The Bride of Christ

My wife has recently started working in bridal again. She works in the alterations department at a bridal and prom store. She has always liked working with brides because this is one of the happiest times of their lives and she gets to be part of it.

She also loves watching "Say Yes to the Dress", a TV program about life in a very high end bridal store in New York. So, of course, I see it as well.

It got me thinking about Ephesians 5, where the church is called the Bride of Christ.

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior... Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word... For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body... This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."

On "Say Yes to the Dress", it often concludes with showing the bride walking down the aisle, beaming from ear to ear as she sees her husband-to-be waiting for her with a huge smile on his face as well. She can't wait to be with him, and he can't wait to be with her.

What will it be like at the marriage supper of the lamb, when Christ receives his Bride, the church, in Revelation 19?

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult, and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure."

You are His church. You are His bride. What will that day be like when we see Him face to face? Will our face be able to contain the smile?

Like the bride, do you look forward to that day when you will be with Him?

Scotte Meredith