What Brides Do

What Brides Do

Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight” and “The Bride of God,” for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his bride.

Isaiah 62:4

I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:2

I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2

Have you ever spent some time around a bride or a bride-to-be? A bride is a busy person. And she is a passionate person. She is busy making herself beautiful for her groom on their wedding day because she loves him and wants to please him.

The Bible uses the image of a bride and a groom to describe the relationship between Christ and his church. Anyone who is a Christian is “engaged” to Jesus, waiting for and preparing for the wedding that will happen when our Groom, Jesus, comes for us.

A bride loves to show off her engagement ring. As believers, we also make a statement to the world about our love and connectedness to Jesus when we are baptized. It is a sign of our commitment to him. A bride talks about her groom. She is enamored of him and wants to spend time with him. One of the best things about her life is that she is loved and chosen by him, and nothing makes her happier than knowing this. Nothing makes a Christian happier than knowing he or she is loved and chosen by God.

A bride likes to count down the days until her wedding. She can hardly wait because she knows that day will be the beginning of a whole new life and a new intimacy with the groom she has been longing for. As the bride of Christ, we wait with great anticipation for the day when we will be united with our Groom. Until then, we stay faithful to him and say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What do you think are the best and worst parts about being a bride?

What does it mean to be a “pure bride”?

What has Christ done to make his bride beautiful (see Ephesians 5:25-27)?