A Tale of Two Marriages

I had the great opportunity to witness two of my best friends and
brother and sister in Christ join together in the union of marriage.

I love weddings. I used to consider them boring and sappy,
but since repenting and trusting Christ that has changed greatly.

Why?

Because marriage is such a beautiful picture of grace and Christ and the Church.

The Bible actually begins and ends with a wedding.

The very first wedding is found in Genesis 2.

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.

This is the only covenant between man that was created before sin.
So now this is a perfect union between imperfect people.

But not only does Scripture begin with marriage. It also ends with a marriage.
In Revelation 19 we see the ultimate marriage feast. For there we see the feast of the Lamb.

Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure:
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me,
See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren
that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw the heaven opened; and behold,
a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True;
and in righteous he doth judge and make war. And his eyes [are] a flame of fire,
and upon his head [are] many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one
knoweth but he himself. And he [is] arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood:
and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white [and] pure.
And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written,
KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev. 19:7-16


Here we see the great wedding as Christ finally comes and takes His Bride, the Church.

This is the culminating celebration of the gospel.

Christ comes clothed not in a tuxedo, but a white robe dipped in blood.

Whose blood?

First, it is His own blood that He shed upon the cross. It is His blood that bought His Bride out of the wrath of the Father. This blood is our propitiation of His bride who sold herself into whoredom go after other gods. This is the blood that covers the Bride in crimson to make her pure before the Groom.

Second, intermingled with His own blood there we will also find the blood of the martyrs of the Bride. Those who stood before wicked men and were told choose your Lord or your life and they, through the power of the Holy Spirit, declared the choose Christ and in Him Life everlasting. And as they were cut down and their blood flowed freely they built up the great foundation of the Church.

So there stands the Bride Groom in His robe dipped in blood waiting on His Bride (actually we as the Bride wait on Him but you get the idea).

And the we see the Bride entering. Her beauty is extraordinary! She is strong an full of grace. She has weathered many attacks from other would be suitors. She even at times had left her Lover for others, but His kindness drew Her back.

There she enters clothed in purity. She is dressed in "righteous acts of the saints." All those deeds done on earth simply out of a loving obendiece to her Lover. Those deeds that were hidden in are shown not in pride as bright reflection of her love.

But her clothes are not in truth her own. They belong to her Groom. They are clothed in His righteousness.

This is the great hope for Christians. For the Bride who has seen her sin and repented and turned to Jesus Christ, her Lover and has trusted in Him alone. Just as any bride would submit to her husband and trust him to provide so also the Church trusts Christ alone for her salvation.

Oh Christian, as we wait upon our Lover to return let submit now and do all that we can to serve Him and build up the Bride.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come

The Failure of the Pro-Life Movement

This is probably going to be one of those notes that get me in trouble. At least that might mean it got you thinking. Either way please comment. I'm keeping it short so you can read it all quickly and we can discuss in the comments.

I'm at the point in life where a lot of my friends are getting married (sadly, so far that does not include me). With marriage of course comes children or at least the discussion of children.

I realized my life is really changing last week when a couple other men and I went out with one's baby girl. Seriously had "Three Men and a Baby" flashbacks.

I go to a very family oriented church. There are several families with 4-8 kids and personally I love it. The "full quiver" is truly awesome for those God blesses in that manner.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(Psa 127:4-5)

Many in these families look forward to marriage for their children and pray for pregnancy even on the honeymoon. This happens to have happened twice in the last year with a very "Loving" family.

Others though that have recently gotten married or are looking to get married hold a complete opposite view. They plan on waiting a year or more before they begin having children. They have a variety of reasons for this decision. Some desire to do so for financial reasons. Others want to do so because they desire time to get to know their spouse in a more intimate manner before becoming parents. I'm sure others come up with a variety of reasons.

Now I love my dear friends and won't say there are not reasons to wait to have a child I fear that for many the challenge is really how they view children. Our society has become hostile to children in many ways. Whether it be that they believe the world over populated or simply because of the responsibility of children.

Many people who would loudly proclaim abortion as murder still have a mentality that views children as a burden.

This is the area where I think the pro-life movement has failed. For the first time in recent history the majority (52%) view abortion as murder, but at the same time many still view children as a nuisance.

As much as it burdens me to say this I fear many pro-lifers see children as President Obama who claims that should his daughters have sex he doesn't want them "punished" with a baby.

The truth is for some that they view children as an inability to live life on their terms. It means they might be able to go out every night or buy what they want to buy. It means they can't remain adolescent little boys.

And that is true. But that is not a punishment. It is indeed a GLORIOUS opportunity. You see when you become a father you have the great privilege of understanding God as a Father. You see the role He has in our lives. You see what a great sacrifice it was for Him to send His only begotten Son.

Fatherhood is another reflection of the character and nature of God. Yes, you may indeed give up much, but consider instead what you gain.

My goal is not to convince you to pray as some do for pregnancy on a honeymoon. Nor is it to say that godly families will have many kids.

Truthfully, I pray God will bless me and my future wife with a couple of our own and graciously allow us to adopt several orphans into our family (as He so graciously adopted me into His).

My goal instead is to encourage you to consider how you view children completely. Do you see them as a blessing of God to be longed for and understanding that any gift He gives He will also provide a way to be cared for, or do you see them as something that crushes your freedom, style, and finances?

I have many plans and prays for my life, but whether it be in the case of children or anything else let us cry out "Lord, your will be done." Trusting Him in all manners especially His great gift of children.