EPILOGUE
The Flame
[Love’s] flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. (Song of Solomon 8:6)
God says that a couple’s love is a flame and that He is in the midst of that flame. As you read the following fictional story based on Scripture, ask the Lord to open your eyes to why sexual intimacy is important to God and why it matters so much to the Enemy.
• • •
In the beginning, before all things, there existed only A Holy Consuming Fire,[1] the Holy God. He created the heavens and filled them with angelic beings. The most beautiful was Lucifer, the Bright Shining One.[2] Lucifer served the Holy Fire faithfully until the day came that he exalted himself because of his great beauty. In defiance, he said:
- I will ascend to heaven.
- I will raise my throne above the stars of God.
- I will sit enthroned on the mount.
- I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.
- I will make myself like the most high God.[3]
Selfishness was born, a monstrous evil emerging from a pool of pride. In his self-exaltation, Lucifer became Satan, God’s adversary.[4] The Holy Fire could have addressed such blasphemy with raw power, destroying Satan immediately. Instead, He brought into existence a plan that would forever answer the idol called “I” —a plan that would involve the Holy One Himself in a moral demonstration of the superiority of servanthood over selfishness.
God banished Satan and his followers to earth.[5] Then He announced to all of creation,
We shall set up a drama on earth and allow the universe to watch it unfold. We shall give this rebellion a thorough trial. We shall permit it to run its full course. The universe shall see what a creature —even the greatest —can do apart from Me. The wrack and ruin that will result will demonstrate forever the superiority of my plan, servanthood, over Satan’s plan, selfishness.[6]
Creation held its breath in anticipation as the Holy Fire formed a creature similar to Himself, not a blazing furnace, but a spark, a tiny reflection of His light. He breathed into the creature and it glowed with life. “You shall be called man,” the Holy Fire announced. Then God caused the man to sleep. Reaching deep inside him, He removed a part of the man and fashioned another being, who was named woman because she was taken out of the man.[7]
The Holy Fire blessed the creatures. Then He gave them a divine mandate that, if followed, would defeat Satan and prove the superiority of God’s ways:
Reflect my image.
Be fruitful and increase in number.
Fill the earth and subdue it.[8]
The creatures frowned. “How will we accomplish such great tasks?”
“I will give you a gift called sexual desire. As you live in dependence upon Me and in service to each other, this gift will help you fulfill the mandate.”[9]
Satan observed this exchange and threw back his head in laughter. “What kind of plan is this?” he mocked. “These sputtering sparks pale in comparison with me, the Bright Shining One. They will not rule my world. They will never subdue me.”
The angels, who looked on as well, were perplexed. Indeed, the creatures were inferior to Satan. Why had God placed them in Satan’s world and told them to rule the earth?[10] How could such insignificant creatures, lower than the angels,[11] possibly defeat Satan?
Several days passed. Satan and his demons watched as the two small lights went about their work, serving God and each other without incident. But then the creatures paused to unwrap the Holy One’s gift to them. At first glance it appeared small and insignificant, but as the wrappings fell away, they realized that the gift possessed great power. The universe watched in utter disbelief; this gift was unlike any they’d ever seen.
The two individual lights pressed together, making it difficult to tell where one began and the other ended. The glowing sparks rubbed together, creating an intense heat that grew hotter, brighter. Then —a miracle! They were no longer two but one.[12] The separate sparks of their love had joined together to ignite a single vibrant flame.
The angels recognized the flame immediately. In some mysterious way the couple’s love —their oneness —had produced a flame that was an image of the Holy Fire, the very “flame of the Lord.”
Satan seethed as he glimpsed for the first time the larger plan of God. This gift enabled the creatures to multiply the image of the Holy Fire. One such image is no threat, but many flames, each living in dependence upon God and in service to one another, would mean his defeat.[13]
Satan looked at the gift of sex and despised its power:
- The gift enabled two to become one.
- The gift, rooted in God, enabled the creatures to reflect the Holy Fire.
- The gift enabled the flame to multiply.
I know what I must do, Satan reasoned. I must separate the gift from its Source. I must pervert its purposes. I will convince the creatures to use the gift apart from its Creator and render the gift ineffective.
I will create a counterfeit gift and convince the creatures that it is better.
God made the gift exclusive; I will let it be used indiscriminately.
God created sex for oneness; I will use it to bring division.
God made sex pure; I will pervert it.
God designed sex to produce life; I will use it to bring death.
The counterfeit will deceive God’s creatures. Sex apart from its Source will cause them to serve self, not God. And I will win.
At Satan’s words, the demons cheered. The angels wept. The war began.
• • •
Marriage is about something much bigger than the drama of our daily disagreements and disappointments. Every Christian couple, whether they acknowledge it or not, are caught up in a greater drama —a heavenly battle involving the armies of God and the armies of Satan. The focus of the battle is our oneness. Satan’s goal is to destroy marital oneness because it reflects God. God seeks to fortify oneness, to fuel the flame of love so that we might create a vibrant light that reflects Him.
What is our role in the grand drama today? You have a choice every day to give in to selfishness and follow the ways of God’s enemy, or to be a servant lover and follow the ways of Christ. Which will you choose?