Rev.21:9-11 – Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
I am indebted to Jonathan Edwards. I began to read his books and his sermons after the outpouring of the Spirit in 1994 that greatly affected me and Victory Church in New Orleans. One of the many things that I learned from his teaching was the primary purpose for all things was to display the glory of God. Every part of His creation proclaims his infinite attributes. everything from the microscopic world uncovered by microscopes to the computer generated telescopes that gaze further and further into God’s infinite creation. In all He does we see the unveiling of His power, His wisdom, His matchless creativity, and His sovereign rule over all things. Once you see that everything exists for His glory it deeply affects the way you perceive your world. You see God actively involved in His creation, His church, our world, and in your life. A security and peace settles in on your soul knowing that He is causing all things to work together for your good and His glory. Here is something Jonathan Edwards says about seeing the glory of God in His ultimate plan for the church, the bride of Christ.
“Then will come the time, when Christ will sweetly invite his spouse to enter in with him into the palace of his glory, which he had been preparing for her from the foundation of the world, and shall as it were take her by the hand, and lead her in with him: and this glorious bridegroom and bride shall with all their shining ornaments, ascend up together into the heaven of heaven; the whole multitude of glorious angels waiting upon them: and this Son and daughter of God shall, in their united glory and joy, present themselves together before the Father; when Christ shall say, “Here am I, and the children which thou has given me”: and they both shall in that relation and union, together receive the Father’s blessing; and shall thenceforward rejoice together, in consummate, uninterrupted, immutable, and everlasting glory, in the love and embraces of each other, and joint enjoyment of the love of the Father.”
The Bible ends with God’s glory being put on display in the Bride of Christ. This presentation of the redeemed is the greatest display of God’s glory, it is the glory of His grace seen in the glorification of His people. We were once not a people but we have become the people of God. We were once filthy, overcome with the sins of this world and now we have become spotless. The presentation of the Bride of Christ is the final work of God in the closing chapters of the scripture. The good news is this is our life, this is what we were born for.
