The Bible is a Romance

The Bible is a romance

In the most holy sense;

God and His chosen people

In love it so presents.

This universal couple

Throughout it is displayed

God in Christ is the Bridegroom,

His saints, the bride, portrayed.

Through shadows, types and figures,

God's deepest thought is known;

As typified by Adam,

The Husband, Christ, is shown.

A rib brought forth from Adam

Reveals the source of life

By which God built a woman:

Eve, as the church, His wife.

To be His people's Husband,

To take them as His wife:

This is what God desires

To live in marriage life.

Their sacrifice and worship

Alone could not content;

But with them to be married

Was God's foremost intent.

This romance is the finest

As seen in Song of Songs;

For her Beloved's kisses

His seeking lover longs.

Love's work in her produces

No person of her own,

But she becomes the city,

Her person, Christ alone.

Christ is our coming Bridegroom;

We are the church, His bride,

Redeemed, regenerated,

The issue of His side,

In source, in life, in nature

And person fully one,

His counterpart forever,

The New Jerusalem.