Love by Design: True Love Has Already Been Designed for Us

...`Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

Song of Songs 2:13

Introduction

The Covenant Keeper went out to the fields calling for his beloved. They always walked together in the cool of the evening but she was nowhere to be found. Again, she had hidden. Again she had betrayed He who would never betray, He who would always come to the field in the evening to search for her. For the evening represented the time she had ceased from her labors. It was that time of the day when she had settled down and finally He was able to sit with her and share His heart. "My beloved has run away and my heart aches", says the Covenant Keeper. "I can never find another just like her." His beloved had been created individually and his heart yearned for her as for no other. Take my plans for you and write them down. Seal them in your heart. Only cease from your labor when I come for you. But this day beloved had run away and was not waiting. It always pearled to the heart of the Covenant Keeper. He would never fail to come to the usual place. He was always there to meet with her but sometimes his beloved was late or sometimes, she was not able to meet with Him at all. Beloved knew that the Covenant Keeper would look deep into her heart; his eyes of love were sometimes more than she could bear. For the Covenant Keeper was forever faithful and she was not. The beloved had not realized that every time she would meet with her Covenant Keeper, every time she chose to cease from her labors and come to the meeting place, she would be healed.

Chapter One - Looking For Love...

It was graduation day in a country town from a small school. It would be my ticket to freedom or so I thought. Movies, dates and other teenage escapades didn't seem to be the only things missing from my life. I had lived a sheltered life. There just seemed to be so much more and I was determined to find it. When I was a little girl I remember announcing to my mother, "I'm going to live far away from here some day." I didn't realize those words were prophetic.

As I left for college the excitement began to build. This was a whole new world for me. One semester later I was disillusioned and disheartened. This was not at all what I had imagined. Worst of all, I felt emptier than ever before.

Church and religion had been a major part of my life every since I could remember. However, I had no concept whatsoever of a God who cared for me individually. Oh, I prayed when I was afraid or wanted something because I believed God was in the universe somewhere. I believed He knew everything so maybe I would get lucky and somehow get the answer I needed. It certainly didn't hurt to try Him when desperation set in.

The problem was I didn't understand that God loved me unconditionally. Neither did I fully understand that it wasn't only that God "so loved the world" (John 3:16). God so loved ME that He sent Jesus Christ, his only son to die for ME. I considered myself a Christian because we faithfully attended church and as were often taught, "my name was on the church role."

No one had ever explained to me that from the moment I was conceived God loved me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He had a perfect plan for my life when I was still in my mother's womb. I didn't realize that this plan was the answer to my fulfillment and satisfaction deep within my soul.

It wasn't until I was thirty years old, twenty-three years later that I discovered my Covenant Keeper. Finally I have discovered what had been missing in my life all these years. Take a walk with me through the following chapters. For some of you these truths will be like nothing you have ever heard before, totally transforming your lives. For others it will confirm what you have suspected for a long time. But all of you will be brought to the valley of decision. My prayer is that you will begin to know the one who, from the beginning, designed love for you. This is the only perfect love, the love of your Covenant Keeper. It is for Him that you exist.

Chapter Two - The Covenant Keeper

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" Genesis 3: 8-9.

Do you think that brides are beautiful? From the beginning God longed to spend time with us. He is married to us. He loves us and sees us as his bride.

In the first book of the Bible it says that God called to Adam and said, "Where are you?" Adam and Eve were so pure in the beginning that the Bible says they were naked and unashamed. It's kind of like a little baby. My baby boy could walk into a grocery store with no clothes on. He would not feel ashamed. Why? Because his heart is so pure and innocent. He would not realize that others might be embarrassed.

God went looking for Adam. It's hard to imagine that the God of the universe wants a relationship with us. But He loves us with an everlasting love. The Bible tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. It doesn't matter what you have said or done. We don't understand this type of love because we usually love with conditions. For example, it's easy to love someone when they are sweet and kind. However, most of us have a difficult time loving someone who is mean and nasty. Because we love this way we assume that God is the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is true that God is so pure and perfect that he cannot look upon evil. He turns His face away from our disobedience (sin). As a matter of fact he hates disobedience but the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He doesn't love us because of our goodness. He loves us because we are his creation and in each of us He has planted a treasure. We read about this kind of love in Romans 8:31-39 in the Bible.

Over time I have realized that I was designed for a specific purpose. It would be impossible for anyone else to fulfill my purpose. I didn't know that God wanted to reveal this plan to me. My nature and personality were designed to help me fulfill that very thing. No one else is exactly like me. No one else has my fingerprints. God is looking for you and me. He's looking for us to come and have sweet fellowship with Him. He is a "personal" God. He is my personal designer. He can tell me everything I need to know about myself. God wants this relationship with us so much that he devised a way that we could come to Him again freely.

When Adam disobeyed or sinned against God, all mankind inherited this same sin nature. We were all guilty as charged and sentenced to death. Even though God loves us He is a God of justice and truth. He would have had to carry out the sentence of death on us all. However, what if someone offered to pay our sin debt for us? He would have to be "without blemish", the perfect sacrifice. This was the perfect plan of reconciliation - Jesus Christ. No man could reconcile us back to God because all men have sinned. Therefore, God sent his Son - the perfect sacrifice to take our place. The Bible explains to us in Romans 5:8 ...God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In him, Jesus Christ, was no sin. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ we were no longer sentenced to death. See John 3:16. Here we have the new covenant. Our Covenant Keeper had redeemed us back to himself.

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience [Jesus Christ] many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19...(emphasis mine).

Chapter Three - God's Covenant Love

We have friends but it is rare to have a friend that has been around for a long time. However in ancient times people understood the significance of a covenant relationship. It was not entered into lightly. The Book of Genesis tells us about the first man that was created.

According to Unger's Bible Dictionary, a covenant is a solemn agreement between two or more parties. The word is sometimes translated as "testament". The Hebrew word for covenant is berith which means CUTTING or to cut. In the Bible the terms covenant, testament or cutting refer to various transactions between God and man, and man and his fellow man. In making a covenant each party bound himself to fulfill certain conditions, and was promised certain advantages. The principle of covenant can be seen as far back as when man began. Ancient tribes are documented to have performed blood covenants. We have often heard the term "blood brothers" used between friends even to this day. In our society today we don't talk much about covenant.

With every covenant there must be agreement between both parties. It is a free will decision. A true covenant always involves the mingling of blood between the two. It is a sign that the one is willing to die for the other.

You may have heard the story about Noah and the Arc. In Genesis 6:18 we see where God established a covenant with Noah. It was a covenant that would save Noah and his family from the wrath to come. However, we will look more extensively at the covenant between God and a man called Abraham. This covenant is extremely important because it is still impacting our lives today!

In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with this man called Abraham and again in Genesis 17:

This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you, and your descendants;

after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and ye shall be circumcised

in the flesh of your foreskins; and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

Genesis 17:10-11.

The evidence of God's covenant with Abraham was displayed by a CUTTING AWAY OF FLESH. Again we see a shedding of blood represented the covenant between the two of them. Even today we must be "spiritually circumcised" to please the Covenant Keeper. Since the Bible tells us that it is impossible for the carnal (fleshly) nature to please God we too must undergo a type of "circumcision". This sounds pretty wild. But then we are talking about a God who created the universe. His thoughts are quite different from our thoughts.

...and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit.... Romans 2:29.

By entering this covenant the Bible says we are adopted into God's family. That means that we have inherited all the benefits of the kingdom of God. Such things as love, peace, joy, good health, prosperity and other wonderful things are some of the benefits that we have inherited. God promised Abraham that through his (Abraham's) seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Chapter Four - Our Covenant Foundation

Maybe you are thinking, "What on earth could a covenant with some man thousands of years ago have to do with me right now?" I'm glad you asked. The covenant between God and Abraham represented God's agreement to be Abraham's provider and protector. Abraham was called a "friend of God" (Read James 2:23). However, this friendship means more than the type of friendship we understand today.

A friend would give his life for his covenant friend. More importantly, he was willing to go a step further. He was willing to give up anything else that was very precious to him. Remember when God asked Abraham to give up his son, his only son? (See Genesis 22:2). Abraham would understand what this meant. You see in those parts of the world it was of utmost importance for a man to have a son. A man's pride and joy was all wrapped up in his wife giving birth to a son. It was so crucial that if a wife did not bear her husband a son he had the right to get another wife. See Hannah's heart wrenching plea in 1Samuel 1:1-28.

So, it was one thing to ask a man to give up his life to his covenant brother. But, he really demonstrated his commitment to the covenant by giving up his son. It was equivalent to a part of his "manhood" so to speak. Why was Abraham called a friend of God? Abraham was willing to give up his one true son that God had promised him. Abraham demonstrated his commitment to the covenant. The Bible says that he believed God. He believed that God was a "COVENANT KEEPING GOD". He believed that God was faithful in what He had promised.

According to a famous pastor and author, Myles Monroe, "If you don't know the purpose of a thing, you will misuse it." Our relationship with God, our creator, is the most important relationship that we could ever have. It is a COVENANT relationship. By studying the foundation of our relationship with Him, we can understand the foundation of every other relationship. Once we have a solid foundation we can begin to build upon it in the proper way.

Chapter Five - Covenant Intimacy

God has designed a woman in a unique way. The body of a woman was created with COVENANT in mind. Many young ladies have not been taught the purpose of their bodies from this perspective. Little girls grow up to be women who allow their bodies to be misused. They essentially are "destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Therefore, they constantly and consistently make the same mistakes. I have made these same mistakes in my own life. No one explained covenant relationship to me. Apparently the Lord sees it as an urgent matter since I was awakened out of a sound sleep on the night of November 28, 2001 and instructed to write this book! Being the fleshly vessel that I am, I can only pray that the Holy Spirit will be able to do the work He intended through me.

Having laid the covenant foundation let us travel to the present time. In his wisdom God has set a pattern for the relationship between a man and a woman. This agreement is appropriately called the marriage "covenant". God made this covenant second only to the covenant between him and man. In other words the only covenant more holy and more sanctified is the one between God and man. This covenant was made possible by the blood of the sinless Lamb of God (Jesus Christ). 2Tim. 2:3-5. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand the magnitude of the sacred event called marriage. This is why we are told in Mark 10:6-9:

"But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

Why is it that the two become one flesh? From the time a man and woman are married they begin to become one physically, emotionally and spiritually. They have cut a covenant with each other. This was done through the intimate act of sexual relations. A man and woman become physically intertwined literally when the wife's body is "broken" by her husband. Blood is shed during this initial holy act. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:4 that marriage is honorable among all and the [marriage] bed is undefiled (NKJ). The word undefiled is defined as pure from sin. Note that Jesus Christ (God walking in the flesh on earth) gave up his body for us. The Bible explains this to us in his Word (1Cor. 11:24):

And when He had given thanks, he broke it [the bread] and said, "This is my body, which

is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

We enter into covenant with God the son (Jesus Christ) by asking him to come into our lives as Lord, believing in our heart that he died to pay our sin debt, and by confessing this openly with our mouths. Notice that a similar thing occurs with the marriage covenant. The two individuals confess openly before God and man that they have become one. The marriage is then consummated (or completed) when the two come together physically. God was so awesome in instituting a natural blood covenant between the married couple!

Chapter Six - Covenant Realities

Remember that a true covenant is normally instituted with an outward sign. The Lord says to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17. As you come to the end of this book ask the Holy Spirit of God to open the eyes of your understanding. Ask Him to speak to you and reveal truth. Truth is a person. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. `No man comes to the father but by me'." John 14:6. After reading this book you will have a decision to make. Ask for the grace to follow through with your newfound knowledge and if necessary the strength to change.

In the same way God created sexual intimacy for the first time as completion to the marriage covenant between a man and woman. The husband now becomes the protector and chief provider of the home. (See analogy of Israel out of Egypt beginning in Exodus 3.) This is why the Bible tells us that the husband must love his wife just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. (Eph. 5:25). This type of love is impossible without the benefit of a covenant commitment. Imagine what consequences may occur when a woman or man casually give their bodies to another without the benefit of a covenant relationship. THERE IS NO COMMITMENT. Therefore, what boundary is there to keep them faithful to each other? Why not just enter into another intimate relationship when we are bored with the current one?

We have given into an evil plan to steal what is not ours. The Bible tells us that there is only one mediator between God and man - the man Jesus Christ. This is God's plan and we cannot come to him any other way.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father

except through me. John 14:6.

Those who attempt to come to God through any other means are considered thieves and robbers.

Consequently, God designed marriage between a man and a woman from the beginning.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall

become one flesh. Genesis 2:24.

It is a covenant commitment and sexual intimacy is to be shared between the two only after this commitment has been made and confessed openly. The Bible tells us that we don't own our bodies. Remember when we talked about someone paying our sin debt for us. This allowed us to have access to the kingdom of God. Well because God created us he knows everything about us, including the most suitable mate for a man or woman. God designed Eve for Adam in the garden and he has designed your mate for you. He has plans for the two of you to accomplish together. Ask him to send the right one for you in his time and wait patiently for it to come to pass. The truth is if a man and woman lie together before the benefit of marriage they have become a thief and a robber. You have stolen what is not legally or spiritually yours. You are trespassing on the property of the most high God!!!!

Epilogue

The highest form of acceptance to anyone is unconditional love. Babies are born into the world seeking this acceptance. Statistics tell us that babies who are not loved and nourished fail to thrive. God has given us a desire to be loved. Everyone wants to be loved.

Children should first begin to learn how to love and receive love from their family. In this family unit they should see how their father and mother first submit to God and then to each other. They learn of God's mercy, grace and judgment.

God gives us a commandment that we shall have no other gods besides Him. He is the one true God and besides him there is no other. He is a jealous God. God intends for his relationship with us to be all consuming spiritually. He has prepared a place for us. He intends to satisfy our every need. He often parallels his relationship to us with the marriage relationship (Rev. 21:9). There are benefits to this relationship that can be found in no other place. God intends to have an intimate love relationship with us. From this relationship we will bear much fruit. He only becomes intimate with us when we have confessed him as Lord and Savior. Then he is free to reveal his heart and innermost secrets with us. He can touch us in places where we have never been touched. He can trust us to do those things that are pleasing to Him. For us to go searching for someone or something else to fill this void deep within our souls would be to commit ADULTERY and even worse IDOLATRY. ...

Because we live in a society where it seems that sexual immorality is the norm it is not easy to hold up a standard of purity. But the Word of God tells us that where sin is there is even more grace (the favor of God) to help us when we need it... (Romans 5:20). When you are at your weakest point this is where God will show himself strong in your lives.

Young ladies don't wait for the day of temptation to decide to wait for marriage. Let this be a decision that is already made in your heart so in the time of battle you will be prepared. I believe one of the highest forms of gratitude that can be shown to God is for you to allow Him to show you your covenant partner for life. After all, He knows you better than anyone else does. Satan himself waits at the door for an opportunity to destroy God's perfect plan for your life. Don't give him the satisfaction. He comes to kill and to destroy. (John 10:10)

Finally, our covenant relationship with God the Father (salvation) is entered into because of our faith or trust in what He promised. By faith we believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again. He who had no sin became a sin offering (the lamb who shed his blood) for us that we might enter in to a relationship with the almighty God. We have been freed from slavery to those things that we know deep down inside are not for our good. If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can do so right now. With all of your heart confess that you are ready to turn from your old behavior and ask Him to forgive you (repentance). Then invite the Lord Jesus Christ to come in to your heart (your innermost being) Rev. 3:21 and ask Him to fill you with his Holy Spirit so you will have the power to live for him. Even if you have been sexually immoral in the past, God is waiting for you to turn back to Him. Just like the story of the prodigal son in the Bible he is waiting to celebrate with you. (Luke 15:11-32). There is no need to feel guilt because the Lord will wash away the sins of your past. He wants to restore your royalty so you can serve him. He has a treasure stored inside you that we all need. Trust me, you will never find anyone or anything else in this world that will satisfy you the way God can. He created it to be so. God has proven his covenant relationship with us.

If you have are presently involved in an ungodly relationship with a young man or young lady MAKE THINGS RIGHT TODAY. Call them and tell them about this book. If necessary, mail it to them. After you have both read it, confess your sins and repent. The best way to counteract a weak area in your life is to confess it to someone you can trust and become accountable to them. Sin thrives in darkness. Once it is brought into the light Satan begins to lose his authority over you.

In the case of an older woman or man pray about making a covenant commitment after you have each repented. Obviously, there is still time my friend. It is never too late to turn to God. He has been waiting for you with open arms. The same instructions regarding confession apply to you.

Young men, make a decision today to stay pure until marriage and become accountable to someone you can trust to help you keep that decision. Young ladies, see yourselves as a jewel of great price. Don't sell out to someone for pennies. God has placed a treasure in earthly vessels. Valuable treasure is costly. Consider yourself a prize for the one who is willing to commit himself to you totally - spiritually and physically. Both of you should begin to desire the epitome of a Godly marriage when the time is right. Settle for nothing less than God's best for your lives. You will never regret your decision to stay pure!!!

The time I spent with the Lord during my single years has been the foundation of my strength now that I am married with a family. After I committed my heart to Jesus Christ my next covenant relationship was ten years later when I married my husband. It was worth the wait. It is also worth knowing that I can spend the rest of my life with the man that God has designed for me.

Come back beloved. Run to him. The Covenant Keeper is forever waiting for you ...HIS DESIGNED LOVE.