Introducing the Divine Kiss of God (1:2a)

INTRODUCTION

The most dominant theme in the Song of Songs is the affection of God. A diligent study of God's emotional capacities is absolutely essential for our own emotional health. We will be transformed when we understand the way God thinks and feels about us, especially in our weakness. The revelation of His enjoyment of our lives awakens us to spiritual pleasure. This pleasure enables us to enjoy Jesus as we overflow with affection back to Him. We love because He first loved us (). In a similar way, we can enjoy Him because He first chose to enjoy us.

I. THE CRY FOR BRIDAL KISSES (1:2a)

A. Defining the Kiss of God

1. The "kiss of God" is a metaphor speaking of intimacy with Jesus. It's God's invitation to go deeper with Jesus.

a. We must not try and picture Jesus kissing us on the mouth. This is entirely outside the boundaries of the will of God. The divine kiss is only a metaphor speaking of the deepest affections that God can give the human spirit. How appropriate it is for God to write about the deepest expressions of His affection through the language of bridal love.

2. The "kisses of God's mouth" are associated with the words that proceed out of the mouth of God. They speak of the Scriptures themselves that tenderize and empower our hearts in the love of God.

a. For the last 3,000 years Jewish rabbis have referred to this verse as the "kiss of God's Word" or the "kiss of the Torah."

3. The entire eight chapters of the Song of Songs unfold the implications related to the divine kiss. The "kiss of God" is the passion and the of the Bride's life. It should be the passion of everyone who loves the Lord.

II. THE DIVINE KISS AND HOW IT SATISFIES VARIOUS LONGINGS OF THE HUMAN HEART

A. The Longing to Be Fascinated

1. The longing to be fascinated is satisfied by the revelation of the beauty of the Bridegroom King (; ). The power to be deeply moved is something we all long for.

a. Secular entertainment builds on this human need. It exploits and destroys our hearts if we partake of it in wrong ways.

b. There is nothing more exhilarating than when God reveals Himself to the human spirit.

B. The Longing to Feel Beautiful (Handsome)

1. The longing to feel beautiful (handsome) is satisfied by the revelation of the divine beauty imparted to the redeemed (; ).

a. Our culture has an obsession with physical beauty as it seeks to answer this longing in a wrong way.

C. The Longing to Be Successful

1. The longing to be successful is satisfied by the revelation of the redeemed as enthroned with Jesus at His right hand ().

a. We will live among the royalty of heaven. We have been married into royalty. We will be among the aristocracy of eternity. We will reign together with Christ. We will share His throne, ruling over the vast eternal empire called the Kingdom of God. We will fully experience the nobility and honor for which we long.

D. The Longing for Intimacy without Shame

1. The longing for intimacy without shame is satisfied by the revelation of the tender affections of the heavenly Bridegroom ().

a. These affections tenderize our hearts so that we feel some of what He feels ().

b. These affections enable us to experience intimacy in all of our life's experiences. He understands all our secrets. He knows our sin and shame. He has walked us through every sin in our lives. He has treated us with honor and dignity. He forgives us, feels our pain in failure, and protects us by not disclosing the vast majority of our sins. He even believes in us.

E. The Longing for the Assurance of Being Enjoyed

1. The longing for the assurance of being enjoyed is satisfied by the revelation of the finished work of the Cross, and God's emotional capacities (Luke 15:45; 8-10; 20).

a. Many of us are not able to experience the fundamental reality that God enjoys us. He wants to give us the ability to feel enjoyed and delighted in by Jesus even as we are growing and maturing He wants us to feel pursued, desired, and sought after (approved and forgiven).

F. The Longing to Be Wholehearted and Passionate

1. The longing to be wholehearted and passionate is satisfied by the impartation of divine love to our hearts (; ).

a. We deeply long to be abandoned to God and know the joy of lovesickness. When the Bride prays to know the kisses of God's mouth, she is asking for help to give her whole heart to God By nature we detest being bored, passive, disloyal and compromising

b. It takes God's power for us to love God. It's exhilarating when God gives us the capacity to love Him back. It's His pleasure to impart this divine love to our hearts.

G. The Longing to Make a Lasting Impact

1. The longing to make a lasting impact is satisfied by the anointing for service that results in eternal rewards ().

a. We delight in sharing things that cause others to be exhilarated. We enjoy making significant contributions in the lives of others.

b. Each of us longs to walk in mature bridal partnership with Jesus and run with Him. He wants us to be yoked together with Him as a partner in service in the great mandate that the Father has given Him to disciple the nations.

III. THE BRIDAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

A. The Introducing of the Bridal Paradigm

1. John the Baptist was the first to speak of himself and his personal ministry in the context of the bridal perspective ().

2. Jesus was the first to introduce the bridal perspective to His disciples in His last sermon before the Cross ().

3. The apostle John pointed to the universal prominence of the bridal perspective of the Kingdom in the generation of the Lord's return ().

a. The bridal perspective of the Kingdom of God has been strategically reserved by God for the coldest, most lawless, fearful, demonic, and sexually perverted generation in history. It will heal this broken generation and empower the Church to overcome.

IV. THE DIVINE KISS AND CULTIVATING GODLY INTENTIONS

A. Godly Intentions versus Spiritual Maturity

1. We must distinguish between our intentions to passionately seek the Lord and our attainment of spiritual maturity. Our intentions speak of the cry of our hearts or setting the course of our hearts. If our intentions are established according to the Word of God, then our attainment of maturity will follow in due time. The problem with many is that they focus their attention on trying to measure their level of maturity, whereas they should be focused on setting the intentions of their hearts. When we focus on measuring the level of our maturity, we become vulnerable to two common spiritual problems:

a. If we feel like we're measuring up, then we can end up feeling proud about our achievements.

b. If we fail to measure up, we then feel ashamed. We feel like quitting; we feel condemned. The Lord doesn't want us focused on our attainments.

2. The primary focus in the Word of God is to get people to focus on the beauty of Jesus and setting the intentions of their hearts on Him.

a. When we meditate on the beauty of Jesus and set the intentions of our hearts to obey then He, Himself, will work in us until we experience spiritual maturity.

3. God defines our lives by what we want, not by what we have attained. The way we understand how God defines our lives determines how we think and feel about ourselves. He hears the cry of a willing spirit even though it's in the context of weak flesh. We get focused on our weak flesh, and we lose sight of the precious work He's doing in us. But the Father sees our willing spirits and defines our lives by the intentions of our hearts (David – ).

V. THE THREE-FOLD NATURE OF THE CRY FOR GOD'S KISSES

A. The Prophetic Cry for God's Kisses

1. The Holy Spirit is awakening a new cry in the hearts of His people. The ability to minister to others is not able to fully satisfy our hearts. The Church will never be satisfied apart from the kisses of God's mouth.

2. According to , God is going to have a people that will love Him with all of their strength. The cry for the kisses of God is the next agenda of the Holy Spirit. It's to make the first commandment first place in the Body of Christ

B. The Philosophical Cry for God's Kisses

1. The cry for God' kisses answers the question as to why we exist. It's our destiny to be lovers of God.

2. Being successful doesn't depend on what we've accomplished or what someone else has done for us. If we are loved by God and are a lover of God, then we are successful in the most absolute sense.

C. The Psychological Cry for God's Kisses

1. God has so designed our hearts that the experience of the love of God is the most enjoyable and pleasurable thing available to us. All the counseling in the world will never bring us the wholeness we long for apart from the pursuit of passionate love for God. We were made to cry for the kisses of His mouth.

IV. THE IMPARTING OF THE DIVINE KISS

A. How Jesus Communicates His Kiss to Us

1. Personal meditation on the Word of God is primarily His way of communicating His kiss to us.

2. The second way His kiss is communicated to us is by the Word of God given through others. His kisses can come to us through books, sermons, songs, or the testimonies of others. When we feel our hearts being moved, we are experiencing the kisses of God's Word to us through someone else.

3. The third way His kiss is communicated to us is through prophetic revelation by the Holy Spirit. It may come to us in the form of a dream or vision, or it may just come to us as an impression to your heart. These encounters have a real cleansing effect as they usually touch significant areas of underlying pain in our lives.

4. A fourth way His kiss is communicated to us is through the ministry of other people

a. His kiss can be experienced as others pray for us. During these times we can often feel the Holy Spirit resting on us.

b. Sometimes people can reveal the love of God to us through acts of kindness.

c. We can also feel the embrace of the Lord simply in the context of genuine friendship.