Blessed Be God!

Blessed be God!
Blessed be our God!

He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

And He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to Himself
As sons, as daughters.

Through Jesus,
and according to the kind intention of His will,
we are now

Sons and daughters! 
Of Him! Of God!

To the praise of His glorious grace! 

~

Though we walked in darkness,
we have seen a Great Light. 

We were broken and shattered and fractured. 
Aliens and strangers and enemies of God.

We, the unrighteous, the children of wrath,
were alone. Without hope. Orphans.

But God has blessed us richly. 

His grace has come to us in the Beloved.

In Jesus.

Christ, Messiah, Son of God,
Humble Servant, the True Light,

Jesus has come.

He has come to us.

Obedient to death, 
even death by crucifixion,

We have redemption through His blood,
for He forgives our trespasses.

In Jesus, God lavishes upon us the riches of grace. 
He makes known the mystery of His will;
The mystery set forth in Christ;
The mystery of His purposes;

A plan for the fullness of time. 

~

The mystery of God has been revealed,
And the mystery is this:

God is, in Christ, Uniting All Things.

Things in heaven. Things on earth. 
The stars and the trees. The skies and seas.
The birds and the beasts and the flowers and the mountains. 

All things broken will be made whole.  

But more than these, 

God is uniting Us. 

To Him.

Sons and daughters,
brought back to our Father.

He is remaking us. 
Making us new again as He draws us close.

~

He will be our God! And we, His people!

Behold! The dwelling place of God is with man!
The dwelling place of God is with us!

He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, 
And death shall be no more.
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain!

The former things will pass away. 
Every bad thing will come untrue. 
The darkness banished.

For He Himself will be Our Light! 

No star. No moon. Only Christ.

Jesus. The Lord. 

The Light of the World in our midst.

Glorious in splendor and beauty;
The blazing Lamp for all eternity.
Seated high above every throne and dominion and power and authority and every name that is named.

He made Himself low.
And God has highly exalted Him! 

He is our God! 

Behold! He is making all things new!

~

Do you see it?

Do you see Him?

The True Light which gives light to everyone has come into the world. 

Jesus has come to us. 

He has come to you.

He is uniting us. 
He is remaking us.
He is bringing us back.

 So look now. See through.

This marriage is but a picture.
A mirror.
A window.

The picture is real,
but the Truth it depicts so much more so.

The mirror is dirty and dim,
but it reflects the True Marriage that is now and is in fullness coming.

This marriage is a window, framed to be seen through.

The window opens up,
and our vision passes on.

And we see:

The Bridegroom, Jesus, preparing for us, His bride.

The Eternal Marriage that lies ahead.

Our final and forever union to our God. 

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

~

So, we rejoice today!

Yes, we make much of the bride and of the groom, but not for their sakes. That would surely be idolatry.

No, instead, by making much of them, 
we are truly making much of Him! 

Their Bridegroom and ours;

Their Provider and ours;

Their Savior and ours;

Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Delivered up for our trespasses;
Raised for our justification.

He is the True Groom.
And we his true bride. 

~

He who has ears, let him hear.
Let him come. Let him see.

Bride of Christ, prepare yourself.
Put on the clothing of salvation.
Be dressed in a robe of righteousness.

Let Jesus present you to Himself, without spot or winkle or any blemish.

Holy & Blameless. 

He has given us His guarantee,
and He is coming back.

He will unite us with God forever.

~

This here is but a picture. 
This is but a window.

Listen and hear.
See and see through.

To the True Life.
To the Most Real Reality.
To the Marriage of the Lamb to His Bride.

~

Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord God, Almighty!

Worthy are You,
our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power!

To Him who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb,
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! 

Blessed be God. Hallelujah!

And blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.