The Marriage of the Lamb
In the Jewish culture of Jesus' time each marriage had two parts, the betrothal and the wedding celebration, which were about a year apart. The couple was married when the betrothal took place, but they did not come together to live together until the groom made everything ready at the house and the bride prepared herself for her marriage. This two part process is what we experience when we become a follower of Christ today. We are married to Jesus, but we are awaiting the marriage celebration in Heaven, when we will live forever with Him in the place He has prepared for us.(Revelation 19:17) We should be rejoicing in these realities every day while we long for the day that we will be with Him in Heaven.
Have you ever thought of salvation as being "married" to Jesus? It is a great way to describe salvation, because salvation only comes through having a relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. Once we come to know Him as Lord by making our commitment to Him as Lord of our lives, we enter into an eternal relationship with Him. He is not going to divorce us, because He hates divorce. We would never divorce Him, because we have the Holy Spirit in our lives so that Christ is our life.(Galatians 2:20) We live for Him every day out of love, and we grow to trust Him more and more, as we know Him better and better.
Then, one day when the complete Bride is ready, we will all go to have a spectacular celebration of His love, grace, and provisions for us. The church, which is all believers of all times, is the Bride of Christ. The Father is patiently waiting for the last person to be saved, and then, He will tell Jesus it is time to come and receive His Bride.(II Peter 3:9; Acts 1:7) I believe this begins with the Rapture.(I Corinthians 15:51-53) We will all go through the Judgement Seat of Christ, and then, we will experience the Marriage of the Lamb.
So, have you "made yourself ready?" That is what Revelation 19:7 says we are to do. Just think about how meticulous a bide is in preparing herself for a wedding physically and emotionally. We should be just as diligent to be a holy, chaste bride for our Lord Jesus Christ. There will not be any dirty garments at His wedding. All of us will dressed in bright white as we are presented to Christ in person, and He shows us the place He has prepared for us.(John 14:1-4) Oh, the abundant grace of God to give us so much more than we deserve through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Tomorrow, I intend to read Revelation 20-22.
Have you ever thought of salvation as being "married" to Jesus? It is a great way to describe salvation, because salvation only comes through having a relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. Once we come to know Him as Lord by making our commitment to Him as Lord of our lives, we enter into an eternal relationship with Him. He is not going to divorce us, because He hates divorce. We would never divorce Him, because we have the Holy Spirit in our lives so that Christ is our life.(Galatians 2:20) We live for Him every day out of love, and we grow to trust Him more and more, as we know Him better and better.
Then, one day when the complete Bride is ready, we will all go to have a spectacular celebration of His love, grace, and provisions for us. The church, which is all believers of all times, is the Bride of Christ. The Father is patiently waiting for the last person to be saved, and then, He will tell Jesus it is time to come and receive His Bride.(II Peter 3:9; Acts 1:7) I believe this begins with the Rapture.(I Corinthians 15:51-53) We will all go through the Judgement Seat of Christ, and then, we will experience the Marriage of the Lamb.
So, have you "made yourself ready?" That is what Revelation 19:7 says we are to do. Just think about how meticulous a bide is in preparing herself for a wedding physically and emotionally. We should be just as diligent to be a holy, chaste bride for our Lord Jesus Christ. There will not be any dirty garments at His wedding. All of us will dressed in bright white as we are presented to Christ in person, and He shows us the place He has prepared for us.(John 14:1-4) Oh, the abundant grace of God to give us so much more than we deserve through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Tomorrow, I intend to read Revelation 20-22.