Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily devotional as we continue in our God Vision for the Church series. Today we consider what it means for the church to be the bride of Christ.
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‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church 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.’ (Ephesians 5:25-27)
It’s become more common to create nuptial agreements so that if a marriage breaks down, a deal on things like finances has already been made. I heard of a one couple that included a clause where the bride had to maintain a specific weight. If she gained more than a certain number of pounds, she would lose financial benefits in the marriage. Another example I heard of was a couple included a provision limiting how many times the mother-in-law could visit each year - the agreement stated she could only visit for a set number of days annually, often with the inclusion of specific time limits for each visit! This is rather funny but also very sad. It’s sad that the possibility of relational failure and unfaithfulness is in the very foundations of many marriages.
Today, as we begin our reflection on what it means to be the bride of Christ, we read that Jesus ‘gave himself up for her’. Let’s briefly reflect on what this giving Himself up meant:
i. He gave Himself up out of love
Prenuptial agreements reveal our selfishness - there are some things that we will not sacrifice, some things are more important to us than the love we have for our spouse. However, Any good marriage is an imitation of the love of Jesus to His church (and the love of the church for Jesus). This concept of being the bride of Christ is, firstly, about being loved by Jesus, and loved perfectly! To those who are single, I want to say that this bride metaphor that we are using this week doesn’t exclude anyone and all, are included in this loving relationship with Christ.
i. He gave Himself up means that He went to the cross
Love is defined as ‘He gave Himself up’. Love is self-sacrifice for the good of another. Love, ideally, is an initiative toward the beloved and not a response and reward when the beloved acts or looks right.
We are told that ‘…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…’ He went through suffering, death and curse for us. The cross, which involved human and divine punishment, is the demonstration of His love for His bride as Paul tells us:
‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8)
We are taught that all true love is about sacrificial kindness for the good of the other and today let’s be reminded that we are perfectly loved as Jesus’ bride.
ii. He gave Himself up in order to achieve something in us
We are told that He went to the cross, ‘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.’
These words: ‘holy’, ‘cleansing’, ‘washing’, ‘radiant’, ‘without stain or wrinkle’, ‘unblemished’, ‘holy and blameless’ speak of a new beauty that His death has achieved for us. He died for our justification and sanctification. He died so that we will become that loving, devoted and faithful bride that He wants.
Response
May we share God’s vision for the church as His bride. Do we know that we are loved covenantally, which, in essence, means that His love for us is unbreakable? Many of us have been hurt by the selfishness of others and we know our own selfishness and unfaithfulness. There’s a lot more that can be said about being the bride of Christ, but today I simply want us to see and enjoy afresh the love of Jesus ‘who gave Himself up for [us].’
Let’s pray together as we finish:
“Jesus, I thank you for your perfect and unbreakable love for me and your bride, the church. I thank you that in all things you are working to cleanse, wash and make us radiant. Holy Spirit, please fill me with a fresh understanding and experience of God’s love today. I pray for those who come to mind who also need to experience your love at this time. Amen."
Community Group Notes
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Our message on Sunday from our God’s Vision for the Church series was on how the church is The Bride of Christ. As such she is to receive Jesus’ love, Love Jesus and love the church which is so loved by Christ.
Please read Ephesians 5:22-33 and discuss:
Did God speak to you about anything from Sunday’s message?
As important as what this text says about marriage is, in this study, I want us to focus on what it says about the church’s relationship to Jesus; what does this say to us about the church’s relationship to Jesus?
As His bride, what does this say to us about Jesus’ love for us?
What does this say about how we are to love Jesus?
What does this say about how we are to love the church - the bride of Christ?
SIV - How will our seeking to live as the bride of Christ help us to reach our community for Christ?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus.
Let’s pra
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