“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude; like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For the 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.’” Rev. 19:8 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev. 22:17
Have you ever considered the fact that Genesis begins with a wedding and Revelation ends with one? The entire Bible is about one thing…Jesus getting a bride for Himself.
In Genesis, God created man in His own image…Surprisingly, our all-sufficient God appears to be in desperate need of relationship, in need of an intimate ‘know and be known’ kind of relationship. In all of God’s creative work during this significant week of history, what was the first thing that God said was not good? ~~That man was alone. So what did God do? ~~He made Adam a woman! …God took one of Adams ribs and fashioned a perfect companion for him. God made Adam this perfect Eve companion, and then married the 2 of them.
Similarly, God designed His own bride-to-be when He created mankind (Gen. 1:26-27), and He is waiting to marry her real soon. (Ohhhh, what a wedding, reception and honeymoon this will be!!! ~~The ultimate marriage and eternal love story.)
But tragically in society today, where feelings take precedent over promises, marriage holds little esteem. Satan has effectively duped most all of us into believing that the marriage institution itself is no big deal. And the biggest travesty is that most believers continue to buy into this Satanic deception and choose to embrace the smaller ‘marriage story of ourselves and our little worlds’ over seeing our marriage unions as a picture of THE ETERNAL LOVE STORY. ~~From Genesis to Revelation, all God does is woo His bride to Himself….over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Oh, how He loves us; if only we could grasp just how much.
Herein lays the root problem: Whether married or single, at our individual cores, we don’t truly believe and trust that God is who He says He is. And our belief/trust (or lack of belief/trust) in God and who He says He is affects everything else in this life. The psalmist in Ps. 119:66 shares, “Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.” This man has a resolute desire for God to impart to him His discernment and knowledge instead of choosing to be the captain of his own ship. ~~ The psalmist desires God’s full blessing on his life (the big picture), and understands that this decision comes with a cost: death to self (the little picture…that appears so big). ~~An alien concept in our society today.
What do you say, married or single, let’s “get alien”, die to self and choose today to ready ourselves for our soon coming Bridegroom. Let’s set aside t-i-m-e with God, and ask Him to show us where our views/outlooks can be tweaked and be more aligned with His truths. Our world is in desperate need for true believers to take a courageous stand and to live fully for Jesus in wholehearted devotion.
“Lord, keep me tender and turned towards You. Break my heart with the things that break Your heart, and give me great joy with the things that make You smile. Amen.”
Much love this week! And if you live here in Santa Barbara, we’ll love to have you join us this month for 4 Sunday mornings of “Marriage on the Rock not rocks” teachings, 9:30am in the Jr. High room at Calvary Chapel SB as we discuss practicalities for living out this eternal love story here and now.
God bless you!,
Shaun and Betsy
