The Beauty of the Church, the Bride of Christ

The Puritans made great use of the Song of Songs. It saddens me that it has become a neglected book. The literalism that has been popularized by the fundamentalists has turned this book into a sterile, purposeless poem. I have even been told that it should be removed from the canon as "pornographic." I deny that God's word can be either pornographic or useless.

Consider this verse:
"You are altogether beautiful, my love;
     There is no flaw in you."

Those two lines are as beautiful as any line in Shakespeare or Japanese haiku. Yet, I bet that most people reading this have never seen it before.

The Puritans considered the Song to be a poetic description of Christ and His bride, the Church. This verse is the address of the groom to the bride. This is the same one that he first saw as an infant in the blood of her birth (Ezekiel 16:6), in her age of nubility (Ez. 16:8), and finally in her bridal apparel (Ez. 16:10-13). After that, two paths are described, the one of an adulteress (Ez. 16:15-34, Revelation 17), and the other of a faithful bride (Revelation 19:6-9). This isn't a matter of one replacing the other. Rather,  it is the parallel development of a faithful seed and a faithless seed, side by side, as was predicted in the first scriptures (Genesis 3:15).

The Song is about Jesus and His faithful bride. He sees her, not in her nature, but as she is by His grace: "Drink that in, Christian. If ever there were a honeycomb full of virgin honey, it is here. Though in ourselves we are defiled, yet, in the eyes of Jesus, looked on as covered with His righteousness, we are 'absolutely beautiful.' We are as dear to Him as if we had never sinned" (Charles Spurgeon).

The Church is beautiful with the beauty that her divine Groom gives her!