Ephesians 5 makes a correlation between marriage and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The marriage covenant between a husband and a wife is a natural representation of our covenant relationship with Jesus. There are many great lessons to be learned from this chapter and this comparison. These images can help us to have healthier marriages as well as a healthier, more intimate personal relationship with the Lord. In our passage today, we see that the Lord is preparing us, the bride of Christ, so that He can present us to Himself. He is washing and caring for us until we meet Him on that great day of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The closer we get to the second coming of the Lord, the more anticipation there is for this great day. The day the bride of Christ will be taken to be presented to our heavenly bridegroom. He is preparing us right now. Each day we get one step closer to that great day. In keeping with that imagery, our preparation for eternity is like the bride walking down the aisle. We are destined to be face to face with our beloved Lord, united for all eternity. He has been preparing us and we are walking with Him each step of the way.
The concept of the church being the bride of Christ could be challenging for men to grasp, because in the natural, here on earth, we males are the husband. We don’t know what it is to actually be a bride in the natural sense of marriage. However, comparing Christ and the church with a husband and wife helps paint a picture. In the beginning God intended the man and the woman to be one. Yes they were in different bodies, but their joining made them one in the eyes of God. We can look at the natural relationship of marriage and it gives us a picture into our spiritual relationship with Jesus. The collective, represented as the church, becoming one with Christ. Even though men will never know what it is to be a bride in the natural, we can all learn and grow in our relationship with the Lord through the spiritual comparison, which is the church, though made up of individuals, being one. Only God, who is almighty, could pull something like this off.
In a wedding, it is the father of the bride that walks her down the aisle to give her away to her bridegroom. The father and his daughter arm in arm as they take each step. Memories flash before their eyes and emotions rush within them. Perhaps they pause as they walk the isle, tap each other on the arm, smile, and hold back the tears. It is a monumental moment for both the father and the daughter. It is made all that more impactful by the depth of their bond.
We understand the physical concept, similarly, God informed the believers to be one body (John 17:21). So then, the same unity will happen, only this time it is spiritually. Is it possible that our Heavenly Father is walking with us, His church, arm in arm, embracing us as we walk down the isle of life? He is stirring up the depth of Love that we have for Him and that we
Each day we have the opportunity to behold Him face to face through His Word and by His Spirit. As we turn to Him and embrace Him, we are changed from glory to glory. Each step of glory taking us one step closer to that great day. Let’s not take our lives, or this season of time for granted. I pray we will continue to look to Him and allow Him to prepare us as He walks us down the isle of life, individually and as the church, until that last and great step into eternity.
