The Bride is Ready!

Ephesians 5:25b-27 – “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

I was tired. It had been a long week, and I desperately needed my “mandatory Sunday afternoon nap.” I was too tired to change, so I stayed in my church clothes and laid down for just a few minutes. 30 minutes later I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle another week. But then I looked down at my beautiful church clothes, and I saw that I was a wrinkled mess. I had a wonderful 30 minute nap, but I shouldn’t have laid down in my nice clothes. Now they were not fit to wear anywhere! 

Now imagine what a mess it would be if a Bride laid down to take a nap in her wedding gown. She would wake up a wrinkled mess not fit to go anywhere!  Certainly not ready to walk down the aisle! What if she ate spaghetti in her wedding dress before the wedding? Oh, my! She would have spots all over her gown. Wrinkles or stains on a brides dress would be unthinkable!

Last weekend a dear friend got married. Unfortunately, I was not able to be there….

But, I can just imagine what it was like. All the bridesmaids helping the Bride get dressed and ready to walk down the aisle. One bridesmaid, in particular, really knows what it is like to get the bride ready. She does hair and makeup for brides on their wedding day as part of her business! 

There are lots of preparations needed for a wedding. It takes a lot to get the bride ready for the big day.

This same bridesmaid hosted a “wedding invitation creation party” where all the bridesmaids got together and helped the bride print & put together all the wedding invitations. A bridal shower was hosted by the same friend. That same friend also did the makeup and hair for the brides engagement pictures. Not to mention she also housed the bride for free for several months when she needed a place to stay.

Last weekend I imagine that same friend was a vital part of helping the bride get ready. Doing her makeup and hair. Making sure the bridal gown was ironed and spotless.

What a great friend! She is very good at getting the bride ready! She really understands the importance of the bride being ready for her big day.

A bride “without stain or wrinkle”.

That’s what God is talking about in today’s Bible verses. Jesus loves his Bride, the Church. Jesus knows that spots or wrinkles in her clothing would steal from her beauty and radiance.

The clothes of the Church are called the wedding garment – what God calls the garment of righteousness.

Can you imagine a bride showing up at her wedding in a stained and wrinkled wedding dress?

Jesus can’t either, especially not His Bride. So He gets her clothes ready for her to put on, getting rid of every “stain or wrinkle or any other blemish”. And He makes sure she not only looks, but actually is, “holy and blameless”.

Jesus does this for us, who are His bride, the Church.

Jesus went to the cross for us, where our clothes stained by sin were washed clean. He ironed out the wrinkles of our wedding garment on the cross. Jesus poured out his blood that wipes away our sin. He cleanses us by the washing with water through the word.

Jesus asks us to continue the work of getting His Bride ready. We decide to believe in what He did for us. When we do we receive our beautiful wedding dress without spot or wrinkle. We then must continually be prepared by choosing to live our lives holy and blameless.

We are not to ‘lay down on the job’ and get our dress all wrinkled.

We choose to have our wedding garments soiled by sin or remain cleansed by holiness. We choose to allow bitterness, fear, anger & revenge to wrinkle our souls. Or we can choose to walk in faith, love and forgiveness that will press out the wrinkles of our souls and spirits.

I’m sure everyone told the bride how beautiful she looked last weekend on her wedding day. Everyone would have noticed her radiant glow. I’m sure there were no wrinkles or spots on her dress to distract from her beauty. I am sure that she “looked Maaaaahvelous dahling!”

Jesus is telling you the same today! You are beautiful and radiant. You are the Bride of Christ being made ready without spot or wrinkle!

Let me ask you –  What are you doing to be ready for your eternal wedding day? How are you helping to get the Bride of Christ ready? 

Think about what you can do today to help God’s Church to get dressed in her garments of righteousness and holiness. You are called to do what my friend did for our mutual friend, the bride, last weekend. You are called to get the Bride of Christ ready to wed her eternal groom!

We want to be able to tell Jesus, “Come! The Bride is ready!”

To help you Diane has written some resources that might help: You can find her books; Master Your Mind Series and Happily Single: Before Happily Married here.