One of the great and beautiful mysteries of The Bible is how God uses marriage to illustrate His love of us. The Apostle Paul even describes it as such in the well-known chapter Ephesians 5 (verse 32). Mark 2:19-20, John 3:29, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation chapters 19, 21 and 22 are among many other passages in The Bible that uses the marriage analagy for the relationship between Christ and His church.
If you picture a wedding ceremony, one of the pivotal events is the bride walking toward her bridegroom. Who (traditionally) presents her? The bride’s father. The couple make their vows and they enter their holy covenant and move onto the wedding feast in celebration of the union. Our Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His only begotten Son to rescue us from the spiritual death and wrath of The Father that we justly deserve. In the Son’s perfect love for The Father, He set His eyes on us, His betrothed, and vowed to rescue us, treasure us, redeem and cleanse us (sanctify us) — sacrificially, fiercely, valiantly, humbly, gently, protectively, unwaveringly, permanently.
When Jesus returns for His bride, we will be united with Him in fullness of glory and He will take us to The New Jerusalem to fellowship forever and ever into eternity.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What impacts your heart the most about how Jesus sees you as His bride?
- What other ways besides what was mentioned in the devotional does Jesus love you as His bride?
Prayer Prompt:
Think of the ways that gets you excited about seeing Jesus face to face, as well as the amazing miracle that is God’s redemptive rescue of you, and tell Him what is on your heart.