1 Peter 1:13 directs us to “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (ESV). In other words, we keep our focus on the coming age when God will recreate the earth into a New Earth and come and live with us. So, it is important to spend time reflecting on the blessings God will bring to us then.
Perhaps what is most astonishing about the next age is that we will be “married” to the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9; 21:2, 9-27; 22:17). “In the story of redemption and the history of heaven the supreme event for which the ages are waiting is the marriage of the Lamb. The Bible is one long love story and redemption a divine romance of the love of God.”[1]
The idea that the people of God are the bride of God or Jesus is a major biblical theme. Some of the most prominent passages are: Ps. 45:10-15; Isa. 54:5-8; 62:4-5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1; Ezek. 16, 23; Hosea 2; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:22-32; Rev. 19:6-9; 21:2, 9-27; 22:17.
Revelation 21 promises that we, the bride of the Lamb, will come down out of heaven as the New Jerusalem (the city of the saints) “having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel” (21:11). Our wedding day will finally arrive and having been clothed in staggering beauty our loving Bridegroom will take us into his heart and ravish us in loving embrace forever. Being Christformed, deep will call to deep and form a complete and eternal bond with God.
As in a human marriage this union does not dissolve either spouse; instead, we will be one in love in the Spirit. Filled with his Spirit our spirits will become one as we absorb the boundless treasure of his nature. 1 Corinthians 6:17 affirms: “he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (ESV). Thus, our spiritual marriage will consummate, and we will embark on our new married life, growing in true humanness forever. This fulfills God’s promise in Hosea 2:19 “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion” (NIV).
The greatest saints throughout the ages loved to wallow in the hope and wonder of our coming nuptials. Augustine observed this about the soul that had tasted of God: “This present life becomes a burden to it, and it is filled with sighs for the time when it will be fully united to its Well-Beloved.”[3] The author of the Imitation of Christ prayed “Let Your love possess and lift me above myself and to an enthusiasm and awe beyond imagining. Let me sing the song of love. Let me follow You, my beloved, to the heights; let my soul be drained in Your praise, celebrating love. Let me love You more than myself, and myself only for Your own sake.”[4]
In short, the sweet nectar of God’s ocean of love poured directly into our hearts will fill us with a supreme eternal intoxication. This promise fixes our hearts on our greatest good and frees us from bondage to the circumstances of the present. It fixes us on Jesus, the One who saved us. It keeps us looking forward to our Wedding Day.
[1] A. B. Simpson, Heaven Opened: Expositions of the Book of Revelation (New York: Christian Alliance Publishing, 1899), 203.
[3] Quoted in P. Pourrat, Christian Spirituality, tr. W. H. Mitchell, vol. 1 (London: Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1922), 199. The citation to Augustine’s work is obscured in the volume I have. Pourrat’s work was reissued by Newman Press of Westminster, Maryland in 1953. It was also more recently reproduced by Andesite Press (no date) in their Scholar Select series.
[4] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (New York: Penguin Books, 2013), 130.
