Are We Ready?
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very bride will tell you that she
didn’t just saunter down the aisle in her regular clothes. And worse, not her
pyjamas! Her long-awaited wedding day and subsequent marriage required much
preparation: deciding to marry the person in question; engaging in premarital
counselling; and selecting the bridal party, venue, menu, invitations, and other
items.
An earthly wedding and marriage are potentially beautiful and are
clearly not microwave experiences, but require detailed preparation. If this is
true, what about preparing for eternity as the bride of Christ? The magnitude
of eternity requires that we pause, reflect, and, most of all, get and stay
ready.
It is often said, “There is no such thing as an ugly bride.” But is
that true of the bride of Christ? Are we being diligent in our preparation to
make ourselves beautiful for His return? Are blemishes of sin making us
unsightly? Our marriage to Jesus suggests we are a new creation; old habits,
lifestyles, and status have changed. In Christ Jesus all things have become
new. Revelation 19:7-9 gives us advice and a sure promise:
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the
Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted
to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those
who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These
are the true sayings of God.”
Beautiful
city
As the bride of Christ, we have so much to prepare for, so much that
awaits us!
The Alpha and Omega, who is true and
faithful, has promised us that one day the New Jerusalem will come from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride who has made diligent preparation for her
husband. Imagine the newness of all things and being enraptured by the holy God
that our hearts have long waited for. Imagine the sublime existence when God
himself, and not another, will wipe away all our tears. Goodbye to the
separation of death, to sorrow, to crying, and to all versions of pain.
Most importantly, imagine the grandeur of the foursquare city of
God, Holy Jerusalem, described in Revelation 21:10-26. The city will be
splendid with the glory and light of God. John writes that its high wall has
twelve foundations named after the twelve apostles and is adorned with all
manner of precious stones. The city also has twelve gates, each a different
pearl with an angel and the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The
streets of the city are made from gold.
To top it off, there will be no temple in the New Jerusalem because
God Himself will be there, and the brightness of the Lord will render the sun
and moon of no effect. This is an experience, existence, and place not to be
missed. What a glorious time this will be when the redeemed who overcame will
be with the Lord permanently, inheriting all things!
Royal
invitation
This glimpse of eternity should motivate us to be the new creations
we are called to be in Christ Jesus, to prepare ourselves to be His bride. We
have been issued a royal invitation like none other, described in the parable
in Matthew 22:1-14.
In the story, guests reject two wedding invitations, issued by a
king. They were told about the sumptuous provisions made for them: “Behold, I
have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready: come unto the marriage” (Matthew 22:4, KJV). In the end, those who
rejected the invitation were deemed unworthy and were destroyed by the king’s
army.
Committed to having guests at his son’s wedding, the king sent his
servants to issue wedding invitations to all in the byways and highways, and
they accepted. Sadly, one person who came ignored the protocol of wearing an
appropriate wedding garment and was put out of the wedding.
Jesus’
invitation
This parable bears stark resemblance to the royal invitation issued
by Jesus to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb at the end of the age. Right
now, as in the parallel parable in Luke 14:15-24, many people are making
countless excuses, like business and family commitments (vv. 18-20). Do such
excuses sound familiar?
If any of us sees that our old creation lifestyle numbers us with
the fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers,
idolaters, liars, and all other versions of unrighteousness who will have their
part in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 21: 8), we must stop and
make a radical change. Can we hear the knock of the Savior on our heart’s door
to become His new creation? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20, KJV). What will our response be?
Let’s be reminded of Jesus’ words about complete commitment to Him
(Luke 14:26-28). It takes great
sacrifice and cost to follow Jesus as a new creation. But indescribable rich
rewards await those who do.
Are we ready to meet our Beloved, or are we an ugly bride with
sin-stained lifestyle? Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and promises to
return for us so we can be there with Him forever (John 14:2, 3). If we
diligently prepare ourselves, we’ll be the spotless bride He’s coming for.
Questions
It’s time to pause and ask ourselves some sobering questions:
●
Do I sufficiently appreciate
that I am a new creation of the Most High God, who was purchased at an enormous
price of the life of Jesus Christ?
●
Am I ignoring the King of
Kings’ wedding invitation for His Son’s wedding feast?
●
Am I unimpressed despite the
Father’s “all things” of the New Jerusalem have been made ready through Jesus
Christ, and I am attending to everything except Him?
●
Am I ready as a new creation in
the right wedding garment for the marriage supper of the Lamb?
●
Am I a new creation witness to
others to come taste and see that God is good and that they too can have
eternal life?
●
Have I purified myself by the
blood, Word, and Holy Spirit for the hope of eternal life and the sure promise
made to me by God?
●
Do I emanate the radiant beauty
of Jesus Christ’s righteousness?
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