Almost Too Good to Be True

My read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan has me in the Song of Solomon today. I was amused by the kinds of compliments Solomon gave the Shunamite woman. Like "I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots"; or "Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, streaming down the hills of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young...Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of mighty men. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.' But as I was smirking my way through this, thinking I would not consider myself complimented by any of that, I came to chapter 4, verse 7: "You are altogether fair, my love; there is no flaw in you."

Wow!

Since this book can be considered (1) literal, dealing with the love of a man and a woman, (2) allegorical, relating to God's relationship with Israel, but also (3) typical, describing the love of Christ for His bride, us, the church, I felt I could take that compliment in verse 7 as something God is saying to us, His people.  He does actually say that He sees no fault in us. Colossians 1:21-23: "And you, who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not removed from the hope of the gospel..."

This word "gospel" was apparently a very rarely used word in the Greek until Paul adopted it. Since it means, more or less, "news so good it's almost too good to be true" there was probably not much call for it to be used. But then Paul received the revelation concerning what Jesus accomplished for all of us through His death and resurrection and this was truly almost too good to be true.

He defines it as "the gospel of peace" in Ephesians 6:15.Consider:  God does not count or impute our sins against us or charge it to our account (2 Corinthians 5:19); He does not remember our sins and lawless deeds (Hebrews 10:17); He chooses to cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19) and remove them as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He says, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).

The blood from the Old Testament animal sacrifices could only cover up the people's transgressions year by year, ("in those sacrifices there is an annual reminder of sins. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" Hebrews 10:3,4) but Jesus' perfect pure innocent blood washes them away completely."...He has appeared once at the end of the ages to put away sin by sacrificing Himself...For by one offering He has forever perfected those who are sanctified" (Hebrews 9:26 and 10:14).

That's how He can look at us and say, "You are altogether fair, my loved one, there is no flaw in you!" I've been trying to absorb that truth for years. It is so beautiful, it is almost, almost, almost too good to be true. But since the Word of the everlasting Father says it is so, it is. Hallelujah!