The Secret: How Do You See Love?Sample

What a Wedding!

Written By: Pastor Dan Hickling

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”—Revelation 19:7 (NKJV)

Whenever we witness a wedding, we’re actually witnessing something so much greater. That’s because marriage is an earthly model of a heavenly reality—the reality of Christ’s love for His Church.

The Bible describes Christ as a Bridegroom (John 3:29), and those who’ve placed their faith in Him (the Church) are collectively identified as His bride (2 Corinthians 11:2). This might be challenging concept for some, but it reveals just how deeply the Lord loves His people. He chooses to identify with them on the closest terms possible.

Ever since He first came to earth, Christ has been extending His love and inviting anyone who would respond into this covenantal relationship with Him, an invitation that has stood for roughly the past 2,000 years and counting! But just as an earthly courtship eventually gives way to marriage, Christ’s relationship is advancing towards a climactic event... an event that John describes for us here in the Book of Revelation:

“’Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’”—Revelation 19:7-9 (NKJV)

Once the Church has been fully assembled in Heaven, there’s going to be a wedding. Christ (who is also referred to as the Lamb) will stand as the Bridegroom, and those who comprise the Church will stand as the Bride. There will be a feast to end all feasts, as the Lord’s love for His Church is celebrated, and there’s great rejoicing that we will share the closest union possible with Him for all eternity!

If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you know there’s that special moment in the ceremony when you sense something special and new has just happened. A brand-new bond both beautiful and powerful has been forged before your very eyes. That moment doesn’t just point to the love between the couple exchanging vows. It ultimately foreshadows the greatest wedding of all; the one between Christ and His Bride, the Church.

DIG: What does an earthly wedding ultimately point to?

DISCOVER: Who are the participants in the wedding described in Revelation 19?

DISPLAY: What effect does this wedding have on you as you contemplate it?