Bridegroom

And a voice came from the throne, saying,

“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶ Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

⁷ Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

⁹ Then he *said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are the true words of God.” – Revelation 19:5-9

In Revelation 19, Jesus, the Lamb, has triumphed, and it’s time for the wedding feast. He is the groom, and the Church is his bride.

Decades ago, my church put on a production called The Bride. The bride was the church. Act One went from Creation to the birth of the church, and Act Two covered her growth into a bride who has prepared herself for marriage to the Lamb. Through it all, God’s love and care for his bride shone through. And it made things real for me. One day we WILL see our bridegroom come for us, and we WILL  join Him at the wedding feast. What a day that will be!

For as a young man marries a virgin,

So your sons will marry you;

And as the groom rejoices over the bride,

So your God will rejoice over you. – Isaiah 62:5

 

This year-long series is inspired by Ann Spangler’s Praying the Names of God for 52 Weeks