Revelation 19:7-8. 7Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Our relationship to God and to Christ is described in many different ways in scripture. Some might be a little less flattering, like when scripture calls God the potter and us the lump of clay. Or God the shepherd and us the sheep. Ouch.
But God doesn’t leave us as simply clay to be manipulated, or sheep to be protected. We see in scripture a progressing relationship with God. From master-servant to friend-friend. And then even deeper from friendship to son-ship. And from children to bride.
Bride? Yes, God’s own beloved.
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;
We are the Bride of the Lamb, and marriage to Christ is our ultimate reality. As humanity began in the garden with a wedding so too it will begin anew with a wedding, the wedding of Christ, the second Adam, to his Church, the new Eve. Jesus finally becoming “one flesh” with us. One spirit. One in intimacy. One in impact. One in all his glorious love.
By grace, it will be granted to us both individually and corporately to clothe ourselves in purity. In his very own righteous deeds. As his bride, we will finally be what we have failed to be all along – perfectly in love with God.
Yes, today we are Christ’s cheating, adulterous fiancé (James 4:4). Like Hosea’s Gomer, we too often run from his grace. We chase other lovers. We move in with them thinking they are the one that is supporting us, clothing us, and feeding us. But in reality, it has been Jesus all along.
And like righteous Hosea, Jesus refuses to put us away. As God with Israel, Christ has rejected the notion of divorce. Rather, in covenant love, he daily takes us into the wilderness to woo us at his oasis of compassion and care. Like the shepherd of the Song of Songs, he invites us to his garden of grace to enjoy his perfect, unfailing love. A love unlike anything from this world. A love that overcomes all our fears and all our faithlessness.
The end of days vision of to live is Christ is not one of a potter molding clay, or of a shepherd guiding sheep. It is not a master commanding his servants to begin their eternal labors. It is not even a vision of a doting Father enjoying his children as they sit on his lap. The end of days is two star-crossed lovers, emerging from the wilderness, leaning on each other.
Song 8:5. Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?
The end of days is every desire of your heart eternally satisfied by Jesus’ desire for you.
Song 7:10. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.
The end of days is sharing a love so powerful that nothing can ever destroy it. Not even death.
Song 8:6. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death
The end of days is us and Jesus finally in mutual loving possession of one another.
Song 6:13. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
You: How do you see your relationship to God: clay, sheep, servant, son, bride?
You in Christ: Christ loves you so much he would literally share a spirit with you. How does this make you feel?
Christ in you: How might your betrothal to Jesus change how you live today?
To Live is Christ 