Redeemed - Pt. 8

 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4 ESV).

 

I have been privileged to officiate many weddings in the last fifty years. However, of all of those, I can honestly say that the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen was Mary! I’ve attached one of the wedding pictures from that day with this writing. Her hair was styled differently than I had ever seen and, of course, she was dressed differently than I had ever seen. We followed the traditional practice of not seeing each other until the actual wedding march of the bride down the aisle. The minster of our wedding, Bailey Stone, leaned near me and whispered just prior to her entering the sanctuary, “Get where you can see. You will never forget this moment.” He was absolutely correct! This is the picture of redemption we are given in our reading today.

 

The “bride and groom” theme resonates in human society as a picture of mutual delight, commitment, and faithfulness. The Bible even uses this image to describe the relationship between God and his people. The prophet Isaiah tells us, for example, “The Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:4-5).

 

The New Testament speaks often about the church as the bride of Christ. And our reading we see a picture of the New Jerusalem, representing God’s people and the dwelling place of God, “prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” In the new heaven and earth described here, all of God’s promises will be fulfilled, and we’ll be able to delight in full life with God forever. In the meantime, we may feel unworthy of God’s love, knowing we are sinners. Or, perhaps for some of us, the ideals of joy and delight in marriage may not be a reality. Even in times of doubt and struggle, though, God himself is with us. Hold on to Jesus in faith; he is watching over and holding on to you. He loves you and wants you to flourish and enjoy life to the full!