Day 10 | Bride of Christ – Application

Read Revelation 19

The idea of the Church being the chosen Bride of Christ has implications for our relationships with Christ, as well as our relationships with others in the Church. It is also the model upon which earthly marriage is based.

As previously noted, in Jewish culture, marriages were arranged by families not individuals. However, engaged couples accepted they had made a lifelong commitment. They were bound to each other just as if they were married, although the wedding would not take place for some time. The bride remained in her parents’ home during the betrothal, while the groom went away to prepare a place for them to live—usually in his father’s household or on his father’s property. Not knowing exactly when the groom would return, the bride worked to create her wedding gown and items for her new home.

Throughout Scripture, we are reminded God the Father chose us. His Son Jesus, who loved us before we even knew Him, left His home and His Father to be “betrothed” to us. In John 14:2, Jesus reveals He is going away to prepare a home for His chosen ones: us!

Revelation 19:8 makes it clear the bride is to appear with “fine linen… [which] represents the righteous acts of the saints.” This indicates we are to stay busy with “righteous acts” as we prepare for the wedding, anxiously awaiting the Bridegroom’s return. Out of love for Christ, we are to:

• Stay true and faithful to Him
• Listen and respond to His Word, learn more about Him, love Him more fully, and obey Him more readily
• Serve humbly alongside the others who make up the Bride of Christ
• Be ready when the Bridegroom returns

Pray, giving thanks to God for choosing you and for the certainty of the future with Him, join with the multitudes in Heaven proclaiming, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!”