Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
How can we believe in “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” unless we also are loyal to “His wife,” who must “make herself ready” for “the marriage of the Lamb”?
Can we trust “the Lamb” (which means the crucified Christ) if He ultimately suffers shame and defeat in His nuptial choice? We read in Revelation that “the marriage of the Lamb” has been long delayed for the obvious reason that “the Lamb’s wife” has not yet “made herself ready” (19:1-8). “The Lamb” wants to return in His grand second coming, and “take [her] to [Himself], that where [He is, she] may be also” (see John 14:3).
There is no shame a man can suffer quite as painful as to be “stood up” at his wedding. All the guests have assembled, and to his embarrassment the woman he loves is a no show; she is not “ready.”
Why? She proclaims loud and clear that she doesn’t want to say “I do.” What will they think of him as a bridegroom? He may be great in his career whatever it is, but failure to win his bride is an embarrassment he can never overcome. Is our “Lamb of God” unable to woo and win the “woman” of His choice? What reason can she have for not making herself “ready” except that she has not been “won”?
That’s “her” problem, and He cannot force her to “make herself ready.” When Abraham Lincoln gave Mary Todd a ring inscribed, “Love is eternal,” he was recognizing the nature of true love; Christ’s love for His Bride-to-be is eternal—He can’t flippantly select another; He doesn’t dare compromise in the eyes of the world and of the universe the very nature of love itself.
Faith in the Lamb of God must also require confidence that “His wife” (His church) will “make herself ready” through accepting the gift of repentance appropriate for her (cf. Acts 5:31). Don’t give up on the church!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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