Tomorrow I will walk our baby girl down
the aisle to be wed to the man that she loves and with whom she desires
to spend the rest of her life. The minister – our dear friend, Eric
Gray – will ask, “Who gives the bride to be married to this man?” and I
will answer, “Her mother and I.” Even though I have been the “main man”
in Haley’s life from birth until today, that’s going to change
tomorrow. Tucker Presley will become her “main man.” I understand that
this is the way it’s supposed to work; it must be that way for their
marriage to be all that God intends. Besides, we love Tucker and we’ll
be very happy to have him as our son-in-law. I will still find it
difficult to give the bride away, only because my heart strings will be
stirred. I will likely shed a tear or two. (Those who know me will say
that is an understatement.)
The bride will be
beautiful. Of course she’s been beautiful to her mother and me since we
first laid our eyes on her when she was born into this world. Tomorrow
our baby girl, the youngest of our four children, will be dressed in a
beautiful gown topped off with a veil that will have dozens of sparkling
sequins sown into it by the loving hands of her mother. Even now she is
sewing – just as she has been several hours each day for the last
several days. But it’s a labor of love for our beautiful bride.
Tomorrow, when
one particular song begins, all will rise and turn their eyes to behold
the beautiful bride. Then, they will look to see Tucker’s response when
he sees his bride walking toward him. And my eyes? Well, they will be
wet with happy tears because no one loves this girl more than I do, and
I’m giving her away to the man of her dreams.
May I draw your
attention now to another bride – one that is also dearly loved and
cherished by God and by all who know her?
That bride is the
Bride of Christ, the Church. As I contemplate giving the bride away
tomorrow and how Tucker must feel as he receives his bride, I have a
deeper appreciation of how much Christ loves the church.
When the Apostle
Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit to write about the relationship
between Christ and the church, the Spirit directed him to compare it to
the relationship between a husband and his wife. Read Ephesians
5:22-33, a great text about the marriage relationship, which includes
these instructive words:
“Wives, submit to
your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife
as Christ is the Head of the church, His body, of which He is the
Savior.”
“Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for
her.”
“In this same
way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who
loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own
body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.”
Then the Apostle
writes: “This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ
and the church.” The church is the bride of Christ, and one day, He
is coming to take His bride to a wonderful, eternal home.
You and I become
a part of the Bride of Christ when we submit our lives to the Savior.
Even though we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans
3:23), we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus through the “washing of
water through the word” (Ephesians 5:26) and added to the Body, the
Bride of Christ.
We become a part of the Beautiful
Bride (the church) when we place our
faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31),
turn from our sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31),
confess Jesus
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38). Then, we are
continually cleansed of our sin as we continue to declare our love and
loyalty, by our words and our actions, to Jesus (1 John 1:7-9).
Tomorrow, I’ll give away a beautiful bride to her loving husband. And
I’ll be reminded of how much Christ loves His bride, the church. I will
thank God for the opportunity to be a part of that Bride that Jesus will
take home to His heavenly, eternal home.
Won’t YOU say “yes” to becoming a part of the Bride of Christ
through your trusting obedience?
--
David A. Sargent
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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