God is also always seeking the outsiders so that they, too, can be enveloped by the fellowship of the Christian community. However, if we overemphasize His exclusive love we start to think like elitists in a special Christian club. He reserves space for us in His everlasting kingdom. God jealously guards and provides for His own. We must never forget that the message of love in the gospel has two sides. Because the friendships that singles form are not restricted in the same way that those of married people are, singles “reflect the openness of God’s love that seeks to include within the circle of fellowship those yet outside its boundaries.” 1 His relationship quotient is never filled -there’s always room for one more. While marriage is designed to illustrate the restrictive nature of God’s covenant love for His people, singleness can beautifully display the treasured truth that God’s love is open to all. It is this freedom that portrays the inclusive dynamic of God’s love - the fact that the gospel message is open to all who will receive it. I am able to invest in a wide variety of relationships without cheating a husband out of the time that is rightfully his. I can be friends with men and women alike and not worry about being disloyal to my spouse - although I must always be careful not to give someone else’s spouse the opportunity to be disloyal. They are free to befriend and love many people without being unfaithful to any of them. Generally speaking, singles have a freedom in relationships that married people don’t have. While marriage illustrates what we can call the exclusive nature of God’s love, singleness allows us to better understand the inclusive nature of God’s love. When understood properly, the picture of singleness can help round out our concept of the love of God. Or maybe it’s a grand test that, if we pass, we get to move on to the higher ground of wedded life. What could singleness possibly add, if anything, to this array of rich images? What can a life devoid of lasting romance contribute to an understanding of holy love? Perhaps it merely serves to amplify the beauty of marital love, much like a dark sky enhances the splendor of a rainbow or a Hollywood villain magnifies the goodness of the hero. It pictures genuine commitment and unconditional love in a world of no-fault divorce, and it provides the framework for our concepts of spiritual birth and the Family of God. Marriage provides a beautiful reflection of some of our most treasured spiritual truths. In the New Testament, marriage images the relationship between Christ and the Church. Israel, the bride, spurned God and prostituted herself with other gods, and yet because of His covenant, God’s love for her endured. Throughout the writings of the Old Testament prophets, this relationship between God and His people is expressed in the metaphor of marriage. He selected them from among all the nations of the world to be His own, established a covenant with them, and vowed His faithfulness to them. One of the pervasive themes of Scripture is God’s love for His chosen people, the Israelites.
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