Flying back to that future scene
With a whew, now I can pull back from the concepts of my world and my marriage. Those things do not really need to be overlaid onto that kind of thing onto this passage in Revelation.
What does fit though is how God has worked out our world. Who made the arrangements for our return to relationship? God did. God the Father set the terms for the marriage of his creation, humanity, to himself/his son Jesus. The price was paid in Jesus Christ’s death. Quite the dowry that was. Right now the church on the earth is in the “betrothal” period. We are waiting for his return. We are to be expectant for it, be on the lookout. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins1? That is the phase we are in right now.
We are to not only be on the lookout, but in preparation for it. The righteous acts of his people are connected in this passage to the fine linen given the bride of Christ to wear.
Revelation 19 tells of the wedding feast when all bears out in celebration with the plan and purposes of God. We spoke of Babylon’s end being a real thing. “Wickedness is not forever” was a theme of a prior lesson2. “Righteous is forever” is a theme that is propounded here. Will we be working on it now? We should be. Think back to that parable of the 10 virgins. Not all did well in the preparation and they missed the feast. They arrived late and were not given admittance.
Wrapping up
Like the presents we wrap at Christmas like me wrap up this lesson. Maybe I should compare it more to the unwrapping or showing off of the gifts received. I started today’s lesson with a Christmas surprise. What was it? It was Jesus showing up at this worship service. He was at the pinnacle of the service receiving praise and then amplifying it. The other part of this is the wedding feast where the church of God is given of God’s own righteousness and sits down at a feast that commences a great and forever relationship as it were. That is the relationship of God with humanity and one that will take on its permanent proportion.
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