I’ve found that because this is true it’s also easy to approach my life as if this is my story, my chance to be the hero. I am often tempted to view myself as the central character of my life’s story. After all, this life I live is ultimately about me, right? Isn’t that why it’s called my life? This false perception can also be perpetuated by the way we talk and the way we pray. We speak of Jesus saving us (which he does) and we pray asking him for what we want and need. These aren’t wrong, but they can tend to encourage us to continue making ourselves the main character of the story of our lives. We can begin to view Jesus as the guy who adds to our life, who rounds it out, rather than the one who is our life. As if Jesus takes our life which would be a 6 or 7 on its own and tips the scales bringing life up to a strong 9 or 10.

Thankfully, the gospel reminds us that this is simply not the case. The story of which we are a part is not our story it’s God’s. The story isn’t focused on what I do in these seventy or so years I am given. It’s not mainly about how I manage my decisions and opportunities and develop my skills. It’s not a story about the conflicts I face or the people I impact. The story—much to my ego’s dismay—is not about me.

I find my true place in God’s story by the saving grace of Jesus. I am given purpose and hope and joy because of Jesus. I am given life and direction and value, because of Jesus. This is his story playing out in the scenes of my life. Just consider Romans 5:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.           Romans 5:6-11

There is a grand story that spans all of human history and it is this story—God’s story—that makes sense out of everything in our lives. This story tells of God’s great and enduring love for a people who rebel; a people of sin. God created, humanity sins, and God redeems and re-creates.

Like any good story, God’s story contains all the necessary elements. There is conflict that comes in the form of sin and there is a climax that appears on the cross when Jesus dies for our sins and is resurrected three days later. Contrary to how I often think, the climax of my story doesn’t happen when I get that big break at work, or when I finally get recognition for my abilities. The climax of my life’s story isn’t my wedding day or retirement or the arrival of my first child. It’s not landing that dream job or some other noble pursuit. The climax of our story already took place over 2,000 years ago.

When Christ died for the ungodly; when God showed his love for us sinners; when we were justified by the blood of Christ on the cross and saved from the wrath of God—this is the climax of the story we now live. I was an enemy of God and was reconciled by the death of his Son. The story will never get better than this. Everything that happens now, no matter how significant and impactful, is resolution to the climax. We are living out what the climax of the story has made possible.

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.   Ephesians 2:11-13

 Remember that at one time you were separated from God. Remember that you were an alien—you had no belonging and no understanding of God. Remember that you were once separated. You were without God.

It’s good to remember, even if what we are remembering is itself not good. It’s good to keep in mind where we’ve come from and what we’ve been saved from. It’s good to have this kind of perspective. Remembering that God has given us all we have and made us all we are. Remembering that when left to ourselves we were without hope and without God.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.           

1 Peter 2:9-10

Remembering what we once were (and were not) makes being who we are now all the more sweet. It’s harder to rail against the church with all its foibles (and there certainly are a lot we could get distracted with!) when we remember that we now belong to a people when once we were alone. When we remember that this church is God’s royal priesthood and holy nation and that we are inseparable from them—we are them! It’s also harder to be malcontented with the day’s little bumps and struggles when we are remembering that we were once separated from Christ and in utter darkness, but now we walk in his marvelous light.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.         Deuteronomy 15:15

 It’s remarkable the way the book of Deuteronomy is filled with calls to remember. At least four times the call is a distinct call to “remember when you were slaves.” There are also a multitude of calls to remember sins committed and God’s faithfulness, but God goes out of his way to have Moses call the people to the specific memory of slavery. He does this repeatedly. How better to produce thankfulness and gratitude for our rescue than to remember what we once were?

But what if I came to Christ as a young child? Doesn’t that make these memories less sweet? Doesn’t it mean less because I had less time and freedom to allow my sinful nature full access to all its corruptive potential?

Consider again the Israelites who were commanded to remember they were slaves. Do you think it meant less to those who were children when they left Egypt simply because they had not yet had the opportunity to bear the full brunt and punishment of their slavery? Was the present less sweet? Were they less enslaved in Egypt than their parents? Certainly not. If anything, they should have greater thankfulness from the realization that God brought them out so soon; so quickly before they were subjugated to their slavery as adults. Just because they were children didn’t make them less enslaved. The same can be said of those of us who came to Christ as young children. We were not less enslaved, less sinful, less corrupted and hopeless. We were on the same trajectory as all human beings, and God saw fit to rescue us.

Remember that you were spearated from Christ, but now you who once were far off have been brought near by his blood. This is the most beautiful of memories.

As Christians, so much hope and longing is attached to the idea of eternity and eternal life. Not to mention some odd thoughts on what heaven will be like and how we will occupy ourselves for all the time that eternity will afford us—if “time” is even a relevant consideration when discussing eternity. Increasingly I’m convinced that we sell eternity miserably short with our temptation to shrink it down to a more manageable and comfortable pocket-sized understanding of temporal utopia. What is eternal life really? What are we hoping for?

Consider what Jesus has to say about eternal life in John 17:3.

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.            John 17:3

Eternal life. It’s not described by what we will be doing or how we will be living, or where or any other trivial, temporary values. It’s not measured in pleasures we will gain, or eases will enjoy, or the whiteness of our surroundings (where did we get the idea of an all white existence anyway?!) For Jesus, as he prays to the Father, eternal life is described by the person we will be knowing.

Do we sense in these words the immensity of God? To know him is eternal life in the making. To know this God is not something that is a part of life, but is itself life. God, in all his grandeur, is not to be known so that we may live differently; but knowing him is living in all its fullness. Knowing God is described in terms of eternity because he is a God of such immensity and fullness that knowing him is not a part-time endeavor or a momentary enjoyment. It is eternal. It is living.

This is eternal life: knowing the only true God and knowing his Son whom he sent to save us. Eternal life is found in a relationship with the Almighty. It’s found in knowing him.

This isn’t the only place we find this idea presented by Jesus. Look at what he says earlier in John’s gospel:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.         John 5:39-40

Finding eternal life, that’s the subject of Jesus’ words here. And he’s putting the Scriptures in their proper place. The Bible itself doesn’t give eternal life. It points to eternal life because it points to Jesus. Eternal life isn’t about getting to heaven, as if heaven was our ultimate goal. Eternal life isn’t about escaping hell. Eternal life isn’t just about knowing the Bible. Eternal life is about knowing God. A God who will fill all eternity with himself. A God so immense and so full, a God so satisfying, that knowing him is itself eternal life.

This is something worthy of our time and consideration.

What do we think of when we think of eternal life? What are we hoping for? If eternal life is knowing God and knowing his Son, isn’t it true that eternal life is a part of now, not just something we wait for then?

 ______________________________________________________________________________________

These thoughts reflect a deeper conversation that was had on John 17 in my living room last night. The people who gather there each week are dear to me and I am so grateful for the way we are learning to be a gospel-centered community for one another; for the ways we explore the Scriptures, push each other towards Jesus, and challenge one another as we grow.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.    Colossians 3:1-4

The great redemption story of the Bible is that God is actively and intentionally rescuing us from ourselves. In his infinite grace and mercy God makes a way for us sinners to be restored to him through Jesus. I know we know this. I’m just not always convinced that we know this. What I mean is that I think we easily and often lose sight of the glorious gift of our salvation and all the implications of it.

Look at Paul’s powerful language to the Colossian church:

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

It isn’t that somehow God simply paid a fine for us by the death of his Son and now we go on our merry way with a “get out of jail free” card. It is wholly true that Jesus paid our debt of sin—I’m not implying otherwise—but the implications are far greater than us just now being given a pass.

When Jesus died, we died. That’s what Paul is explaining in the middle of Colossians 2. And here he simply references that truth. “For you have died…” You and I are no more; at least not as our old selves. We now have a life that is hidden in Christ. Jesus’ death and resurrection doesn’t simply wash the dirt off of who we were and give us a fresh coat of paint. When God gave himself up for us he destroyed the old and corrupted one that we were, cancelling our debt because he rid us of the old creation. We have been made wholly different, with a new origin and a new existence. Neither are our own.

Now, who we are is hidden in who Christ is. And this is an abundant grace! It isn’t as petty as losing our individuality and identity. Instead it is that we are given a far better identity and rescued from the barrenness of our corrupted isolation (which we often mistakenly laud as individuality). We are now part of the Body of Christ. Connected to the Vine. Living stones being built up as a spiritual house. You can choose whichever metaphor you like, the Bible is replete with them. We who were not a people are now God’s people.

Who we are is hidden in who Christ is.

I’ve been thinking off and on about this for quite a few days. I read this passage earlier this week and I keep finding this concept returning to me. What does it mean? What does it look like to live in light of this truth?

Who I am is hidden in who Christ is. What does this mean for how I live today? How I think? What I chase after and what I value? Am I still finding myself living for who I used to be? Living for self? Living for the approval of others? Living in response to fear or a desire to control? Am I setting the agenda, defining the parameters, living in an unhidden attempt to make a name for myself?

The radical—and even offense—truth of the gospel comes in Paul’s next words. He declares to this Colossian church that because we are hidden in Christ we don’t even appear until he does. Alone we are nothing. Christ is all and we are in him, hidden there against our own sinfulness and depravity. Hidden there against our own inabilities and weakness. Hidden there to share in his glory when he returns.

Why is it again that we are always trying to come out of hiding? Always trying to make our own way, get attention for ourselves, establish our own plans?

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ”For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

Sometimes I read of the things God has given and I can’t help but wonder about us humans. How is it that we get so side-tracked on the things we aren’t getting? How is it we settle so easily for a few temporary conveniences and celebrate them as if they are the greatest of God’s blessings? Why do we so easily feel unloved when we find the plans that we’ve made collapsing and fail to see the magnitude of what we’ve been given apart from anything we could have devised on our own?

God has given us his Spirit.

How do we even get passed that truth? How do we wrap our minds around the magnificence of what we are being told?

God, the Almighty Creator of the universe, the one by whom things were formed at the sound of his voice has given us his Spirit. This God whose beginning never was and whose end doesn’t exist dwells within us. Our God, who acts in always perfection and has more wrath and grace and mercy and judgment than ever could be held by another. This God who is always right, more than fair, beyond loving, overflowing with righteousness, and whose glory is too much to behold; this God has come and made his home in us.

Tell me, how do we ever get beyond this? How do we ever loss interest in this? How do we ever forget something of this immensity?

In what circumstance could it ever be understandable that we would wake in the morning and not be leveled by the reality of so much grace that would lead a God of such utter holiness—such terrific perfection and purity—to indwell these broken, feeble, sinners we are?

God has given us his Spirit.

Some days we simply need a reality check. Not because we’re living in pursuit of too much, but because we’ve settle for far too little. We’ve not called on God to give more than he can, but have allowed ourselves to be slumbered by so much less than what is ours. God has given us his Spirit. We have the mind of Christ. And so we preach the gospel to ourselves again and again. We read these truths of Scripture, re-celebrate what has been given us by the Father, and find renewed hope and joy in the reality of our grace-filled lives.

God has given us his Spirit. Praise Him.

Nothing is wasted with God.

There is something miraculous in that because no matter how hard we try in this day and age of “green”—in this time where passions for recycling and re-using run high—we still leave waste. We still find pieces and parts of everyday living that simply can’t be used. And in a more experiential aspect of life we find much we don’t want to use. There is much about our lives we’d rather hide, ignore, or simply wish was different. We don’t want to use some of what’s happened to us and some of what we’ve done to ourselves.

But for God things are different. When it comes to our lives, experiences, and every day happenings nothing is wasted. God uses it all. He takes everything and makes something from it. When we look at our best moments, our wise words, our times of servitude—it’s easy to see how God uses these (even if they are far and few between). But what about the other stuff? What about when we don’t act as we should? What about when life goes horribly wrong? When people say things we never thought we’d hear from them or when we find all our plans unraveling?

Nothing is wasted. God uses everything.

So when Paul finds himself imprisoned for his faith he doesn’t cry out to God in bitter anger. He doesn’t complain and wonder why God isn’t doing anything or how it could be that he isn’t rescued. He sees how God is using it. He sees how the gospel is advanced regardless of circumstances. People are hearing of Jesus who wouldn’t have if Paul had not been there. Brothers and sisters in the faith are finding confidence to be bold because Paul has led the way for them. I guess the real question for us has to be would this be enough? Would God’s name being glorified and his people being bold and his gospel being preached be enough for us or do we also require a modicum of comfort and recognition?

Of course we would say it’s enough. Of course we would argue that if we can see how God is using our circumstances then that would be all we need. Yet still we complain when things go differently than we wanted. Still we doubt and grumble and accuse when life gets hard.

And what about those times when we can’t see how God is using our circumstances? What about when all we see is our suffering and hardship? Can we trust then that God uses everything? Can we rest in the comfort that the gospel of Jesus advances relentlessly to the glory of God? Or do we only feel like resting when we are in circumstances of our own choosing where we feel some sense of control and are unafraid?

Can we look on our darkest and most difficult times without bitterness and simply rest in the truth that God wastes nothing, that he uses all? That everything that has happened to us God can use to serve his own great message of salvation even if we can’t exactly connect the dots of how our life has glorified him? Is it enough to trust and know that God uses everything? That he redeems all our life for his glory? Or do we still want something else? Are we still holding out to give thanks only after our expectations have been met and your thirst for comfort and security assuaged?

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.        Philippians 3:18-21

What great gifts await us! What blessing and extravagant grace.

We await a Savior who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. It defies human logic that God would take us—those who by nature glory in our own shame, worship our own appetites, and set our minds on the temporary—that he would take us and transform us into something glorious like his Son.

We don’t deserve this. It would be ridiculous to attempt to earn this. This is grace. It’s embarrassingly generous to our prideful hearts to be given so much and to accept that we just don’t deserve it. It’s humbling.

It’s humbling and as we see ourselves in all our brokenness and sin it could be reason to doubt. Jesus is going to take this?! This body of mine, with all its lowly self-worship and shame-loving? He’s taking this and turning it into something like his own glorious body?! How does that even happen?

It would seem too great a hope were it not for the reminder of the last part of that final sentence.

“…by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Power to subject all things to himself. That is great power. That is magnificent power. That is power that defies us to even begin comprehend how great, how strong, how capable. We cannot fathom the  immensity of such power.

And the best news? Jesus doesn’t just turn us and set us on a new trajectory so we’re facing the right direction again. He doesn’t simply wipe the slate clean from our past and tell us to “do better with what we have left.” Jesus doesn’t even give us some new pointers and some “tricks of the trade” so we can be more holy—more like him.

No. Jesus transforms us. He makes us what we weren’t. Jesus takes who we were and replaces it with something we could never be without him. We are wholly different and holy transformed. We stop being enemies and become like him.

This is grace. It is beautiful and hope-filled. Extravagant and reckless. It is wild and purposeful. And it’s for God’s glory. Transforming us is a great and amazing blessing of grace on us, but the primary point is that God would be glorified. That he would be displayed as great and holy.

This is the savior we await. One who brings transformation and hope and glory. We are blessed beyond measure to be citizens of his kingdom. May we pray that we never lose sight of how radically we have been blessed.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.            Colossians 3:16

In our family we are taking on a challenge this summer. We’re going to memorize all of John 17. This is a big task for us, but one we’re looking forward to and actually enjoying already.

Our church is promoting something this summer called Summer Stories. The idea is to be challenged to do five different things over the course of the summer: pray specifically for five people who don’t know Christ, memorize John 17, throw a block party to meet your neighbors, invite some people to a church gathering and find a place to serve the in city one night a week. The point is to create some stories this summer. To intentionally do some things that will push us in our own walk with Christ as well as make us mindful of those around us who don’t yet know the gospel of Jesus. The belief is that as we do these things boldly and intentionally we will look back on this summer with some great stories of what God has done in our lives and in others. As the summer progresses we’ll be sharing our individual stories with the whole church community and celebrate together what God is doing in our lives.

So our family has started with the memorization of John 17. We’ll look to pursue some of the other challenges this summer as well, but this is where we started. It has been an interesting week and a definite blessing to work on this as a family. Our kids are taking it so seriously and really are making great headway so far!

As we’ve begun I have been reminded frequently of Paul’s challenge to the Colossian church. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” Paul recognized our desperate need for a rich indwelling of God’s Word. He knew that in order to meet the needs of one another we will need a deep store of God’s truth in our hearts. I can’t help but wonder if this unmet reality is at the source of so much difficulty that the church seems to have getting along with itself.

Down through the ages there are stories upon stories of church division and backbiting; stories of gossip, arguments that never resolve, politics in the church body, and power struggles. The one unified Body of Christ has often been anything but a diverse group of members working for the glory of Christ as a blessing to one another and the world. Could it be in large part because the members have not been investing in a deep store of the word of Christ in their own hearts? Could it be because so much of the Body has allowed a Sunday morning feeding on the Word to be all they get for the week?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Life Together says this:

“It is not our heart that determines our course, but God’s Word. But who in this day has any proper understanding of the need for scriptural proof? How often we hear innumerable arguments “from life” and “from experience” put forward as the basis for our most crucial decisions, but the argument of Scripture is missing.” 

When the Word of God does not dwell in us richly, our life easily becomes guided by other things: by outside influences, self diagnosis, and popular opinion. We need the word of Christ, not merely to be heard by us on a regular basis, but to dwell in us richly. And so we are memorizing.

I can’t help but realize that teaching our children to memorize Scripture is teaching them a culture of how to live life. It’s so much more than just a summer project and I pray we’ll have the perseverance and consistency necessary to make it a new rhythm of our family’s life. We pray together, we read the Bible together, but we have not done much intentional hiding of God’s Word in our hearts as a family. This is a great beginning for us. There is great joy to be found in the time we are spending as a family working through John 17, not to mention the joy we receive as parents to find our children so enthusiastic and committed to this memorization. And we are preparing our children now for the day we will watch them set out on their own. What a gift to see them set out with a rich store of the word of Christ dwelling within their hearts. This is a goal worth investing in.

Essentially what Tripp was identifying is that we as Christians have a pretty good idea of salvation past (what Jesus did for us on the cross) and of salvation future (our hope in eternity), but we often fail to comprehend how to live in the power of the gospel in our day to day activities. We struggle and fight and fall into sin again and again and again.

How do we rise above it? How do we experience victory? How do we struggle against sin, knowing that we will not be perfect until we are made so by Christ and yet still keep in step with the Spirit?

Most of the time, most of us feel at a real loss for how this comes about. How do we live in the power of the gospel today, and tomorrow, and everyday we live in these fleshly bodies with all our sin? Colossians 2 offers us great perspective and great hope.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.      Colossians 2:6-10

Paul reminds us in this letter of the most important thing: We have been filled in Christ. He doesn’t say we have been filled with Christ. This is certainly true and biblical, but Paul is saying something more. It isn’t just that Christ fills up our sinful bodies with all our limitations, but that we are filled up in him. All his limitlessness and power, all his divinity that expands to the far reaches of the universe and beyond, all that makes him God in full, we are filled up in all that is Christ! We are filled up in the one who is ruler and authority over all creation.

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Jesus is not shrunk down to the size of our mortal flesh in our momentary circumstances, but that by the mysterious power of the gospel of Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting from the dead, we are filled up in him. We are given fullness in him, power in him, hope in him.

That’s why Paul can start this section of his letter with the words, “just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him…” He is calling us, not just to hold on to salvation past until salvation future is made complete, but to live in the now walking in Christ. He is calling us to that middle part of the gospel that we often lose sight of and fail to tap into. He is reminding us that the gospel is not just for past and future, but also for here and for now.

And this leads us to the great treasure of our faith: hope.

We will continue to struggle against our sin nature for all our days. We will continue to battle and sometimes fail (often times fail!). We will taste the bitterness of death, our selfishness and of our own depravity. But we have hope. The greatest and highest hope! We have been filled up in Christ. We have the power of the resurrection—the only victor over death—in the midst of our everyday living that is continually stained by our own brokenness. We have the power of Christ, not just to be freed from our past and guaranteed our future, but power to walk in Christ each day.

And it’s important to remember that we don’t hope as the world hopes. This isn’t the hope of “Oh, I wish it would happen.” and “Maybe it’ll happen.” It’s not the hope of “Wouldn’t it be nice if once in a while it did happen”. This isn’t wishes me make or dreams we imagine could possibly come about. No, our hope is biblical hope. It is confident expectation of a guaranteed result that God has promised us in Christ. God will enable us to walk in Christ in the here and now.

This doesn’t mean we won’t struggle, we will. This doesn’t mean we won’t falter, we will. This doesn’t mean we don’t sin, we still will. But we don’t have to be ruled by it, oppressed by it, consumed by it. We can find victory in our days and joy in the midst of our pains. We can experience real change in our struggles. We can walk in Christ.

We don’t need to live in some limbo between what has been done for us and what awaits us without power for what we face today. We can live in the fullness we have in Christ. But the hope of the gospel must mark our steps. The power of the resurrected Christ must be on our lips and in our hearts and filling our minds. We must learn to live in the hope—the biblical hope—of confidently expecting that what has been guaranteed to us in Christ will result in changed living for today.

We are the people of hope. God’s people filled up in him who is the fullness of deity, the Ruler and authority over all creation—Jesus Christ, our Lord!

All these weddings have been bringing to my mind the image of Christ and his church—this idea that we are the bride of Christ. I keep finding it making its way into my conversations. I keep relating my opinions to other believers back to this hope and future. I find myself considering the implications of our relationship with Christ being compared to that of a marriage. I believe it should be noted as an evidence of God’s grace anytime we find the circumstances of life bringing certain passages from Scripture—or certain images it portrays—repeatedly to the forefront of our minds. Weddings should always do this for us. Just as husband and wife are made one flesh so the Bible speaks of Christ and his church being made one. Each time we gather and watch the bride being united with her husband I am reminded: this is our hope. This is our goal. It’s great perspective and it’s a beautiful reminder of our future destiny.

When Paul writes the Corinthian church he has concern that the church not lose sight of this perspective. He wants them to live with this future in view. His specific concern for them comes from the danger of being led astray to teachings that are false, but I think the general warning to remember that we are being made ready, that we are promised to Christ, is critical for us all.

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me!  I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  2 Corinthians 11:1-3

Paul is calling on the church to remember what it’s all about. What are we doing here? What are we hoping for?

We are promised to Christ. The goal of this life is preparation. We are constantly being prepared for the day when we will be presented to him. All the struggles and disappointments of life, all the blessings and victories; everything in life is making us ready for that day. It’s all preparation for being made one with Christ in full completion.

This is who we are, this is what we hope for, this is why we live; just as a bride is made ready for the day of uniting with her husband so we are being made ready. This can admittedly be an awkward concept for a guy to wrap his mind around. We are the bride?! There is something “macho” within us that wants to balk at this imagery. But if we consider the husband and wife, the uniting and being made one, it is beautiful and should give us great hope and joy. To be made one with Christ—there is no greater destiny than this!

Let us rejoice and be glad
   and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
   and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
   was given her to wear.”             Revelation 19:7-8

What a beautiful wedding day our future holds; a wedding like none other! This should give us hope for tomorrow and strength for today. This picture gives me a great deal of new found love for weddings. They are always reminding me of the future, of our promise, of our hope. There is a great wedding in our future, and it should bring definition to how we live in the present.