FHA-87 ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE HEADING TO THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB?

“I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE” (JOHN 14:1-3): As we sit before the Lord’s Table, we come as the betrothed bride of Christ, sought by the Holy Spirit and purchased at Calvary with Jesus' precious blood.

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul wrote to the church, "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”, Paul earlier had said, "For you were bought at a price" (1 Cor. 6:20).

What a powerful picture of what God has prepared for us! The almighty Father looked down from heaven and accepted the price of our redemption. We, the bride, accepted the Groom and the evidence of His love for us.

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven, He compared Himself to a bridegroom who was engaged to be married. "I love you as My bride," He said, in effect, "so I'll pay the bride price. I'll give up My life for you. I'll go to My Father's house where there are many rooms to prepare a place for you. One day I will return and take you to be with Me forever in heaven."

The metaphor Jesus used is one in which people who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior will be together in one family complex. Heaven will be like a joyous wedding reception, celebrating the love between the bride and the Bridegroom. This metaphor also gives new meaning to Jesus' important teaching about love, community, and support. Only by living in that way could the people of Jesus' day (and ours) be the vibrant, caring, influential community Jesus founded in His bride-the church.

In order to communicate His deep love for us, Jesus described His love in terms of a family community - terms that His audience clearly understood. He compared Himself to a bridegroom who chose a bride (the church); who paid a steep price for her (His life on the cross); who has gone to prepare a place for her in his father's house (heaven); and who will come again to take her home. This metaphor was familiar to the people of Jesus' day because a bridegroom customarily left his fiancée to build a home for her, then returned to get her. Likewise, Jesus will one day return to take His followers to His home in heaven, where we will experience joyous community with Him forever.

Our betrothal contract is the Word of God, for it contains every promise our loving, Groom has made on our behalf.

We exchanged gifts at our betrothal. When we accepted Him, Jesus gave us love, commitment, and loyalty. And at that moment God Himself has given us the Holy Spirit, who has bestowed His own gifts of eternal life, grace, faith, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Like the bride in her purifying mikvah, we have been baptized with water and by the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5). And in this interim, as we wait between Pentecost and Trumpets, Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom, returned to His Father's house to prepare everything for our arrival.

Before He departed this earth, Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" John 14:2-3.

How do we publicly demonstrate our acceptance of Christ? Just like the bride, each time we take the communion cup and drink we proclaim our wedding vows to our beloved Lord. We demonstrate that we love only Him, that we are loyal to Him, and that we are waiting for Him.

In ancient Israel, when it was time for a man and woman to marry, both fathers would negotiate the bride price to compensate the bride-to-be's family. After exchanging a glass of wine to seal the agreement, the couple was formally engaged. Then the young man would say to his fiancée, in effect, "I'm going home to my father's house and prepare a place for you. When I've done that, I'll return and take you to be my wife."

The son (typically in his mid-twenties) would then build a new house onto his father's existing one. As generations married and built their houses onto the original one, they created a housing complex called an insula. Here, family members ate, worked, and lived together. The children knew their grandparents, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Everyone benefited as family members shared their lives and values.
(FHA-87G; 011021PM)

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