Anyone who has tried to capture the theme of Psalm 45, as I have attempted, will have discovered the difficulty with which that is done, as I have. What is most on my heart though is the thrill of the consummation of that wedding. It is unlike many weddings in that it is so high profile and honourable. The delights of that marriage are enchanting. It is the awe and intimacy of the wedding that strikes a deep chord in my heart. It is so personal, perfect and pure. It inspires pictures of love and romance that are quite beyond our fallen experience. But it is an even more wonderful experience for which God’s people yearn. The moments rush forward at an alarming rate and within a flash of time the great wedding of the Lamb will be upon us as the moment dawned for this bride to be led to her groom (Revelation 19:7).
The groom to whom the church will be married is unspeakably more glorious than the human groom of Psalm 45. His feats of honour expand immeasurably in magnificence beyond that of any fallen champion. Christ is the epitome of One whose throne will last forever as He reigns with the sceptre of justice in His hand. He is the one who completely loves righteousness and hates wickedness and who is truly anointed with the oil of joy eternal. His victories are beyond compare or rival. The moment in which His chosen, purchased, purified bride will come to Him in a beauty not her own will be the most delightful moment in eternity.
Ephesians 5:22-33 is an exquisite passage of the way a man relates to his wife in the same way Christ relates to His church. In verse 25 it becomes obvious that the focus is really on Christ, the Husband who loves His wife with an undying love. A love that gives and sacrifices persona pleasures and privileges in order to pour out good things on the one on which it focuses. Christ has committed Himself to His church and is unified with her so intimately that as a husband and wife become one, so Christ is one with His bride, the church. He loves her and cares for her in the same way that a person cares for their own body, deliberately shielding it from harm and unnecessary suffering. Every difficulty through which the church must go, and its individual members, is absolutely necessary in order for her to excel to the full nobility for which He has called her.
This full nobility impacts you and I at the point of holiness. He will present her to Himself as a radiant church (the glorious bride of Psalm 45), without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but, in contrast, holy and blameless. This comes as a result of His own passionate work in perfect personal holiness as a man—the great eternal Champion—and His giving of Himself up to the gruesome death of Golgotha as a sacrifice for her. He has cleansed her with His blood and dressed her is radiant garments. But more than that, He has so loved and cared for her that she has poured personal passion into the beauty of personal holiness. This has come as the result of her yearning for her groom in the pages of Scripture. She has become absolutely flawless. Not the tiniest unpleasant feature jars the eye. God the Son will be married and His bride, the church, of which all true believers are a part, will be more beautiful than fallen minds can conceive.
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