Another reflection from The Song of Ages, particularly from the beginning of the Shulamite’s journey and her prayer for a divine kiss from heaven. 

When man was brought forth from the dust of the earth, something unimaginable took place. The Maker breathed into Adam’s lungs by leaning into his very face and releasing His breath. To put it in other terms, the creation of man began with a kiss. A kiss that released the divine life of God within the clay of man’s form.

The story of the Song of Solomon follows a young maiden from the land of Shulam and it begins with her a deep desire for that same kiss of life. She longs for “the very Spirit-kiss of His mouth” (Sgs. 2:2b TPT). The Shulammite is revealed as one who is looking for the kiss that was breathed into Adam, which brought him into life in its fullest substance and deepest bliss—life as it was revealed in the Garden of Eden. Eden is the place of our origin and it speaks to the deepest truths concerning this thing we call “life.” Within Eden, all the underlying motivations of religion and philosophy find their source, like pure spring water under layers of mud.

Eden was the place of unhindered fellowship with God. Along with this came a deep and transparent enjoyment of one another and with all of nature. It was a place of spontaneity, creativity, intimacy, adventure, and wonder. The skeptic would of course relegate this kind of life to the realm of fairy tale and myth, but our hearts know to challenge the skeptic’s bark when the fleeting beauties of life hit us and we are confronted with the remembrances of Eden. Things such as family, fellowship, poetry, good food, adventure, and transcendent experiences are just a few examples.  These elements testify to the truth of Eden like wind bringing a distant aroma of a far off but sure scent. At the beginning of her journey, the Shulammite is crying out for the Scent itself. She is looking for the Eden Life where man walked with God reflecting His perfect image and likeness. She is looking for redemption—not as an intellectual doctrine, but as a reality. She knows this comes from the kiss released by God’s Spirit and breath.

At the onset of this story and Song, it needs to be said that the overall human story does not begin with original sin, but with original glory. We come from the essence of the Eternal, which is why Solomon told us in another one of his books that eternity is written into our hearts. We were in the very heart and Spirit of the Father before time began, and so He knew us quite well even before we were in our mother’s womb. We were a dream in His heart that existed in the realm of eternity and we were brought forth into a specific point in time and space. This dream may have been knit together with atoms, cells, and flesh, but those are simply the complex paint strokes of an eternal portrait. A portrait with infinite value—infinite because the Infinite One finds value in it. This is where we come from, and it is ultimately where we are headed.

In the fall of Adam we obviously veered away from this original identity and portrait. We bought into a lie and allowed deception to darken our hearts and corrupt our behavior. We fell back into the “dust.” As a result, we came to embrace a dust-based mentality and identity and began treating ourselves and one another as such. This is clearly at the heart of so many of the world’s issues. Kings and dictators throughout the millennia have trampled upon whole people groups like dust to gain more money, land, and power. Violence and murder is itself a clear picture that we see another human as worthless dust and not as one made in the sacred image of God. To lust after another person and look at their body as a source of personal gratification is to relegate beauty as glittering dust to possess. Enslavement of one another is seeing only dust in our fellow man, which is to be used for our own enjoyment and prosperity. And to curse another man is to see dust and not glory. 

We have forgotten the Rock from which we were hewn and the origin of our birth through the kiss of God. We have forgotten the awe and majesty of the Lord Himself, and in that forgetfulness we have forgotten ourselves. So the prophet Isaiah rightfully declares that we must “rise out of the dust” and “sit enthroned” in the original garments of glory with which we were created (see Isa. 52:2 NIV).

The Song of Solomon captures the journey of this young woman from Shulam who is following Isaiah’s call. She represents those of us who are slowly awakening to the love of Christ, who know there is more to life than a dust-based existence. Even though the original glory appears to be broken and shattered, this young woman calls out for a return—a redemption—to that original life. Throughout the Song, she will receive the answer to this opening prayer, and will eventually rise from the dust and sit enthroned in her identity as a child of God and a co-heir with Jesus Christ. She will take hold of this life and receive the Lord’s glorious kiss.