Sunday, 31 January 2016

THE UNINFORMED BRIDE REVEALED

                      THE UNINFORMED BRIDE REVEALED


I am the rose
The joy for which he died
And this I know I move you with delight
And when my heart condemns on every side
I take refuge in the truth
I am the rose to you
I am the rose
I am the lily
I am yours
I am your beauty
There’s going to be a wedding
It’s the reason that I am living
To marry the lamb
{Song: More Than Ashes by Tim Reimherr}



Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “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”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”{Revelations 19:6-9}

She is unaware of the wedding date neither does she know that she is the bride for which the whole of heaven sang hallelujah. The Father received glory and exaltation as the Elders and angels sang in anticipation of the Lamb’s bride. She is clothed in fine linen. She is bright and pure without spot nor wrinkles. She is righteous but knows it not. She was prepared for this day some thousands of years ago at Golgotha when the Lamb was slain and His blood shed for His bride. This groom paid the costliest bride price humanity has ever known and will ever know. The Price was a sinless precious blood, a humiliated soul, a body, a torn flesh, nail pierced hands, a life not ordinary but divine. O! What a love would have provoked such a price! Fortunately, the blood was accepted by the Father and the bride price was paid in full. Nothing left to be paid than for the wedding to take place yet the bride for which He died is unaware that her bride price has been fully paid.

For God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.  {1 Corinthians 6:20}

What a fortunate and precious bride. No doubt that she is greatly loved. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. If he laid down His life for her then He must love her stupendously. It’s difficult to understand why she was so loved. Was it her beauty or her righteousness {character}.

 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. {Romans 5:8}
It is clear from the above verse that it was not for her beauty nor her character that she was so loved. She was still a sinner as at when he died for her. But how dare you pay a costly bride price for an unworthy bride. If he loved her for her character or beauty then that love was partial and conditional but it is obvious from the aforementioned verse that His love is Unconditional.

 Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.{Eph 1:4-6 Msg}

The above verses reveal that, the bride was loved even before the foundations of earth was laid. This means that she was even loved before she was created therefore it is not because of her good character or works of righteousness that she is loved.God, The father  just wanted her to be part of His family and to enjoy a lavish gift-giving love if only she accepts to take His son’s hand in marriage. This love is truly unconditional and unearned.

Now who is this fortunate bride that stole his heart, this bride that brought him down from his throne to take on the form of human flesh, this bride that brought eternal royalty into the realm of fallen man to be numbered with sinners? He took her form in order to win her heart. He had to look like her so she could recognize him although he became undesirable .Even though this bride was poor and unworthy, The father saw beyond her current state and fixed the costliest bride price ever for her suitor to pay.

2 …..He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,and by his wounds we are healed.He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,so he did not open his mouth10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. {Isaiah 53.selected verses}

The price was bloody and costly and one would wonder what the Father had in mind. All these were done so that there will be a rebirth of the bride. She had to be cleansed from her filth and be given a royal apparel. She had to become righteous and majestic because her wedding will attract the Royalties of heaven; the elders, the angels, the great cloud of witness will be there, The father will present her spotless to the Lamb in his power and glory. It was impossible for her to appear before the heavenly realm in human form. Now she has to take on his form to become one with him in marriage. She needed a new life called Zoe. How did it happen and when was the bride reborn….


  
NOTES FROM EPISODE 1

(1) There is a marriage supper that will take place soon
(2) The bride is spotless, pure, bright without wrinkles
(3)  She is righteous but knows it not
(4) She was prepared for the marriage some thousand years ago by the blood of the groom
(5)  The groom who is the lamb was slain for the bride
(6) The bride was loved even before she was created
(7) She is loved unconditionally irrespective of her  character and beauty
(8) Her bride price which was very costly was paid in full.
(9) She must take on his form to become one with him in marriage.
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