… and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Summary: Paul packs a pile of theology into today’s passage. What did Jesus do for his bride? Everything!
Today’s passage deals with arguably the greatest mystery of all time. The question Paul answered in the first part of verse twenty-five is, “Why?” Why did Jesus come to earth and go through what he did? The answer is love. Jesus loves his church.
That brings to mind two more questions: “Who is the church?,” and “What did he do?”
Each part of the answer could be a book in itself. We won’t do that here, but let’s look at them anyway. Paul writes:
• and gave himself up for her
• to make her holy,
• cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
• and to present her to himself as a radiant church,
• without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish,
• but holy and blameless.The key parts of Paul’s sentence are focused on making the church worthy of Jesus. This might sound a bit pretentious, but it is not. Jesus is, in every sense of the word, royalty. Royalty, like the royal family in England, is royal not because of anything they did but because of birth. They were born into a royal family.
Jesus, being God, was not born royalty in the flesh, but is royalty who gave up their royal clothes and position to do a job. It was a job that required Jesus to risk everything. But I digress …
The point was that Jesus, a holy being, needed a bride that was as holy as he. He could accept a bride who was not of the same power as he. His bride didn’t have to have the same social standing as him. What was important and is important is that the bride of Christ is completely holy and blameless.
Think about that for a moment.
Where would Jesus find a bride suitable for himself? What kind of being would be holy enough for the Creator of All Things? The answer, sadly, is that no such bride existed or could exist.
If Jesus’ bride was to be holy in his eyes and his Father’s eyes, he would have to find a way to make someone unholy, holy.
How in the world does that work?
Application: Consider what it means to be made holy.
Food for Thought: If Jesus’ bride was a person, what would make her holy in the eyes of God? How would she look to the rest of mankind? (The question behind the question is: Does God see her differently than we do?)
In John 15: 13 – 15 He calls those who are His as His friends that He loves enough to give His life for. In 1 Corinthians 3: 16 and 6: 18 – 20 He calls those same people temples of the Holy Spirit who belong to Him. In John 1: 12 – 13; Romans 8: 16 – 17 and 1 John 3: 1 He calls us His children. In Romans 8: 37 He calls us conquerors. In Romans 8: 1 He says we are not condemned. In Ephesians 2: 10 He calls us His masterpiece. In Genesis 1: 26 – 27 we understand that we are created in His image. In 2 Corinthians 5: 17 we see that those in Christ are a new creation. In 1 Peter 2: 9, He says we are chosen, royal and holy. This could go on and on. All this to say yeah, I think He looks at us differently than we might look at ourselves.
Rich,
Thank you for the rundown on how God sees us. It is amazing, isn’t it?
The devotion this morning led me to Matthew Chapter 6. Jesus spoke of a condition of the heart that differentiates between what would make someone holy in the eyes of God, or living in self-service. Jesus sums it up simply by saying “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” I think we could apply the same to “a bride” and “the bride.” It’s that condition of the heart that the world sees and does not understand. It’s that condition of the heart that God sees and it pleases Him. There is no way to disguise it from God or mankind.
Chris,
I like your take on this – that God sees our “condition of the heart.” You point out that there is no way to disguise this condition from God or mankind. I would add only that for mankind to see it, they have to have “eyes to see.” (Matthew 13:15)
If Jesus’ bride was a person, what would make her holy in the eyes of God?
Submitting to God, by confessing and turning from our sins, through Christ.
John 3:16, 1 John 1:9
How would she look to the rest of mankind?
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1 Corinthians 1:22
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:24-25
Does God see her differently than we do?
Man sees what we are, God sees what we will become, proves His love for all mankind, provides the way to freedom from sin, through His Son while mankind has their back to Him..
Romans 5:8
Ron,
I like that you mention the “stumbling block.” That is such an important concept in Scripture. I also appreciate that you point us to the fact that God is outside of time. He sees us as we were, as we are, and as we will be — including our future presence in heaven. He knows how the heart will act before it happens.