Revelation 19
“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.”Revelation 19:6b-9
Some people have a love/hate relationship with weddings – I am one of those. I love them because they celebrate relationships and point us to the future wedding of Christ and His bride, the Church. I hate them because of the stress of what I’m going to wear. It’s stressful because I don’t like dressing up and when I do, the time lapse since the last wedding means my clothes have shrunk.
But there is a wedding which I am looking forward to with no conflict of emotions.
This is the wedding of the Lamb described for us in Revelation 19.
It’s a joyous occasion to look forward to because it marks the final destruction of Satan, the rebellious world and death. It will be held in the midst of a multitude who sing a victory song: ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.’ (verse 1&2)
It will be a joyous occasion as we, His Bride (the Church), will rejoice in Him who reigns and deserves all the glory. We will rejoice with no stress about what we will wear, because we will be given wedding clothes – fine linen, bright and clean. Our joy will flow, not from having an outfit that fits, but from having an outfit that makes us fitting for a King. It’s the clothes of righteousness given by our groom, bought by Him and fitted by Him. It’s the most expensive wedding outfit in history – bought by the blood of the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This wedding day will go on without a hitch and the celebration will go on into eternity.
As we wait for this wedding, we are to do three things. One, rejoice and be thankful to God, because nothing will hinder the wedding day going through – Jesus will return for His bride. Two, stay prepared and dressed, by living righteous and godly lives now; and three, keep pointing people to the Lamb of God who is the only one to prepare them for the coming wedding.
Heavenly father, Give us grace to rejoice in You daily. Spur us on by Your Spirit to live for You and tell of Your great work of salvation through Christ. Amen.