The Bride of Christ, part 1

This morning I celebrated communion together with a local gathering of believers. The text we meditated upon was from Revelation 19:

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear." (Fine linen
stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God."

The leader spoke of how we, the church, are the bride of Christ; we are currently betrothed and preparing for the wedding which will take place when Jesus returns. We are living in the in-between of the "already and the not yet." We are the bride of Christ, yet the wedding has not been fully consummated. It got me thinking about how this relates to our transformation while we wait for our groom to appear. Think of how a bride prepares herself for her wedding day. She wants to look beautiful for her groom. And what is the centerpiece of the bride's focus? The dress! Will it be simple and elegant? Or, will it be adorned with pearls and lace? Will she have a headpiece and veil or wear delicate flowers in her hair? The bride puts a lot of thought and effort into her wedding day attire. Why does she do this? Because she loves her husband-to-be and wants to please him. She wants to see the look on his face when she walks down the aisle toward him.

Would anyone say to the bride, "Why don't you save money and wear a dress you already have; your groom loves you already, you don't need to impress him. He's not marrying you for your hairstyle, just put it up in a rubberband." I have heard well-meaning people say, "There is nothing you can do which will make God love you more. Stop striving and just rest in His love." While there is truth in this statement (and probably some correction I need to hear), I wonder sometimes if we are minimizing the importance of preparing for our groom? The passage in Revelation says that the fine linen in which the bride is arrayed stands for the righteous acts of the saints. While God loves us now as much as He ever will, Scripture also speaks of things we can do which please Him. We do not earn God's love by doing these things; we are responding to His love and seeking to please Him out of our love for Him.

I want to be a beautiful bride for Jesus. I want to see the look in His eyes when He sees me, arrayed in the fine linen of the righteous acts of the saints. What about you?