When a writer makes an analogy he seeks to draw out truths about one thing by drawing out its similarities to the known qualities of the thing to which it is compared. If I say, “Life is like a roller-coaster” I’m not suggesting that life is something you find at an amusement park or that life is something closed in the winter. Instead I’m suggesting life has a lot of ups and downs, that it comes at us fast.
In like manner, when Paul tells us that the church is the bride of Christ he’s not saying the church wears something borrowed, something new, something old and something new. Such may be true of a bride, but is not essential. What defines a bride?
A bride loves and honors and delights in her groom. Which is precisely what we are supposed to do. This is surely the center of Paul’s point in Ephesians 5. Wives there are called to submit to their husbands as the church is to submit to Jesus. The groom is the focus of the attention of the bride. She is not distracted by anything or anyone else. So the church must be toward Jesus.
A bride is the glory of her groom. All the fuss and investment, the bridal gown, these things exist that the glory of the bride might be a glory to the groom. This is why all those in attendance turn and watch as the bride makes her way down the aisle. That trip isn’t designed for efficiency. Nobody is wowed by the torque a bride’s ankles can handle. She is made to be beautiful.
This is why the groom stands with her, filled with pride as the pictures get taken. Wives reflect their husbands, just as the church is to reflect Jesus. As the church walks out the character of Jesus she fulfills her bridal calling.
A bride is beloved of her groom. Bride and groom belong with and to each other. Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. It is, in both marriage and in the church’s relationship to Jesus, the love of the groom that beautifies the bride. The love of the groom is what defines the bride.
How might I be a different man if I truly believed, from top to bottom, with fervency, that Jesus loves me from top to bottom, with fervency? Remembering that we are together the bride, the same question arises with respect to the church. How might the church be different if we all together believed fully that Jesus loves us?
When the marriage feast comes, by His grace, we will so believe. We will not only be His bride, but will be spotless, without blot or blemish. As we now grow in grace and wisdom we become more and more what we will be. He has gone to prepare a place for us. Let us prepare, by the power of the Spirit, for that place. Let the Bride say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
This is the eighth installment of an ongoing series of pieces here on the nature and calling of the church. Stay tuned for more.