Marriage Supper Culmination

Revelation 19     George Badeaux

Rev 19:7-9   Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.  And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

I rejoice at the thought of the marriage supper of the Lamb.  It will be the joyous outcome of the plan of God, conceived even before time began.  But for us, in the here and now, it is so easy to get consumed by the stuff of life.  Even in the following of God, we get focused on the vast array of ways to serve and honor our Lord, and the thousands of different ways we could improve our Christian walk.  We can so easily get focused on the minutia and miss the big picture.

The big picture includes at least these things.  God exists.  He created the heavens and the earth.  He is the source of, and the ultimate expression of: love, power, knowledge, goodness, righteousness, compassion, and grace.  He is worthy of our worship.  He created us with the freedom to choose to follow Him or do evil.  We did evil.  This evil separates us from God.  He made the way and paid the price to remove the barrier between us and Him through Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross.

Why?  The answer is something that I think has been overlooked by millions (including me…for over 30 years as a believer).  And the answer is more important than the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  It is more important because it is the reason for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  The answer is His desire.

His desire, His longing, His heart’s yearning is for relationship with us. 

The culmination of all of history on Earth is the marriage supper of the Lamb.  This ultimate marriage supper is a joyous celebration of a change.  I am currently engaged to be married.  I long for, I yearn for, I can’t wait for the change: the marriage.  And it is not the ceremony I long for.  It is the change in the relationship: the change from loving but separate to loving and together.  Together in the closest human relationship possible.  The marriage supper of the Lamb will celebrate an even closer relationship, closer than we can imagine.

The big picture is: Immanuel, God with us.  But so often we think of this as only a baby in a manger.  Don’t get me wrong.  God in a manger as a baby may be the most important event in all the universe.  But “Immanuel, God with us” is so much bigger than the manger.  It is the central core theme of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  And, as in so many other things, the most important aspect is the heart.  God’s heart’s desire is to be with us in intimate relationship forever.  He desires us.  He desires you.   Yes…He desires close relationship with you!  His arms are open, and He desires for you to lean into His embrace every day.  Know that in your heart.  Rejoice!  Cry tears of joy!  There is no greater joy!

Immanuel, God with us.  The big picture.  The main point.  The heart of God!