The Bride

"Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness."

Ephesians 5:26 & 27

Have you ever tried to picture the wedding that will take place with Jesus and his Bride?

I used to try to imagine what the Bride would look like; all of us as one. It's almost impossible to imagine. I can't seem to wrap my head around this beautiful, blameless, spotless Bride. If we are ALL in there, what does she look like? How will it even happen?

And, even though I try to see her as sinless, I always see my own failures tainting her; she always pales in comparison to the King of Kings waiting to receive her.

Last Saturday I was in a wedding. The Bride was one of my best friends. I have known her since she was six years old. I've watched her as a child, as a teenager, and now as a woman. I've listened to her cry; I've laughed hysterically with her; I've warned her of the kind of guys she SHOULDN'T date and I watched her willingly commit herself to this final man.

I know her well. I know her strengths and her weaknesses. I know her passion and her heart's desire. I know her patience and her faithfulness. I know her timidity and her fierceness. I have literally observed her life as she grew into this beautiful woman.

And on Saturday, I stood on the stage of the church waiting, with everyone else, to see her walk through those double doors. David Crowder Band was singing, Praise Him and as the song rose the doors swung open. Every person stood to their feet, anxiously straining to see the Bride in her beauty and radiance. The music propelled her further. She floated down the aisle on her Father's arm. Her eyes were set on her groom and I managed one glance to see him watching her approach. He was grinning at the sight of his glorious Bride.

And then I realized that I was seeing the Great Wedding unfold before me. Granted, this was only a shadow, a glimmer, of what was to come. But here it was: the most sacred and beautiful event - the celebration of total union with God Himself!

The most remarkable thing was that we were all looking at the Bride. Every eye was on her. We all wanted to drink her in; her beauty was overwhelming.

Now I can see it.

When we approach Jesus as His Bride, radiant, untainted, glorious - every eye will be on us. We will be so redeemed; so beautiful; so clean that all of heaven will be anxiously waiting to see us glide through those great, sparkling doors.

The King of the Universe will be there, and yet all eyes will be on us. God, in all of His glory, will be bursting with joy and excitement - surely a sight to behold - and yet we will be the center of the celebration.

That makes our future look a little different, doesn't it?

God's love for us is so great that Jesus will be standing, waiting, expectant, overwhelmed with the beauty of His Bride.

At my own wedding, my husband cried more than I did. The moment I stepped through those doors he started to cry. Of course that set off every woman in the church. My brothers cried. Our closest friends cried. Our families cried. People I barely knew, but worked with, cried. We all cried.

We cried because the holiness of the moment was overwhelming. Something sacred and eternal was taking place. We fought so hard to get there and we have been fighting to stay there ever since. But isn't it true that it isn't worth having if it isn't worth fighting for?

I am so excited to say that you are the Bride; you are the one all of heaven has been waiting for. When you stand before him everything he has done to fight for you will be so worth it! Everything you have done to cling to him will be so worth it!

The holiness of that moment is already trickling down into our small and ordinary lives. We can rejoice (or weep) in the presence of such devotion. We can celebrate now, knowing that the wedding is coming; it is almost here!