WE HAVE BEEN SUMMONED Part 3
As we look back at our previous blogs, our Father has prepared and is preparing an eternal Bride for His Son, Jesus Christ! He has taken meticulous care to ensure that she is everything He has dreamed of. He has invited her to His Kingdom. He also has cleansed her, and washed her with His Holy Spirit, and the precious blood of Jesus Christ. THE WORK IS FINISHED!
Earth, Our Dressing Room to Take Off and Put On
On the earth and in time, our Father is revealing to the Bride of Christ who she really is. His Spirit works in her and through her by His grace and power to remove all darkness from her soul so that she can see her “True Identity.” She is Jesus’s bride without, spot, blemish, or any sort of thing. With that in mind, the Bride of Christ has allowed and is allowing the Spirit of God to work in her and through her to do whatever pleases Him. She trusts in Him to use all things in her life to bring both glory and honor to Him.
The Bible says, all the trials, sufferings, and challenges we encounter on the earth are for our good, for those who love God and are the called to His purposes. For those of us who allow our Lord to work in us to transform us, our pains will culminate into eternal joy at the wonderful celebration of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (literal or symbolic). Before we look at this event let’s examine the marriage customs during Biblical times.
Marriage Customs in the Bible
In his vision in Revelation 19:7–10, John saw and heard the heavenly multitudes praising God because the wedding feast of the Lamb, the “marriage supper”—was about to begin. The concept of the marriage supper is better understood considering the wedding customs in the time of Christ.
These wedding customs had three major parts.
First, the Marriage Contract was signed by the parents of the bride and the bridegroom, and the parents of the bridegroom or the bridegroom himself would pay a dowry to the bride or her parents. This began what was called the betrothal period—what we would today call the engagement. This period was the one Joseph and Mary were in when she was found to be with child (Matthew 1:18; Luke 2:5).
The second step in the process usually occurred a Year Later, when the bridegroom, accompanied by his male friends, went to the house of the bride at midnight, creating a torchlight parade through the streets. The bride would know in advance this was going to take place, and so she would be ready with her maidens, and they would all join the parade and end up at the bridegroom’s home. This custom is the basis of the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1–13.
The third phase was the Marriage Supper itself, which might go on for days, as illustrated by the wedding at Cana in John 2:1–2.
What John’s vision in Revelation pictures is the wedding feast of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and His bride (Faithful Believers in Christ) in its third phase. The implication is that the first two phases have already taken place. The first phase was completed on earth when each individual believer placed his or her faith in Christ as Savior. The dowry paid to the bridegroom’s parent (God the Father) would be the blood of Christ shed on the bride’s behalf. The Church on earth today, then, is “betrothed” to Christ, and, like the wise virgins in the parable, all believers should be watching and waiting for the appearance of the bridegroom. The second phase symbolizes the Second Coming of Christ, when Christ comes to claim His bride.
The Marriage Supper then follows as the third and ultimate step.
https://www.gotquestions.org/marriage-supper-Lamb.html
Attending the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
As with the marriage customs in the Bible, some scholars believe at The Marriage Supper of the Lamb there will be other invited guests and attendants who were part of the wedding party besides the Bride.
Guests – Old Testament saints who died in faith who didn’t receive the fulfillment of what was promised to them…the cloud of witnesses.
Wedding Attendants – Perhaps, these are baby Believers in Christ. They are saved by the blood of the lamb but lived their lives walking after the flesh to please themselves, rather than Jesus Christ. Also, just speculating, perhaps, they are:
- The aborted souls who never got a chance to live their lives and to make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.
- The New Believers who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord on their death beds.
- People with mental disabilities who doesn’t have the capacity to understand who Jesus Christ is.
- Those who died never hearing the gospel to make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.
- The little babies and children who died in their innocence without experiencing Jesus Christ as their Life.
Whatever you believe about The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, we are ALL invited to attend. Unfortunately, those who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, will not attend. That’s why we preach the gospel to compel mankind to join us in an eternal Celebration of Life rather than being lost in eternal in death.
We have been summoned for such a time as this. Just like Queen Esther, who was a type of the Bride of Jesus Christ. Her purpose was to save her people from death and destruction by the enemy. We too have been called and chosen to lay down our lives so Christ may freely live His life through us to reconcile the world back unto Himself. We are called to live in an intimate relationship with our Lord desiring only what He longs for and desires.
Finally, we have been summoned by our Father to enjoy Christ and all that He is in the Kingdom of God within us here and now. But what still awaits us throughout eternity is the consummation of our amazing relationship together as we rule and reign with our King and Bridegroom forever!
What is our part? “Put off and lay aside any and every weight that will keep us from walking in harmony with our Lord Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit.”
THE BRIDE PREPARED
6 Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last]
and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself.”
8 She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers].
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.” (Revelation 19:6-9 AMP)
Enjoy Christ, Enjoy Life!