We The Church: The Bride Of Christ

Well, is everyone enjoying the heat wave we're experiencing today?

I'm afraid that I'm going to be disappointed to come later in the week,

but at least today, there's some semblance that spring is coming.

And with spring comes a very exciting feature of the season, weddings.

Spring is wedding season.

And I love weddings.

I'm with Captain Jack Sparrow on this.

I love weddings.

They're wonderful.

And my favorite time in a wedding, although the party afterwards is great,

the reception is great, the food is great,

my favorite thing in a wedding is watching the bride come down the aisle,

locking eyes with her groom, and her groom just beaming,

just ready to say the vows and to begin their marriage.

But imagine with me for a moment that what the groom's face would look like

if he saw his bride walking down the aisle with a smartphone in her hand,

head down, engrossed in a text conversation with a friend,

or scrolling Facebook laughing at cat videos.

Or she sees an old college friend in the congregation and she stops and has a chat and catches up.

I mean, that's ridiculous, isn't it?

But why?

Why is that ridiculous?

Why is it so inappropriate?

Why would that never happen?

I mean, the bride has the freedom to have relationships with other people, right?

She has the freedom to have commitments that are apart from her groom.

But in that unique time and place,

it is her exclusive relationship with the bridegroom that should govern all of her actions.

And she's walking down the aisle to say her vows and to be with him for the rest of her life.

And it should be that way throughout her marriage,

that she will have other relationships, other commitments,

but that relationship will be the relationship,

the commitment that defines all other relationships and commitments,

and that holds the highest place in her heart.

That is true in human marriages,

and it is also true in the heavenly marriage.

You see, even from early on in the story of the Bible,

God's relationship with his people is often portrayed as a marriage.

We're in the middle of a series on the church.

It's behind me.

And how the Bible speaks about the church.

God uses many different pictures and images and metaphors

to help us understand his relationship with his church

and our relationship to him.

For the past two Sundays,

Pastor Mike has helped us see that the church is God's flock.

We are following one unique shepherd,

Jesus Christ.

And this morning,

we get to explore a different image

that God uses to describe his relationship

with his people, the church.

And this is what we're going to see this morning.

If you're going to write something down right now.

God intends to have

an exclusively devoted relationship

with his people,

like a bridegroom with his bride.

God intends to have,

and has always intended to have,

an exclusively devoted relationship

with his people,

just like in a marriage,

like a bridegroom with a bride.

The Bible is, in one sense,

a love story.

A love story that begins,

is between God and his people.

And really,

the Bible begins with a marriage,

Adam and Eve,

and it ends with a marriage

with Christ and his church.

It goes from Genesis to Revelation.

And so,

what I'm going to do this morning

is just lead us through

the love story of Scripture.

It's got four chapters.

And it'll be pretty brief.

We're not going to camp too long

in each of them

because I want to make four connections

after we walk through the love story

of how this love story meets us

right here where we are in 2020.

So, four chapters of the love story

and then four connections

that help us answer the so what.

Why does this love story do something,

what does it have to do with me?

So, let's look in Deuteronomy chapter 7

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

to start our time together

in chapter 1 of the love story.

Deuteronomy chapter 7.

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

And here is chapter 1 of the love story.

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

It's this.

This marriage was initiated by God.

That's chapter 1.

Now, this marriage was initiated by God.

Now, we're not going to get

to Deuteronomy 7 immediately.

I just want to point one thing out there.

Before I do, I've got to set the stage.

When our ancestors, Adam and Eve,

did the unthinkable

and rejected God,

God dealt with their sin.

He sent them away from His presence.

But amazingly,

He did not destroy the rebels

as He definitely could have.

Instead, He began pursuing them.

And lots of things happen

from Genesis 3

when they sinned

all the way to Genesis 12.

But what happens in Genesis 12

is really foundational.

It shifts everything in the Bible.

God initiates a relationship

with one guy.

Abram.

He's just one ordinary sinner.

Nothing special.

And the way He initiates

a relationship with him

is He makes a covenant with him.

A covenant,

it's a really important word

in the Bible.

It's not just a contract,

like a business contract.

It's not just kind of an agreement.

It's a relationally binding commitment

that God makes with His people.

He makes certain promises to Abraham.

He agrees to do good to them,

to be their God,

and brings them into the land of Canaan

where He's going to dwell with them.

He makes all these promises to Abraham.

And it's all just initiated by God.

I'm going to do this to you.

And then the covenant also includes,

it's mutual.

It has certain commitments

that Abraham and his descendants

have to make

that they get to follow through on.

And that gets expanded

and quite literally set in stone

at Mount Sinai,

about 400 years after Abraham,

after God rescued His people from Egypt.

And this word covenant

is really important

because it defines

the kind of relationship

that God initiates with His people.

And really,

the best modern day equivalent

that we can compare

this unique relationship to

is a marriage.

marriage.

It was mutual.

It was meant to be exclusive,

which is very important,

as we'll see in a moment.

And it was serious.

This is not something

that Abraham was to take lightly.

It's not something

that God took lightly.

But God initiated it.

He pursued His people

and He won them.

Before we move

to the second chapter

of the love story,

let's look at something

in Deuteronomy 7.

That's why I took us there.

We need to ask the question,

why?

Why did God initiate

this relationship?

Why did God

pursue this people?

Why does He love them?

Especially given

what He knows about them.

Let's look at

Deuteronomy 7,

starting in verse 6.

For you are a people

holy to the Lord your God.

The Lord your God

has chosen you

to be a people

for His treasured possession.

out of all the peoples

who are on the face

of the earth.

Now listen here.

It was not because

you were more in number

than any other people

that the Lord

set His love on you

and chose you.

For you are the fewest

of all peoples.

But it is because

the Lord loves you

and is keeping the oath

He swore to your fathers.

Did you get that?

Why does God love them?

Because He loves them.

It was nothing

because Israel was big

or powerful

or sophisticated

or technologically advanced.

He loved them

because He loved them.

There was nothing in them

that attracted them to Him.

He didn't need them

for some particular reason.

He simply set His love

on them

because of His free,

sovereign choice

to do so.

It's just by grace.

So that's chapter 1.

God initiates the marriage

and it's by grace.

Chapter 2.

This marriage is troubled

by unfaithfulness.

This marriage is troubled

by unfaithfulness.

Flip back a couple of books

to your left

to the book of Exodus.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Chapter 20.

Sorry, we're going to be

flipping around a lot

this morning.

Get to know our Bibles

pretty well.

Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

And God spoke

all these words

saying,

I am the Lord your God

who brought you

out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

He's speaking to Israel here.

You shall have

no other gods

before me.

You shall not make

for yourself

a carved image

or any likeness

of anything

that is in heaven above

or that is in the earth beneath

or that is in the water

under the earth.

You shall not bow down

to them

or serve them

for I, the Lord your God,

am a jealous God.

That's marriage talk.

Now, the word jealous

should maybe raise

some questions

in our minds.

Wait a minute,

I thought jealousy

is a sin.

God's jealous?

Isn't that bad?

But let me assure you,

it is right and good

for husbands

to be jealous

for their wives.

That's why this is

a marriage word.

And it's also good

and right for wives

to be jealous

for their husbands.

Marriage can't function

without the right kind

of jealousy

of a husband

desiring the singular

exclusive affection

of his wife

and the wife desiring

the same from her husband.

Marriage can't function

without it.

I am jealous

for my wife.

I am a jealous husband.

My wife is a jealous wife.

And, you know,

normally I'm a pretty

easygoing guy.

I'm pretty calm,

pretty measured.

But if another man

were to make advances

on my wife,

my normally calm demeanor

would get fiery

pretty quick.

And that's right.

It should be that way.

Because we are in

an exclusively

devoted relationship.

That's why the thought

of a bride

walking down the aisle

looking at her smartphone

is so inappropriate.

It doesn't fit

with the kind of

exclusive relationship

that she is entering into.

And God is saying,

no other gods.

I'm your only God.

And sadly,

it did not take Israel

very long

to violate

that covenant promise.

Only a few days

after God spoke

these words,

and the very same place

at the foot of Mount Sinai,

his people intentionally

crafted

and started worshipping

a golden cow.

In essence,

they started

worshipping an idol.

They started worshipping

another god.

They were committing

spiritual adultery.

And the astounding fact

is they're doing it

right at the place

they had just made

their covenant vows

before God.

It's like a bride

who's at the altar

and she's starting

to flirt with another man

who's not her husband.

It's unthinkable.

And tragically,

this just set the tone

for the next

several hundred years.

Israel continued

doing this.

God's marriage

started falling apart

from the very beginning.

And none of it

was his fault.

He had initiated

the marriage.

He had paid

the dowry price.

He had given his wife

everything she could

have ever wanted

or needed.

He rescued her

from slavery

from crying out loud

and her heart

was far from him.

On that note,

start trying to find

the book of Hosea.

It is a minor prophet

kind of right in the middle

of your Bible.

It's the first minor prophet

so it's right after

Isaiah, Jeremiah,

Lamentations,

Ezekiel, Daniel,

then Hosea.

Start trying to find

the book of Hosea.

This book,

this prophet,

is extremely helpful

in helping us understand,

get a glimpse

into God's heart

as the heavenly husband.

While we're finding it,

let me set the scene for you.

Hosea was one of God's spokesmen,

one of his prophets,

when the kingdoms

of Israel and Judah

are starting to really spiral,

spiritually speaking,

at least.

And although all of God's prophets

were God's spokesmen,

calling his people back

to covenant faithfulness,

Hosea was very unique.

If you're there,

look at Hosea chapter 1,

Hosea 1 · chapter mention

we'll start in verse 2.

You will see why Hosea

is very unique.

When the Lord first spoke

through Hosea,

the Lord said to Hosea,

go,

take to yourself

a wife of whoredom

and have children

of whoredom

because the land

commits great whoredom

by forsaking the Lord.

Well, you don't hear that word

very often these days,

whoredom.

It doesn't sound like

a very good word

and it's not.

He is asking Hosea

to go and find a wife

who was,

if not already a prostitute,

who was at least prone

to waywardness,

unfaithfulness,

and prostitution

and marry her.

God wanted to use

his prophet's life

as a real life example

of what his people

were doing to him.

They were playing the whore.

They were acting

as a prostitute

although they were

a married woman.

So Hosea actually went out

and he found

a wayward woman

named Gomer

and he married her.

This means that Hosea

got to know

on a very personal level

the kind of pain

and grief

that God felt

as a betrayed husband.

And Hosea also knew

very well

what he was getting into.

God told him to do it

and he did it.

And God did the same thing.

He knew what he was

walking into

when he married Israel.

He knew he had married

an unfaithful wife.

He had purposefully

committed himself

to a people

who were not

and would not

be exclusively devoted

to him

as he was to them.

Now,

I might be wrong

but people don't

normally do this,

do they?

Hmm,

I think I'd like a spouse.

I want to go look

for the most unfaithful

and uncommitted person

I can possibly find

and marry them.

Who does that?

It tells us something

about the character

and love of God

that he would pursue

a flaky,

uncommitted,

undevoted,

and unfaithful people.

And God didn't just

sweep this unfaithfulness

under the rug.

He didn't just say,

oh, it's okay,

just come back with me,

please.

No, he judged his people

rather harshly

according to their sin.

If you read the rest

of Hosea

or any of the prophets,

you will see that God

has very harsh words

for his unfaithful people.

God's judgment

would fall on them,

he would be carried away

into exile,

and it seems like

the marriage is over.

It seems like the marriage

is in shambles.

And they would be carried away

and live in their unfaithfulness.

But we are only on chapter 2.

Let's look at chapter 3.

The love story continues.

Chapter 3 is this.

This marriage is transformed

by God's costly grace.

This marriage is transformed

by God's costly grace.

Look just across the page

at Hosea chapter 2.

Hosea 2 · chapter mention

Hosea 2,

we'll start in verse 14.

Therefore, behold,

I will allure her

and bring her into the wilderness

and speak tenderly to her.

And there I will give her

her vineyards

and make the valley of Echor

a door of hope.

And there she shall answer

as in the days of her youth,

as at the time

when she came out

of the land of Egypt.

Skip down to verse 19.

And I will betroth you

to me forever.

I will betroth you to me

in righteousness

and in justice,

in steadfast love

and in mercy.

I will betroth you to me

in faithfulness

and you shall know the Lord.

Wow.

After all that steady,

adulterous,

unfaithful behavior,

this is what God says?

I'm going to go after you again?

Again,

that's incredible.

He's promising

that after he judges their sin,

he's going to start afresh

with his unfaithful wife.

He's going to get her

alone with himself

in a place where they can

start their relationship

all over again.

He's going to betroth her

to him forever.

And there will be transformation.

Did you notice that

in verse 19 and 20?

The relationship will now

be characterized

by righteousness and justice,

steadfast love and mercy,

faithfulness.

and they will know him

as they have never

known him before.

It's almost like God's

putting a date on his calendar

in permanent marker

for he and his wife

to renew their wedding vows.

And he's going to make it happen.

They're going to start afresh.

But notice what comes next

in Hosea chapter 3.

Hosea 3 · chapter mention

Look at verse 1,

Hosea chapter 3.

Hosea 3 · chapter mention

And the Lord said to me,

Go again,

love a woman who is loved

by another man

and is an adulteress,

even as the Lord

loves the children of Israel,

though they turn to other gods

and love cakes of raisins.

So I bought her

for 15 shekels of silver

and a homer

and a lethic of barley.

The camera lens

shifts back to Hosea

and God calls him

to go after his unfaithful wife

who has left him

for another man

and to love her

by buying her back.

It cost Hosea money

to make a transaction

and buy his own wife back.

Now whether it was

because she was enslaved

to someone

or had become indebted

to someone,

we don't know,

but it cost Hosea

to get her back.

And the implication

of chapter 3

is that the renewal

and transformation

that God's promising

in chapter 2

is going to cost God something,

just as it cost Hosea something.

He would love her

with costly grace

in order to get her back

into an exclusively devoted

relationship with him,

just as Hosea had done

with his unfaithful wife.

Now flip to Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

So when a person,

a very unique person,

shows up on the scene

hundreds of years later

and God's people

are still waiting

for this vow renewal

to happen,

for this transformation

to happen,

and this person claims

that he is the bridegroom,

our ears should perk up.

Look at Matthew chapter 9,

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

starting in verse 14.

Then the disciples of John

came to him, Jesus,

saying,

Why do we and the Pharisees fast

but your disciples do not fast?

And Jesus said to them,

Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom

is with them?

The days will come

when the bridegroom

is taken away from them

and then,

then they will fast.

Jesus is using the issue

of fasting here

to make a really powerful point

about who he is.

He is linking himself

to Yahweh of the Old Testament,

the betrayed

but determined bridegroom

who's going to renew

his relationship

with his unfaithful bride.

And he's here.

He came.

The one that they were longing for

is finally here.

He's ready to renew.

He's ready to transform

and bring about

an exclusively devoted relationship

with his bride again.

But what would be the cost?

How would God the Son,

the bridegroom,

get his bride back

in a renewed,

transformed,

exclusively devoted relationship

with himself?

This is where we want to turn

to Ephesians 5,

the text that Tim and Danielle

read for us

just a few moments ago.

Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Ephesians 5.

Thanks for bearing with me

with all the page flipping.

Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Let's start at verse 25.

Husbands,

love your wives

as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her

that he might sanctify her,

having cleansed her

by the washing of water

with the word,

so that he might present

the church to himself

in splendor,

without spot or wrinkle

or any such thing,

and that she might be holy

and without blemish.

So Christ loved the church how?

By giving himself up for her.

He voluntarily took

the costly road of Calvary,

paying the ransom price

of his own life

to win her back.

It wasn't 15 shekels like Homer.

It was his blood.

Homer, sorry.

Hosea.

Let's put those two together.

God is all in

when it comes to his relationship

with his bride.

He has withheld nothing.

He paid the highest price imaginable

to win an unfaithful bride

back to him.

And notice the transformation

in verse 26 and 27.

He paid the price.

He gave himself to sanctify her,

to make her holy,

pure, righteous,

just as he is holy,

pure, and righteous.

He paid the price

to make her fit for himself

to be a perfect match for him.

And he does this

by cleansing her

through the washing of water.

just as a bride

would ritually bathe

before her wedding

with her husband

in ancient cultures.

Only Jesus' cleansing

of his bride

is done spiritually.

And it's done

by the speaking

of the word

of the gospel.

That I gave myself

for you.

That cleanses her.

It sets her apart

when she believes

that he gave himself

for her.

And notice that Jesus

is doing all of this

for his bride.

He made her fit

for himself.

He didn't say,

all right,

clean yourself up.

He is doing it for her.

Picture this.

A dashing,

cultured,

educated millionaire

walks the streets

of Chicago.

And he finds

an ugly,

smelly,

dirty,

foul-mannered,

ungrateful wretch

of a woman.

And he woos her

with gentlemanly kindness,

generosity.

He proposes marriage

to her.

And he pays

for the most

lavish makeovers,

the finest clothes,

the best education

money could buy

in order to make

her a bride fit

for him.

Now, it's not

a perfect illustration,

but at least it gets

at the kind

of costly grace

that Christ

has shown his bride.

And notice that

it doesn't say

that Christ loved

his church

and gave himself

up for her

because she was holy,

because she was lovely.

It says,

Christ loved the church

and gave himself for her

so that he might

make her lovely.

His love

makes her lovely,

makes her holy.

So the marriage

is transformed

by God's costly grace

through Jesus Christ,

the bridegroom,

giving himself up

for her.

And that leads us

to chapter four.

This marriage

is destined

for eternal bliss.

This marriage

is destined

for eternal bliss.

start making your way

to the end

of the Bible,

Revelation 19.

Revelation 19.

As you're turning there,

let me remind you

of something

that Jesus said

in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

Don't turn there,

just head to Revelation,

but let me help us

remember this.

He has just told

his disciples

in John chapter 14

John 14 · chapter mention

that he's going away

and that they won't

be able to follow him

and they're very troubled,

they're very upset.

But he turns right around

and he says,

don't let your hearts

be troubled.

Believe in God,

believe also in me.

In my Father's house

are many rooms.

If it were not so,

would I have told you

that I go

to prepare a place

for you?

And if I go

and prepare a place

for you,

I will come again

and take you to myself

that where I am

you may be also.

In ancient cultures,

when a bridegroom

proposed to his bride

and the betrothal price

had been paid

to the bride's family,

the bridegroom

would leave

his bride's house

and go back

to his father's house

to build a place

in his father's house

for the new couple

to consummate their marriage

once the wedding

took place.

And once he finished

preparing a place,

he would leave

his father's house,

return to his bride's house,

and take her back

in a wonderful,

exciting ceremony

back to his father's house

where the wedding feast

would begin.

Jesus is the bridegroom

who came to us,

his bride,

paid the betrothal price

and went away

to prepare a place

for us

in his father's house

and he's coming again

so that we might forever

be with him

face to face

and the eternal wedding feast

would begin.

If you're in Revelation 19,

look at verse 6,

in the middle of verse 6.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

for the Lord God,

our God,

the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice

and exult

and give him the glory

for the marriage

of the Lamb

has come

and his bride

has made herself

ready.

It was granted

to her

to clothe herself

with fine linen,

bright and pure,

for the fine linen

is the righteous deeds

of the saints.

So we,

the church,

are now awaiting

our bridegroom's return

because our exclusively

devoted marriage

relationship with God

will be fully

and finally

consummated

in eternal joy

at the wedding feast

and we will see him

and we will be with him

and we will know him

and be fully known

by him

and the transformation

will be fully complete.

We will be presented

to our bridegroom

without spot,

without blemish,

without sin,

without shame

and we will know

and enjoy him forever.

That is the love story.

It is a love story

of exclusive devotion

that God has

for his bride

and that he expects

from his bride

and this love story

includes us.

With the remainder

of our time,

I want to make

four connections

that this love story

has with us

right here

and right now.

The first connection

is this.

This marriage

portrays God's

unflinching commitment

to an unworthy people.

God's unflinching

commitment

to an unworthy

people.

Just think about Hosea.

Like God,

he goes into a marriage

with an unfaithful woman

with his eyes

wide open.

He knows what

he's getting into

and like God,

he experiences

the grief

in the pain

of being betrayed

after giving himself

in faithfulness

to an unfaithful woman.

And like God,

he willingly pursues

his unfaithful

and adulterous wife

again

at great personal cost.

Church,

the reason God loves us

is not the reason

we tend to love others.

We tend to commit

ourselves to others

or have affection

for others

because we enjoy them.

We see some goodness

in them

because they can provide

some benefit to us.

Not with God.

He saw our stone

cold hearts,

our pride,

our rotten selfishness,

our obsession

with ourselves,

our stubborn self-righteous,

and he said,

I will choose

to do good to them

because I choose

to do so.

The only reason

I'm going to do this

is because of my

sheer love for them

and my free,

sovereign choice

to love them.

not because there's

anything good in them

but because of

my love for them

and I will make them

lovely through my love.

Christian,

that is how God

has loved you

and that's how God

continues to love you.

It's not because

you've progressed nicely.

It's not because

you finally stopped

doing this

or you finally

started doing that.

He loved you

when you were still

his enemy,

unreconciled to him,

stuck in your sin

and he sent Jesus

to win you

back to him

by going to the cross

for you.

He loved you

before you knew him,

before you ever knew

that you could love him.

This is the great

love of God

and his commitment

to unworthy people

like us.

It was his initiation,

his sovereign choice

to love you,

to love us

like that.

In a moment,

we're going to sing

a song that has a line,

two wonders here

that I confess,

my worth

and my unworthiness.

We know we are unworthy

because of our sin

and yet his love for us

gives us worth.

Next,

second connection.

This marriage highlights

our radical new identity

in our bridegroom.

This marriage highlights

our radical new identity

in our bridegroom.

flip back to Ephesians

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

if you will.

I want to highlight

something for us there.

Ephesians chapter 5,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

where we were earlier.

And let's look at

verse 28.

Ephesians 5,

Ephesians 5:28

verse 28.

In the same way,

husbands should love

their wives

as their own bodies.

He who loves his wife

loves himself.

No one ever hated

his own flesh,

but nourishes

and cherishes it

just as Christ

does the church

because we are members

of his body.

And here he quotes

Genesis 2.

Therefore,

a man shall leave

his father and mother

and hold fast

to his wife

and the two

shall become one flesh.

This mystery

is profound

and I am saying

that it refers

to Christ

and the church.

Paul tells husbands

to care for

and cherish

their wives

because they have

been brought

into a one flesh

union with them.

Marriage is a

marvelous mystery.

Two bodies,

two people

become wonderfully

one,

united

through exclusive

devotion

to one another.

But then

he makes our head

spin

by quoting

Genesis 2.

And he says

that the great mystery

of the one flesh

union of human marriage

was meant all along

to point to

the wonderful union

of Christ

and his bride.

When you stand

by a body of water

you look in

and you see

your reflection.

Our marriages

here on earth,

our human marriages

are just a reflection

of the ultimate marriage

that Christ

has made

with his church.

When we put our faith

in Christ's church

we are joined to him.

We are spiritually

made one with him.

We become

knit together

in an intimate

relationship

with him.

When Jess and I

got married

there were a lot

of personal changes

that had to happen.

I had to merge

bank accounts

with her.

I had to change

my residence.

I had to put

her name

on my car registration,

on my insurance.

And the bride

has even more to do.

Right?

She has to change

her own name.

Jess had to go

through the process

of changing her name

and then making sure

that change was

on everything

from her driver's license

to her Facebook account.

When a marriage

takes place

two people's lives

merge.

What is his

becomes hers.

What is hers

becomes his.

And so it is

with the union

of Christ

and his people.

Only it's not

a very fair exchange.

When he married her

he took all her sin

all her shame

her debt

her condemnation

and all that was hers

he absorbed.

Paid it all.

And all that was his

became hers.

His spotless record

his perfect righteousness

the father's

endless approval

and delight in him

now is ours

through our radical

new identity

with our bridegroom.

Do you realize church

that you are

your beloved's

and your beloved's

is yours.

As the apostle Paul

said in 1 Corinthians 6

you are not

your own anymore.

You have a radical

new identity.

You were bought

at a high price

and you are now

one with your bridegroom.

And he cares for you.

He nourishes you

as the husband

cares and nourishes

for his wife

even as his own body.

We must think

of ourselves

as in the most

intimate of relationships

with our heavenly bridegroom

because he cares for us

in this kind of way.

We have a radical

new identity

now.

Thirdly

third connection

is this.

this marriage's

purpose

reorients

our priorities.

This marriage's

purpose

reorients

our priorities.

Look again

at Ephesians 5

25.

Notice again

the purpose

for which

Christ loved

the church

and gave himself

up for.

Look for three

that's.

The word that

shows up three times.

In verse

26

that he might

sanctify her

verse 27

so that he might

present the church

to himself

in splendor

and then later

that she might

be holy

and without blemish.

So why did

Christ lovingly

give himself up

for his church?

To make her

a lovely bride

fit for himself.

He died

to make her

holy.

The purpose

of this marriage

is holy

and exclusive

intimacy

between God

and his people.

this is not

just a

relationship

in our lives.

It is the

relationship

in our lives.

It is a

relationship

of exclusive

devotion

having high

and holy

affection

for our

bridegroom.

So let me

ask you

does

the purpose

for which

Christ died

for you

show up

as a priority

in your life?

the purpose

of being

in a holy

exclusive

affectionate

relationship

with Jesus

does that

show up

as a priority

in your life?

Are you

responding

to his love

by making

your relationship

with him

your highest

priority?

This is a way

we need to think

about being

Jesus' disciples.

Having our hearts

fully bound

to him.

Not holding

any area

of our lives

back from him.

Giving ourselves

body and soul

to his person

to his purposes

to his priorities.

The problem

is this is

really hard.

Just try

fulfilling the

command

love the Lord

your God

with all your

heart, soul,

mind and strength.

It is really

hard

because sin

is still present

with us.

We see

everything that

we see

with our eyes

tells us

that Jesus

isn't really

that important.

He's unseen

by us.

He's invisible.

It's by faith.

fighting the

fight of faith

to be exclusively

devoted to Jesus

whom we can't

see right now

who is away

from us

it's really

difficult.

In James

James 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

I'm not going

to turn there

but in James

James 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

he calls the

church out.

He calls the

church

adulterous.

He exposes

heart level

identity level

issues in the

church that he's

writing to

and he says

you're committing

spiritual adultery

church.

You are

not living

in exclusive

devotion to

your bridegroom.

They believe

the right things

they attended

church

they're doing

the Christian

thing

but what their

hearts truly

wanted and craved

was far

from God.

They were committing

spiritual adultery

even as Christians.

Adultery begins

in the heart.

A person becomes

dissatisfied with

their marriage

they think they

could be satisfied

with something

else, someone

else and they

start looking

start wanting

start desiring

start wondering

start imagining

being with

someone else.

Their desires

their passions

draw them away

from the one

that they should

be exclusively

devoted to.

So Christian

how is your

heart seeking

satisfaction apart

from your

heavenly bridegroom?

You're walking

down the aisle

but are your

eyes fixed

on the one

standing at the

altar who's

waiting for you?

He is everything

that you could

possibly need

or want

or hope for.

Are you allured

by pleasure?

Are you driven

by comfort

a longing for

security

in things that

are not in

Christ?

Are you enticed

by the prospect

of having more

earthly goods?

do you not

believe that he

can provide for

you everything

that you need?

Are you enticed

by the thought

of your

reputation

or by the

approval of

others?

What does

your heart

desire besides

your all

satisfying

bridegroom?

Is he

your priority?

This is hard.

It's by faith.

this life of

exclusive devotion

is through

unseen things.

We have to

dedicate ourselves

to the Lord

and it takes

work.

It takes effort.

It takes engaging

with him in prayer.

It takes engaging

with him in his

word.

Is he,

your heavenly

bridegroom,

the object of

your gaze as you

walk down the

aisle of this

life?

He died to

make you a

lovely bride

and he's

waving to you

from the

altar,

trying to get

your attention.

He wants your

gaze to be fixed

and undistracted

so that you

can be

exclusively devoted

to him.

Lastly,

and very briefly,

this marriage

reminds us of

how we are to

feel about

Christ's bride.

This marriage

reminds us of

how we are to

feel about

Christ's bride.

We're in the

middle of a

series on the

church.

And as Pastor

Mike has

mentioned the

past few

weeks,

we want the

way God

thinks about

and God

feels about

and prioritizes

the local

church to be

the way that

we think about

and feel about

and prioritize

the local

church.

And if he

came from

heaven to

seek her

out,

to buy her

out of

spiritual

adultery,

to transform

her by his

costly grace,

and to prepare

her to be a

lovely bride for

all of eternity,

then we know

how much he

thinks about

her.

And we know

how deeply he

feels about

her and how

highly he

prioritizes her.

And if he

prizes her in

this way,

then we also

should.

Every member

of her,

we should

prioritize.

Take a moment

and just take a

look around.

Just look at the

faces around you.

This is fun.

Don't feel awkward

looking at people

and you're not

invading their

personal space.

take a look

around.

This is

Christ's bride.

He died

for her.

You will be

in eternal

and intimate

fellowship

with Christ

together,

with all of

these gathered

together,

and millions,

millions,

millions more.

We are his

treasured bride.

We must care

for and nourish

and promote

the well-being

of his people

because that's

what he does.

We must commit

ourselves to her

because that's

what he does.

It shows up

in very simple,

ordinary ways.

Being here,

Sunday after Sunday,

as best you can.

Being present,

engaging with people.

Get to know

their stories,

as Pastor Mike

helped us with

last week.

Talking to each

other,

seeing what their

needs are,

asking God if

there's a way

you can serve

them.

Serving in

ministry roles

is one way

you can do it.

You can help

all the ministry

teams we have,

but it's just

being here.

It's being present.

It's saying,

I'm here,

I'm engaged.

Let's commit

ourselves to

Christ's bride

the way he has.

And one day,

perhaps not too

far off,

he will present

us to himself

in splendor,

without spot

or blemish,

and we will

see his face,

and we will

know him,

and be

astounded

by his

love.

We will

not get

enough of

his incredible

love.

Ten million

years in,

we will still

be desiring

more of it.

So let's

live for that

day,

church.

Let's walk

down the aisle

with our gaze

fixed on our

unseen bridegroom,

who we see

by faith.

Oh,

beautiful and

cherished bride

of Christ,

be exclusively

devoted to

him.

Let's pray.

We thank you,

Father, that you

have engaged

yourself fully,

committed

yourself fully

to an

unworthy

people,

to make them

worthy,

to make them

lovely.

Lord, if there

are some in

this sound

of my voice

that are

feeling

particularly

unworthy,

would you

make your

exclusively

devoted love

known to

them?

Father, for

those who

are feeling

distant from

you, would

you draw

near to

them, help

them to draw

near to you

by faith?

God, help

us to be an

exclusively devoted

people to

you.

In Jesus'

name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.