Waiting for the Bride

 

Waiting for the Bride

 

Genesis 2:23-24

23 The man said,

"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called 'woman, 'for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Women are meant to be more than a trophy wife

She was meant to be a help mate to her husband

The true Bride of Christ is one who gets her hands dirty

The Bride and the Groom talk in prayer while they are waiting for the wedding

She prays

Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Will be done

In Earth as it is in Heaven

She is working on the Kingdom of God from earth

And the Groom is working on the Kingdom from Heaven

As they wait for the Wedding Day

This prayer will be answered

Are you willing to be part of the answer?

Waiting for the Bride

 

One thing I have learned as a husband is to wait.

 

Sandy always takes longer to get ready than I do,

that’s the reason she is better looking than I am.

 

Sandy can’t leave the house without

straighten up one last thing.

 

There are a lot of things worth waiting for.

 

Things that make life better,

more complete, perfect.

 

Sometimes it is hard to wait because…

 

We see the things in the way of having it now.

 

We might be willing to take a short cut,

or settle for less just to have it now and not wait.

 

Our Heavenly Father had spoken a word

and the world was created…

 

 But He never leaves anything incomplete.

 

He is all about perfection and that takes time.

 

One of the most frighting things Jesus says to us is…

 

 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

 

Our Heavenly Father wants

a perfect Bride for His Son.

  

Jesus Christ tells us what He is doing

while we are waiting for His return…

 

 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

John 14:1-4

 

Jesus is preparing a perfect place for His Bride.

 

A New Heaven and Earth

where there is righteousness.

 

A pastor I grew up under as a boy used to say…

 

 “If you find the perfect church don’t join it

because when you do it will not be perfect.”

  

What about Heaven?

 

 We know God will give us incorruptible bodies,

but what about our soul and spirit?

 

What will keep us from corrupting heaven

like we corrupted the earth?...

 

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! Ezekiel 18:31-32

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

 

I think for God to give us a new heart

and fill us with His Spirit

is a bigger task than new incorruptible bodies.

 

When God made man…

 

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.

Genesis 2:18

 

This is not only true of Adam and men in general

but Scripture from beginning to end tells us…

 

 God does not want to be alone.

 

This is so true as we read the Scriptures

speaking of the Bride of Christ.

 

When God said…

 

 "It is not good for the man to be alone

 

God was not talking about man needing a

“Trophy Wife”.

 

Although I think Eve was the most

beautiful woman to have ever lived.

 

A trophy wife is…

 

 A wife who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband. The term is often used in a derogatory or disparaging way, implying that the wife in question has little personal merit besides her physical attractiveness, requires substantial expense for maintaining her appearance, is often unintelligent or unsophisticated, does very little of substance beyond remaining attractive, and is in some ways synonymous with the term gold digger. A trophy wife is typically relatively young and attractive, and may be a second, third or later wife of an older, wealthier man Wikipeda

 

No!

 

God said…

 

"It is not good for the man to be alone.

 

Because man’s role and responsibilities

needs the proper helper.

 

I will make a helper suitable for him."

Genesis 2:18

 

Women was not made to find a man to take care of her.

 

Woman was not made to be just an object of beauty.

 

Woman was not made just to have children.

 

Woman was not made to just take care of the home.

 

Woman was made for so much more.

 

Woman was made to rule with her husband.

 

The responsibilities and purpose God

gave the man, needs the help of the woman.

 

A man when looking for a wife needs

to look for a woman who understands

her future husbands’ purpose to build

the Kingdom of God.

 

The picture of Ephesians 5

is a picture of Christ and the Church.

 

A picture of the purpose our Lord has

which is also the purpose of a man, a husband.

 

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.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:22-24

 

When we think of a bride and a groom,

we think of them making a home and family.

 

What is the purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Is it not to build the Kingdom of God?

 

Is this not the first thing we are

to seek as our objective in life?

 

Husbands are to lead.

 

 In order to lead you need followers.

 

Like a string on a table,

you can push the string or you can pull the string.

 

Jesus is the ultimate example

of leading with love and strength.

  

So, if the bride, or wife, is to be the helper

what do we need to be doing?

 

We must see marriage to Christ

is more than purity and holiness.

 

Being the Bride of Christ means having

the same vision for the Kingdom of God

as the Bride Groom.

 

What has Christ asked us to do till He comes?

Occupying ourselves as servants of the Kingdom,

putting to work the resources God has given us.

Luke 19:11-27

 

Get a vision of ruling and reigning

with Christ for all eternity.

 

The role of the Bride and Groom is filled with

Privilege and Responsibility,

  Romance and Duty.

 

  Christ is waiting for His Bride.

 

Waiting for more than a trophy wife.

 

He is waiting for a woman who is fulfilling

her purpose of building the Kingdom of God.

  

The true Bride of Christ is one

who gets her hands dirty.

 

The Bride and the Groom talk in prayer

while they are waiting for the wedding.

 

She prays…

 

Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Will be done

In Earth as it is in Heaven

 

She is working on the Kingdom of God from earth

and the Groom is working on the Kingdom from Heaven

as they wait for the Wedding Day.

 

This prayer will be answered.

 

Are you willing to be part of the answer?

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

  Genesis 2:23-24 NIV

 

23 The man said,

 

"This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called 'woman,'

for she was taken out of man."

 

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 

 

Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV

 

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

 

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."   32 This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.