I didn’t get up early to watch the royal wedding. In
fact, I didn’t even watch a video of it. But I can understand why so many
people did. It makes sense to me why huge crowds lined up to catch a glimpse of
it. Every royal wedding (and for that matter, all our less-than-royal weddings)
is a dim reflection of something we all long for. We long for the fulfilment of
God’s plans. It will be the most glorious event in all history. I’m talking
about the wedding of the Lamb.
Jesus died so that He
could make us holy. Because He wants and is worthy of a spotless bride:
CSB Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her
26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the
washing of water by the word.
27 He did this to present the church to
himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy
and blameless.
Just like in the best fairy tales, before the wedding, the
groom rescues His bride. Jesus is the hero who slays the dragon. Jesus rescues
us both from our own sins and from a sinful, evil world and all the forces of
evil in it.
While we cannot save ourselves,
neither are we passive in preparing for the great wedding day. All of our
serving, praying, giving, and going for God are righteous acts that are part of
the preparation. Like every bride, we, the Church, are getting ready:
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and
pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
After all the struggles and warfare, all the defeats and
victories, there comes a magnificent event. We will spend the rest of eternity
in a perfect love relationship with our God and with our Savior. He has
prepared a new home for us to share together. It will be glorious.
These truths are so moving, they are perhaps best
captured in song. Here are two songs that capture some of this truth:
CSB17 Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and
a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the
sea was no more.
2 I also saw the
holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like
a bride adorned for her husband.
3 Then I heard a
loud voice from the throne: Look, God's dwelling is with humanity, and he will
live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and
will be their God.
4 He will wipe
away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain
will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
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