DAILY DEVOTIONAL – January 9, 2020
“Dressed to Impress”
Prayer: Almighty God, You love us with perfect patience, mercy and faithfulness. Your love is given freely and without cost to us because Your Son Jesus has paid the bridal dowry in full through His death and resurrection. By Your grace and power, may we live each day in the joy of knowing as it says in Song of Solomon 2:16, “My beloved is mine and I am his.” Amen.
Scripture: Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Devotional – “Dressed to Impress”
Last week I had the awesome privilege and opportunity to officiate my sister’s wedding. As I said during the ceremony, I was triply blessed that day. Not only was I blessed to be a pastor and perform weddings, but I was able to do so as an oldest brother to my sister and as proud brother-in-law to her husband. It was a beautiful day in the middle of California wine country.
All throughout the Scriptures, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God refers to His chosen people and His church as His Bride. Through this imagery of a bride and groom and the beautiful union and fidelity that was intended to be forever in God’s institution of marriage, God paints a vivid picture of His unwavering commitment and love for us as a husband, despite our sinful hearts and adulterous ways.
Passages like Isaiah 54:5-6 speak of God as a husband forced to leave His bride Israel because of her persistent adultery in chasing after false idols:
For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
Despite our unfaithfulness to God as our Maker, God provided a way for us to be reconciled back to Him – through Jesus. Through His blood He has restored our honor by clothing us with His righteousness that we receive by faith in His death and resurrection. As it says in Ephesians 5:25-27, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Mankind was made in the image of God. The institution of marriage is God’s gift to man. Adam was made “very good” when God created Him, but alone Adam was not complete. Man and woman were made for each other, and it was within the institution of marriage that both Adam and Eve were to worship God and come to learn of His love for them. No wonder God likens our relationship with Him to one of marriage. God is our first love. Without Him we do not know what love is, and we cannot love our spouse or others as we want to or ought to unless we are first married to the Lord.
A Chinese woman named Xiang Junfeng says her wedding day was the happiest day of her life and she never wanted it to end. So, to keep it going, she decided she would wear her wedding dress every day of her married life. As of 2016, Xiang had been married for 10 years!
Xiang actually has several wedding gowns which she rotates in and out of her wardrobe, even wearing them when she works in the field. She believes they represent how happy and fortunate she feels to have found her husband.
As the article in Bridal Guide reports:
Junfeng’s wedding day was especially meaningful because it wasn’t just a celebration of love – it was a celebration of her freedom. Originally from Jimo, China, she was kidnapped at the age of 18, sold as a slave, and forced to marry an elderly man. It took 15 years until she could escape to Liujiazhuang village, where she was helped by a local woman. When she later met the woman’s brother, the two immediately hit it off. “I had only ever known a violent and abusive man, and I avoided men until I met my new partner, who brought me truly out of my shell and treated me so differently…I couldn’t believe it when he asked me to marry him,” she said. “We felt comfortable with each other, so we have been together since then. I am very happy now, as my husband is very good to me.”
What a beautiful way for Xiang to express her gratitude and deep love for her groom. As the Bride of Christ, we should feel no less wonder and appreciation for having been rescued by our Bridegroom–Jesus Himself. We once lived in bondage to sin and death, and knew nothing of true love, but we have been rescued and redeemed to live in the freedom of His love and mercy that He gives to us without conditions.
As those who know Christ as Lord and Savior, He has dressed us in the beauty of His righteousness. The love and excitement and gratitude that Xiang Junfneg had for her husband even after a decade of marriage should be how we live this life as those who have been given salvation freely in the blood of Christ. Each day, whether we are working in the fields or sitting in the office, we should lovingly and proudly wear the righteousness of Christ that He has given us by living lives worthy of our Bridegroom. May we wear the joy that we have found in Christ every day, for the whole world to see.
Thanks for joining me today for another time of devotion my friends, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
