You Are All Fair

You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.

Song of Solomon 4:7

Christ is enraptured with His people. The first passage of the fourth chapter is a highly poetic description of the Bride by the Bridegroom. He concludes that passage with, ‘You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.’ This summarizes how Christ views His people. This is noteworthy because it stands in contrast to the Bride’s view of herself. At the beginning of the book she speaks of herself, describing herself in modest, self-effacing terms. She says, ‘I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.’ If we contrast her view of herself with the Bridegroom’s description of her, we see how He delights in her in every way. Therein lies the difference between how we view ourselves and how Christ views us. We see our flaws, our faults, and are keenly aware of our imperfections. We can readily describe ourselves in the terms Paul uses of himself in the latter portion of Romans 7. When we would do good, evil is present with us. The good we would do, we do not. The evil we would not, that we do. By contrast, Christ beholds us robed in His righteousness. He sees us in our perfected state and condition. Because He sees in the panoramic present, He views us as justified, sanctified, and glorified. Therefore, He can enthusiastically describe us with the words, ‘You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.’

Our Gracious God and our Savior,
we rejoice at the love You express for us.
We praise You that You have made us
without spot before You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning