The View From Here

The Sacred Marriage study Lacey and I are doing requires that we do a little homework.  Part of that homework is reading the chapter from the book and part of it is answering some questions about the reading material.  One of the questions asked us to think back to our wedding day.  It asked us to think about how we felt about that day and how we could relate that to the marriage feast we have to look forward to with Christ.  Here are a few things I came up with.

• Anticipation - My wedding day is one that I really looked forward to with great anticipation.  What would it be like?  What would I feel like?  What would life be like afterward?  These thoughts went through my head quite often in the months leading up to our wedding day.  If you are a follower of Christ then you should have the same kind of anticipation for the marriage of the church to it’s Savior.
• Preparation - We did so much planning and preparation before our actual wedding took place.  If we hadn’t it would not have been as beautiful as it turned out to be.  We researched vows, and flowers, and talked to caterers and musicians.  We went through a time of counseling to make sure we had thought of as many questions as is possible.  In the same way, we should be preparing for the marriage feast in heaven.  We need to know what is going on and why.  We need to know what it means.  This is the culmination of our lives as believers in Christ.  Be prepared.
• Invitation - Our wedding was held in the presence of many people.  We wanted people to be a part of this celebration.  So we sent out invitations to people requesting their presence (and their presents).  As Christians it is our calling to call others to be there for the marriage feast but not just as witnesses, as participants.
• Consummation - Our wedding day marked the consummation of our commitment to each other.  We started our relationship as two separate people.  We became closer as time went on but on our wedding day we completed our commitment by exchanging vows.  In the same way, the marriage feast will mark our completion as the bride of Christ.  The ones that He loved so much that he would die for will be there with Him.  We will finally be complete.

Our marriages are God’s way of communicating to us what to expect when our Savior returns.  We should have greater anticipation for the wedding feast to come than our wedding days here.  That is a tall order but one we can prepare for with great joy and hope, knowing that our consummation with our Savior will be a new beginning for us with Him in eternity.

What are some of the parallels you see between your earthly marriage and the marriage feast to come?

Brian