A Wedding

“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” (Revelation 19:7).

I attended a wedding last week.  I had to drive several hours to get there and had almost decided against going.  But I’m glad I did.  The wedding ceremony was Christ-centered, and the wedding attire and decorations simple, but attractive.  The reception was a simple meal and no alcoholic drinks in sight.  It was simply a celebration of two Christ followers joining in marriage.  I was blessed to witness it.

Attending a wedding always causes me to remember my own wedding. (That was 50 years ago this week.) Wayne and I were married for almost 48 years until his death.  I think of those words, “till death do we part” and wonder if the bride and groom think about what that means.    They are looking forward to the start of their life together and most likely not about death.  That is natural.  Neither Wayne nor I were thinking much about that until late in our marriage.  I can remember some rough times early in our marriage when I wondered if we would last.  God, in His loving mercy, and I’m sure many prayers of our parents saw us through the rough times until we both matured and our marriage became strong and solid.

In Ephesians, chapter 5 the Apostle Paul speaks of the marriage relationship as that of Christ and the church.  Christ is the head of the church, which is His body.  The husband is the head of the wife. The church submits to Christ.  The wife submits to her husband and both “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  Christ’s love for the church was so great He gave up His life for her in order to make her holy and to “present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish.”

Wouldn’t it be amazing and culture-changing if marriages were showing that kind of relationship between husbands and wives!  We’d see more 50, 60, or 70 year anniversaries. What would it look like if families were showing the love, respect, and submission that Christ desires for His church?  Yes, I know every family isn’t a Christian family, but even if just the Christians took Paul’s teaching more seriously, marriages would be stronger, not perfect but strong. The church would be stronger, too.

There is another wedding coming in the future.  Christ is going to marry the church.  The culmination of human history will be the wedding of the Lamb and His bride, the church.  What a celebration that will be!  John writes in Revelation 19:9, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”  Are you on the invitation list?  If so, we’ll be celebrating forever!