Our Groom Awaits Us - Introduction

Our Groom Awaits Us

Introduction

 

There are many stories in the Bible – yet each individual story is only a facet of the ONE STORY.  Many believers will say that the Bible is the story of redemption – where we are rescued from judgment and gain access to heaven. However, that is only one facet in the beautiful diamond of God's love and desire for us. Many will sum up the Bible's message as the revelation of God's love and/or His judgment of sinful man – these too are only facets. A diamond is made up of many facets, but we do not isolate each one, choose those we like best and then mount them into the setting of a ring.  We might be able to appreciate an individual facet (if we were a trained jeweler!) but it is not meant to stand alone.  

 

The individual parts of God's Word are not meant to be isolated!  Each one is a component of the whole. Like any well written story, God's STORY has a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning of His STORY reveals the desire of God's heart – to have loving fellowship with a creature who is made in His own image. The middle of the STORY details the conflict on earth – a reflection of the warfare in heaven, caused by a rebellious creature who covets God's power and authority over creation. Today we are living in the middle of this STORY, waiting for the glorious conclusion! In the end, God's heart's desire is fulfilled when His long awaited Bride joins Him in heaven – there is a marriage, a celebration and an eternal love-relationship.  

 

The STORY begins somewhere in eternity past, when God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit communed with each other. The Bible tells us that God had us in His mind before He created the world; more than that, He had specific plans for our lives (Eph. 1:4).  The written STORY begins to take shape in Genesis 2, when God created the man and the woman. It ends in the book of Revelation when every creature (those not consigned to the fiery pit) is glorifying God and His Son. At the Son's side is the beautiful Bride, exalted with Him and reflecting His glory. This Bride is the true Church. She is pictured in Genesis 2, hidden in stories (types) throughout the Old Testament and Gospels, made ready in Paul's epistles, and fully revealed in the last pages of Revelation. Choosing the Bride, making her ready for the marriage, bringing her to the wedding and sharing intimacy with her throughout all eternity – this is the STORY of the Church. The Bride of the Lamb will enjoy union with her Groom throughout all eternity as she reigns with Him – for He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

 

[He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.  Eph. 1:10 (Amplified)

 

Christ rescued (redeemed) us from a sinful life and terrible judgment so that we can live in union with Him while we wait for the day He escorts us to our heavenly home. Salvation is necessary if we are to become the pure and spotless Bride, but it is the first step, not the goal. While we wait for Him, we enjoy His love and protection, and those who seek to know Him, as He desires to be known will be shown the secrets of His Life.  Little do we understand how the Son longs for the day His Bride will be by His side!

 

The end of the STORY is about glory – His glory and ours. He is glorified as the whole universe celebrates His love, mercy and grace. We are glorified because we are in union with Him – partakers of His glory throughout all of eternity and reigning with Him as His cherished Bride. Paul prays for us to know and understand this hope to which we have been called (Eph. 1:18) – how desperately we need to know this while we live in the dark days of our present world!

 

The Son waits for us to join Him while we are caught in the middle of a powerful warfare between God and His enemy, Satan. This proud, supercilious creature will stop at nothing to prevent God from having the desire of His heart. As for us – there is a sin nature to contend with, a worldly system to overcome and an enemy to keep at bay. How will the Church become the pure and spotless Bride for the Son of God?  The Father and the Son have made all the necessary arrangements . . . and that is what we will see in this series.

 

We are brought so near to Christ that everything we need we have in Him. The Father looks on us with the same delight as on His Son because we are hidden in Him. The Father cannot stop the flow of His affection and delight in Christ, and so it flows on us. We are before the Father in all the completeness of Christ's work in the removal of everything He had against us.   George V. Wigram

 

Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are one. John 17:11

LJ  5/10