….YOUR DESIRE SHALL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND…. II.

January, 2010

Last month we meditated on the Scripture of Gen.3:16 where part of the woman’s curse reads that her desire shall be for her husband.
And we surmised that what she was looking for in her husband was the Life of God, the Life of the Spirit, that eternal Life that was lost by the disobedience of taking and eating of the forbidden fruit.
We saw also that the Life she desired, what she was looking for in her husband, was no longer present in him. Sin had done its devastating work of death in him as well.

In this meditation we hope to explore the truth that even though sin caused man to be separated from the Life of God, that the Lord God who cannot be but merciful and gracious and faithful had already made provision for the redemption of sinners.

The covenant of grace which went into effect immediately provided for a future Mediator who would bruise the serpent’s head, Gen.3:15.
There will come a day, God promised when I shall be your God and you shall be my people, a people whom I will jealously guard from all evil, Jer. 31:33.
I will forgive your iniquity and I will remember your sins no more.
The Lord God promises that he will cleanse his people from all their filthiness and idols.
He promised: And I will put my Spirit within you and he will cause you to keep my commandments, Ez.36:27.

And prophesy continued even up to shortly before the Messiah’s birth: “….., to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. To give Light unto them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death……”, Luke 1:79.
The Gospel of John, chapter 1:4 tells us: In him (the Word, Jesus) was Life, and the Life was the light of men. (5) And the Light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. (9) He (Jesus ) is the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world; (10) He was in the world, the world was made by Him and the world knew (recognized) Him not. (11) He came to His own (people) and His own received Him not.
(12)But as many as received Him, gave He the privilege to become the sons (children) of God, to as many who believe on His name.
Life, eternal Life had returned to the world, just as God had promised on the fateful day long ago when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, Praise the Lord!
Life, the desire of the nations, the desire of so many prophets and visionaries for so many centuries had become a reality in visible, touchable form.
Light, Life, Grace and Truth had returned to this sin-darkened world in the person of God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what do Scriptures tell us?
That the world did not and still does not recognize him.
Even his own people the Jews, rejected him as an imposter.
Their leaders concluded that even though he did many miracles, he could not be the Messiah, because the Messiah would not transgress the law by healing people on the Sabbath.

And what about us? Would we be different? From the Scriptures we know that we would not act differently in similar circumstances.
In John 1:5 we learn that Light ( the Lord Jesus) shined in the darkness (you and me) and the darkness comprehended not the significance of that light.
In John 3: 19 we see that Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light ……
If it was a matter of human salesmanship, the whole offer of salvation would be a lost effort. You cannot sell anything for which people see no need.
In Eph. 2:4 we read that God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead (in sin), has raised us up together with Jesus, calling us out of darkness, into his marvelous light.
He opened our spiritual eyes to allow us to see Jesus and accept him as our personal Savior, Lord and Life.
In John 14:6 he says : “I am the (only) way to the Father, I am the Truth and I am the Life of God”. I am come so that you may again enjoy that Life that is with the Father and that you may enjoy that Life in abundance.

And again, God allows us to choose, now that he has revealed himself to us, will we choose to live this new, heavenly life in dependence upon Jesus, who is our Life, or will we choose to continue to live out of our own resources?
Trusting our own understanding in deciding what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong? The choice is ours, for each one of us.
Prov. 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
Abundant Life, Life in everyday dependence on God’s limitless resources is available to every believer who chooses to say : yes Lord, not my will, but yours only.
This Life is available only in Jesus Christ and is not to be found anywhere or in anyone else, not in spouses, or reputation, or achievements, or possessions, only in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“ ….. Your desire shall be for your husband …..”. To Eve it was part of the curse, she would look to her husband for something he could not give her.
Our blessing consists in that we may look to Jesus for Life, he has it in abundance,
It is all there just for the asking.
That Life is not just a promise for the future, it is a present reality, eternal Life begins for every one at the moment of repentance and submission to Jesus who is eternal Life.
Who also delights in fulfilling our desire for that Life that is in him to the utmost.
In him we have complete love, acceptance, value, security, in him we have hope, in him we have a future.


St.Thomas, Jan.’10 Simon VanderKooy.