Day #293 - The Bride
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless… This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
Ephesians 5:25-27, 32 NIV
If you are married how do you show love to your spouse?
I love my wife and I love showing that love to her by speaking life over her. I am not a perfect husband and I am on the long journey of learning from Jesus on how to love my bride. But one thing I do is I make up corny songs about my wife, I compliment her everyday and I speak the truth of God’s Word over her. I love to wash her life with my words and ultimately the Word of God.
Paul teaches in Ephesians about how husbands and wives are to love and honor one another. But in the midst of this teaching Paul starts to talk about Christ and the church. He says this is a profound mystery that Christian marriage, where a husband loves His wife like Christ loves the church and a wife submits to her husband, is a picture of Jesus and the church. The church is the bride of Jesus.
I am not the bride of Jesus by myself, but the church corporately, we are the bride of Christ together. Together we experience “the Presence” of Jesus as a bride that is in love with her bridegroom. One of the reasons we gather together is because Jesus loves us being together as His bride. He washes us as His bride with His Word so that we will one day be presented to Him as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle, but holy and blameless. This is the exchange of love we have together with the Lord as His people.
There is a way we receive the Word together that washes us that we don’t experience alone. There is a way we love Jesus together that we don’t love Him alone. This is the love that Jesus has for us the church corporately as His bride and the love that we have for Him collectively.
Many get hurt and give up on the church, but Jesus loves the church and never gives up on her. The church has flaws and failures, but Jesus is washing us and perfecting us for the future as the bride of Christ. We are looking forward to that day. We exist as the church now, but we are the bride forever. If we are not a part of the church now, how can we be part of the bride forever? May we love what and who Jesus loves, His bride, the church. May we enter into the promise of being radiant, washed in His Word and ready for our future wedding day together.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your love for me to put me in the church. Heal me of hurts from the church and let me love her as Your bride. Wash me and my church with the water of Your Word. Prepare us for Your presence. Let us bring our love to You and receive Your love together as we are Your church. I love You! In Your name, amen.