The Spiritual MCO (Jesus and the church)

The Spiritual MCO (Jesus and the church)

Before anything, if anyone is interested to read a short article on what God is actually asking us to see in 2020, click here.  

So, my fiancée and I, we video call often when we cannot meet each other for long periods of time. Why do we call? Because of that darn Movement Control Order. Because of that, we miss each other’s presence. Smelling her scent, holding her hand. The goodbye hugs. But now, I get to see her through a glass, hear her voice, and update each other on what matters. While video calls have stripped us down to focus on the important bits and not take each other for granted, it still does not beat the tangible physical presence of each other. And every time we video call each other we will always talk about the hope and the joy when we finally meet and get married (which is soon by God’s grace) and we end in prayer entrusting that God knows best and has the best timing.

Upon reflection and talking this out with my fiancée, we realized something remarkable. And also discussed that this is not something meme-able but needed to be written out clearly. I suspect you are starting to see certain parallels. That the story between my fiancée and I can be an analogy between Christ and the church. But allow me to break it down to three simple realities to make it clear. The realities are progressions that add up to an ultimate revelation. So no skipping.

Reality of the power of presence with loved ones

You see, it is a privilege that my fiancée and I work at the same place. We get to see each other every day. The thought of not seeing each other for a week dreaded us. Yeah, I know pathetic. Not denying it. Not complaining either. So, we were grateful for such a privilege and we humbly recognize that is not the arrangement for many couples. While it is a privilege, it also could mean we could take each other for granted and ignore the things that matter because she is just there, I can discuss these things with her at any moment but in the end may end up not discussing it as well. 

But stripping us down to only making time for each other and talking forces us to really want to hear the most important parts of each other’s lives. Before that was on simple talk like what student did what and where she was going. But now with video call, I want to be updated of her entire day, how she is doing spiritually and mentally, how can I be praying for her? Because I want to be in the know and in the loop of my loved one. I want to be in the know because it is now the most important experience left for me to take. Second to presence, knowing is good enough to at least by in sync although I cannot be there. But it required presence to be taken away to truly put us in the know. 

Then it struck us. Is this not the same with us and God? Or at least should be? This makes us all. And I mean ALL. Hypocrites. You claim to love Jesus. You claim that His presence there is fullness of joy. You claim that He is the best there is. (I am bombing myself the most if anything). I want to be like David, a man after God’s own heart. To live out Psalms 27:4 – To ask of ONE THING, that he desires, which is to DWELL in the house of the Lord ALL the days of my life. GAZING on His beauty. SEEKING Him in His temple. But on todays standards I would do okay. I pray morning, I pray at night and do my 20-minute devotion. Really? That is the best I’ve got? Is Jesus whom I claim to love the ONE THING? Do I speak of DWELLING with him and GAZING. Like David says “ Oh come and taste and see that the Lord is good?” No, I just do 20-minute devotions. 

Here I am talking about spending the most important time with my fiancée on a video call. It should be a reflection of my relationship with Christ. Which brings us to the next reality. 

Reality that we have been in the ultimate video call with God

This has been the longest spiritual MCO if you realized. Now of course this is speaking as a metaphor. Please don’t over theologize that sentence. Ever since Christ ascension, we have been meeting at church as a body to have that experience of Heaven and Earth meeting. Of course, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God is truly with us. But it is like we are video calling God all the time. His second coming is not here yet and that is what we all are looking forward too (which is in the final reality). But what we do here on earth is like the ultimate video calling my fiancée. We sing songs to worship Him. We read his scriptures to know the important parts because Christ has made himself known through scriptures. We tell others of this reality of who Jesus is. He is not tangibly present but He is present enough! How? 1 John 4:12 says “No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.” Thus, it is by loving one another that reveals God and it was God’s love that was revealed to us ultimate by His death on the cross. John 15 states there is no greater love than he who gives up his life for his friend. In John 14, Jesus told Philip that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. God has made himself known in many means, but the ultimate and perfect image bearer of God is Jesus himself. And when you fall in love with Jesus, you would just want to not miss the important parts. So every action we do here on earth reflects our ultimate reality. Yet our lives speak of only 5-minute video calls rather than one-hour video calls. But this ultimate reality is?

Reality that all us Christians await the hope of glory.

Yen Ping, yeah that is my fiancée’s name. We call, pray and talk for the past month and a half with the goal that we know we will be together later on in the future. We will be married. If that reality for us is not true, we would not be spending out times like this. I would rather be doing my own thing. But because such is our reality we invest in each other heavily. 

 

Ephesians 5:31 that references Genesis 2:24-25 says “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” Paul continues to call the proud mystery of the gospel. Greek here says mega mysterion. Basically a mystery so great that it is hard to fully grasps it. But marriage is to reflect Christ and the church. And talking to Yen Ping gives me just a slight insight of what that feels like. Us as the church, do we function as His body as though we look forward to when Christ comes again for the second time? When heaven comes down? When we truly live out our lives as new creations, royal priesthoods? OR, we come for one hour Sunday services and one hour bible studies while the rest of the week we work hard to earn a living, and trying to survive work because gosh I need to provide for myself and my family. 

The way we live our lives reveals the realities that matter to us. Can you imagine if you lived your life in light of the reality of desiring Jesus to come again? “Oh wait lord I haven’t gotten married yet, I want to experience bungee jumping, I want to travel the world” Really bruh? For reals? Our greatest reality is to experience the ultimate marriage of Christ and the church where we are truly one in Him just like He is with the Trinity. 

 

Conclusion

 

Let me just say, on my wedding day with Yen Ping. I will be reflecting on these things. I will say “I do” to her knowing that the ultimate reality is saying” I do” to Christ and that His will be done. And I thank God that God will be stripping down the wedding to something much simpler. Forget the fancy honeymoons and mass gatherings. Yes I have a desire to share my marriage to those whom matter. That is why we will probably do an online wedding with the presence of the family. But what I am alluding to here is that my wedding that proclaims that it is about Christ and the Church. Throw away all the bells and whistles and we are reminded on why we are getting married and the joy of getting married. 

But for now, I will just video call my fiancée looking forward to the day I get married. And I pray for all those who read this that as disciples of Christ, we too will seek the lord, gaze on His beauty and dwell with him for as long as we can because we just long to be with Him on the ultimate day of the true marriage. Amen.

 

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Writer: Eddryll 
Author's views are his own and does not represent the entire team