God in relationship with man is greater, then wow, it must be really awesome.”
And what is the result? New life. We are the bride of Christ. He comes to us and puts his life in us. The new birth is in this case though, ourselves. We are the ones that receive the new life. It is Christ in us. We are reborn and made to walk as he did. This only comes though when we open ourselves up to him. Christ is not a rapist. He does not force anyone to receive his life. You are free to dismiss the wooing of this gentleman, but if you forsake love in its very essence, then where are you to go?
Yes. The three are connected, and should they not be? Should not all that is here point to God in someway? Does not all of creation say “I’m not it. I’m not the goal. Look past me.” Indeed my fellow men, even our women say that. Treat them as beautiful treasures that they are, but realize that they are gifts, and as wondrous as opening the gift is on the day, it will be far better to meet the source of the gift.
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