Song of Songs 2:14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.”

Christ Jesus wants to hear from us. As defiled as we are, as dirty, and filthy, he wants to hear our voice, because we are beautiful to him.

How wonderful it is when a wife thinks of herself as nothing, but the husband adores her. She is sincerely humble, and he lavishes her with love, compliments, and romance. How sweet it is for someone to think well of you.

Christ sees us as beautiful, because he put away our sins. He sees us lovely as new creations. He delights in our faith, love, and hope, though we are black with sin and hiding because of it. Let us never forget his view of us! Come out from the rocks.

First, he says, "Oh my dove, in the clefts of the rock." Why are we hiding? It's because of sin. We've fallen, and unbelief takes hold of us. We've forgotten our first love and abandoned him. We can't keep from stumbling. Our minds wander, and bad thoughts spring up.

Worse than this, we've forgotten his love and our full acceptance. We've refused to come to him in our need. Perhaps we think, "I'm ok on my own," so he humbles us to feel our unworthiness. Perhaps we've tried repeatedly to obey, but he's smashed our self effort, until we're helpless. We have to be found where we are - hiding in unbelief… staying away from our beloved in fear.

We've forgotten how gracious he is to sinners. We tell others to come to him, but we don't think that he'll receive us warmly. He saved us as vile worms, but we expected to be better by now. Yet, he calls out to us (people who've failed) with love! Grace is beyond comprehension!

Secondly, "Let me see your face," he says. Don't you know that it's all forgiven? He didn't pay for some sins, but all. He didn't clothe you with temporary acceptance; it is perfect, full, and permanent! His blood doesn't avail if YOU DO SOMETHING, but it's all sufficient.

Bless God! Our gospel is powerful in the Spirit, so that hearing of God's love brings us out of the darkest cave to rejoice in the Son. Bless God, his grace is greater than all our sin [Romans 5:20].

The one who believes will not be put to shame, no matter how he's fallen. Let him be Sampson with his eyes gouged out. He'll see God faithful, according to his faith. If we can only believe that God loves us, as we are, we'll taste his transforming power. Coming to Christ will produce victory. We'll testify again that his love is stronger than death.

Thirdly, ah, "Your face is beautiful." Hallelujah! Beauty upon beauty - unchanging and free - has been bestowed upon us. He'll never take it away. That's impossible.

God's love is eternal in Christ. His promise is for everyone who has faith. Let us have a billion faults and the tiniest faith, and we have the full inheritance. We are accepted enough for GOD TO DWELL with us. We have every right to his presence, if we've committed fornication, adultery, and divorce. If we've beaten our wives, stolen, or been too lazy to work. If we've hated others and walked in silly pride. If we've indulged in pornography, murmuring, and unbelief: the believer is still beautiful to Christ. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! (What we've done is filthy, and he'll chasten us in his displeasure. Who we are is secured by the finished work of Christ and the Spirit.)

Don't clean yourself up. It will never happen. Come as you are in imputed righteousness. Believe his work is enough - that in spite of your sins, his work is no failure. In spite of your flesh, you're a new creation. In spite of your ugliness, you're beautiful. In spite of your selfishness, you love God. 1 John 5:1, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him." Praise him. You are not an unbeliever!