Gene Edwards. The Divine Romance. Tyndale, 1992.

I had heard good things about The Divine Romance, so I picked it up last summer at a book store and finally got around to reading it. I was not disappointed. This book is lovely.

Its theme is very simple. The Bible calls the body of believers the Bride of Christ. This book narrates the “romance” of God the suitor from eternity past to eternity future in the form of a novel. Edwards does a good job of presenting the idea as a mystery—as something not really understood well but gradually revealed. It begins with a quotation from Paradise Lost, and there were scenes in it, especially those in the Garden of Eden, which echoed that epic.

While not quoted per se, the concept is clearly based on a few verses from the New Testament. When discussing Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the bridegroom:

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. (John 3:29)

Paul picks up on this when he writes about marriage in Ephesians 5:28-32:

He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

He uses the word mystery and compares the “oneness” of a husband and wife with the relationship between Christ and His followers.

Then, the Book of Revelation, which is mostly prophecy about the future, describes the followers of Jesus as the Bride getting ready to be married to the Lord.

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready…” (Revelation 19:6-7)

The very end of the Bible, which is an invitation to follow Jesus, has these words:

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” (Revelation 22:17)

Edwards does a magnificent and moving job of sharing the mystery with his readers.

Without going into too much detail, Edwards begins with creation, specifically the creation of the angels. Then as the Lord created the earth and all its creatures, we note that all the visible creatures had a mate except man. After all, God created man in His image, and He had no mate.

The creation of woman is described beautifully. Again, one cannot help thinking of Paradise Lost as we see Eve being formed from a rib of the man. Now man had a mate. The angels speculate. Adam had a partner inside him. Does God have someone inside Himself?

“I suppose if there is someone now hidden in God, then it might follow that one day God shall be hidden in that someone.” (50, emphasis in original)

Incarnation? Does God have a bride?

When God becomes incarnate in Jesus, we see a few episodes that suggest brides or partners. So at the miracle of the wedding at Cana, we are reminded that it appeared the best wine was saved for last (John 2:10). But Edwards suggests something more. Perhaps God will be saving His best for last. If the prophets would envy the apostles who got to see Jesus (cf. Luke 10:24), will those living through the end times be even more enviable?

When Jesus forgives the prostitute who washes His feet at Simon the Leper’s house, Jesus says “Go, and sin no more” (cf. Luke 7:48-50). Edwards has her say: “I am cleansed…and I shall sin no more. But I shall never…never…go away.” (124)

There is so much more. We are reminded from time to time not only of what Jesus did, but that a love relationship like a marriage relationship grows. “She is learning to love me,” says Jesus (230) the way we have to learn to love our spouses as the marriage matures.

We get a sense of the spiritual battles Jesus fought—when He cast out demons, yes, but especially on the cross. But why the battle? For His bride. There is perhaps even a greater mystery than the incarnation: not God hidden in man, but man hidden in God:

“And now, at long last, I will reveal to you—from ages unknown—the Mystery hidden in God.” (185 emphasis and capitals in original)

This is a profound mystery. Read Colossians where it is written:

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

We humans usually see this meaning something like God is our hiding place, where we can run to protection. But Edwards is suggesting something more profound: that to God we are like Adam’s rib, hidden in Him and a part of Him in some profound way like the way a husband and wife are one.

The Divine Romance is exquisitely written with lines of poetry interspersed from time to time. Even much of the prose is poetic. It deeply demonstrates God’s eternal plan for man from His perspective. Read it and be moved. Read it and be very blessed.