Thursday, July 14, 2005

A Faithful Husband-Communion Thoughts

Rev 19:7-9 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

We are not just spectators at the marriage. We are participants. Neither are we the groom’s men nor the bride’s maids. Our role is the bride. Now, this might give some men an awkward feeling, as the Church plays this feminine role. But these words are spirit and they are life.

The purpose of a wedding is to unite two individuals into one. The two people do not cease to exist as individuals but two households do become one, two people are to become single- minded in the pursuit of God and their callings together. The two are to be united as one in the act of conjugal love. This unity is displayed over time as the married couple become more and more like each other. They begin to sound more alike. If they didn’t at the beginning, they begin to look like they go together. And after many years of this, it is unclear whether he is more like her or she is more like him.

This passage from Revelations is remarkable. The bride is arrayed in fine linen and that fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Our frigid response is often 'hat there is none righteous, no not one.' But that is speaking of one’s own righteousness apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But we are not apart from Jesus Christ. He has taken us as His bride, given us His name and drawn us into close communion with Himself. The bride and groom have become one.This meal represents and presents this truth to us. The Bride and groom become one in flesh. The Church and even individuals in the Church become one flesh with Jesus Christ. We are to eat Him and drink Him, to take Him into ourselves in such a way that our union with Jesus Christ is complete. We are to be more like Him as we learn from Him how to be faithful in all our dealings with Him and with His people. And being a faithful bride, let us rejoice as we receive all the blessings and benefits of having such a faithful husband.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a question. Ephesians says women are to submit to their husbands.

In the analogy of the church being feminine, the church does not submit to man, in this case the husband. Rather, man is to submit himself to God as Christ submitted to the church.

Question: Isn't there an inherent conflict in this analogy? Not trying to split hairs, just confused. I have read your entire blog and have found your style quite engaging.

I would appreciate some insight as to your thoughts. There may be others out there with the same idea, but lacking in motivation to ask.

Thank you, Pastor.

Meri De Anne

M. Stewart said...

Meri De Anne,

In the analogy, the bride is the Church and the husband is Christ. This is the foremost symbol. Christ gave himself up for the sake of the Church. The Church, in return, submits and glorifies Christ.

As for us, the husband is to give himself up for the sake of his bride, his wife. In turn, his wife should submit herself to her husband.