"The Beauty of the Bride"

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you.” (SOS 4:7)

Come with me today.  I want us to take a peek into the greatest gala affair of all time, anywhere in creation.

No other celebration could ever compare to this event that is soon to take place.  Perhaps it will be the most unbelievable moment ever, that God has planned.

I’m talking about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when at last, He is joined forever, to the great love of His life, His bride.  Revelation 19:7 says,

“’Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’  And 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.”

This is the moment we will get to see the Bridegroom, face to face, in all His infinite, wonderful glory and beauty.  Jesus Christ will be the center piece of this great event.  His splendor will radiate with such intensity, that even angels will be shocked with awe.

Yes, the focus of heaven, even now, is upon Jesus Christ!

But when the bride of Christ is presented to her Bridegroom, at the Wedding Feast, she too will be donned with such splendor and glory, that all heaven will be hushed when first she appears.  She will be beautiful beyond words to describe.

Why will this be so?  Because the Bridegroom Himself, is the one who has made her glorious to see!

“That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” (Eph. 5:25)

Here’s another way of putting it, from the Message Bible.

“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.”

The bride of Christ will be God’s greatest creation, made in the very image of the Bridegroom Himself.  All will see His glory on her, but not just on her, but in her, through and through.  Like the sun, the Lord’s glory will shine out of His beautiful bride, and all will see it.

Hers will be the most celebrated beauty ever created, and her beauty will be especially for the pleasure of one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, the bride is the Lord’s workmanship, amen?  He invested His entire life into making her beautiful to see.

In silent admiration, surely the angels will think to themselves, “I can’t believe this!  I’ve never seen such a work of beauty.  Look at the bride of Christ!”  Jesus will show her off to all the hosts of heaven!

And the Lord’s way is astonishment and wonder, which is exactly what will grip the heart of all onlookers.  To see the “beauty of the Bridegroom” vested in His bride!  What words can tell of this glory!

God’s greatest masterpiece, to last for all eternity!  Such a perfect compliment to His own beauty and splendor and glory!  He knows exactly how to match Himself up with the perfect bride, which He will take pleasure in and enjoy forever!

As with any marriage ceremony, it’s all about the bridegroom AND the bride.  This is what all of heaven is waiting to see.  The union of heaven’s Bridegroom and His bride, forever and ever, who can fathom this?  What does this mean?  Paul says, “This mystery of Jesus and His church is great…” (Eph. 5:32)

The glory that Christ will clothe His bride with is just unthinkable.  And what a wonderful thought, that Christ will look on His bride, with infinitely greater longing, than Josh did for Lisa, our two newly weds, as she walked up the aisle just recently.

I think we’d all agree, along with Josh, that Lisa was so beautiful in her wedding dress!  But I don’t think Lisa or Josh would mind me saying, that the beauty of the bride of Christ will be out of this world, and will exceed all imagination.

How do you describe the glory, the radiance of the Creator of all things, that has been created into His most prized possession?

Moses and the elders of Israel saw God, and it’s recorded for us to read in Exodus 24:10:

“And they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.  Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” (Ex. 24:10)

The Bible says that Moses and the elders of Israel saw God, and they “ate and drank”.  This had to be in silent wonder.  It had to be the ultimate feast of the soul, they greatest grandeur they had ever laid eyes on.

I believe this is why the Marriage Feast is described as a feast.  Not because of the lavish banquet, at the Lord’s table.

No, this feast will be the feast to end all feasts, for one reason only—because all onlookers will behold the glory of the Lord and feast on His glory, like Moses and the elders did.

But, His glory will not just in seen in Himself, but in His very special creation, the bride of Christ.  How wonderful is that?  How lovely the Bridegroom will have made His bride.

Imagine all eyes feasting on the beauty of the bride of Christ, as she moves towards her Bridegroom for an eternal marriage!  I believe even the Bridegroom’s eyes will be on His creation, His forever bride, as she at last comes to Him with all her heart.

Song of Solomon is meant to be an allegory of Christ and His bride.

Let’s listen in, as we hear the bridegroom in SOS 4:9 describe his emotions, as he gazes on the beauty of his Shulammite bride, and notices that she is glancing his way, with love in her eyes.

“You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride; you have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, with a single strand of your necklace.  How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!  How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices!  Your lips, my bride, drip honey; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.  A garden locked is my sister, my bride.” (SOS 4:9)

Who can tell the depths of the love that Christ our Bridegroom has for His beloved?  Surely, He too is moved when we come to Him in worship, dressed in His righteous garments, clean and pure and white, which the bride has put on. 

The bride of Christ, His wife, is a virgin, and all her favors are locked up, just for her Bridegroom, as it says in SOS.  Her desire is for Him alone!

She has made herself ready for her Beloved, and has turned her affections towards Christ, as she waits for that final moment, when the shout comes at midnight, “Behold the Bridegroom, come out to meet Him.”

In Jewish tradition, the bridegroom came to take his bride away, much like it’s described in the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25.  This is how it’s described in A.R. Fausset’s Bible Cyclopaedia, published in 1905:

“Late in the evening the bridegroom came with his groomsmen (companions) singers and torch or lamp bearers leading the way.  The bride meantime with her maidens eagerly awaited his coming.  Then he led the bride and her party in procession, to his home, with gladness, to the marriage supper.”

Turn with me to Matthew 25:6.

“At midnight, there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him.’  Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, saying ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’  And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.  And later the other virgins also came saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’  Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

Now, we’ve been peeking in, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  We’ve been talking about the glory of the Bridegroom, and how beautiful He will be.  But we’ve also been talking about the Bridegroom’s glory, that will be vested in His beautiful bride forever.

But the sobering truth that Jesus gave us in the parable of the 10 virgins, is this:  only 5 of the virgins were wise.  Only 5 went in to the wedding feast, and then the door was closed.

These were the ones who had lived their lives on earth with their eyes fixed on their beloved Bridegroom, longing to be with Him forever in God’s eternal paradise.  And all the while, God had been giving her “eyes to see,” as she gazed towards her Beloved, and His glory was transforming her, everyday of her life on earth!

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory.” (2 Cor. 3:16)

Brothers and sisters, these are days to be preparing yourself for the coming of the Bridegroom.  In Jewish tradition, the bride took a preparatory bath.  She made herself clean, and perfumed herself with fragrant oils for her coming bridegroom.

This is the allusion in Ephesians 5: 26 and 27, to Christ sanctifying and cleansing His bride with the washing of water by the word, that He might present to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

As the bride of our Lord, let us each put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and perfect His holiness and righteousness in us.  Let us make ourselves beautiful, by God’s grace, giving Christ every chance to perfect in us, everything He is doing.

And no matter what failures we may have to endure in the process of being made ready for the Lord’s coming, our hope is this:

“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6)

And again,

“The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (1 Pet. 5:10)

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever.  Amen.” (Jude 24)

“When He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 Jn. 3:2)

AMEN!