Randy Alcorn
It’s not the crying, the helplessness, the messes, the immaturity of children that we love. It’s the unfeigned joy of life, the exuberance, the inquisitiveness, the laughter, the spontaneous affection. In heaven we will all be like that!
~ Larry Dick, [A Taste of Heaven]
The Bride of Christ
The one-flesh marital union is a signpost pointing to our relationship with Christ as our bridegroom. Once we reach the destination, however, the signpost becomes unnecessary. That one marriage—our marriage to Christ—will be so completely satisfying that even the most wonderful earthly marriage couldn’t be as fulfilling. Earthly marriage is a shadow, a copy, an echo, of the true and ultimate marriage. Once that ultimate marriage begins, at the Lamb’s wedding feast, all the human marriages that pointed to it will have served their noble purpose and will be assimilated into the one great marriage they foreshadowed. The purpose of marriage is not to replace Heaven, but to prepare us for it.
~ Randy Alcorn, [50 Days of Heaven]
It’s only because of the Bridegroom’s work that the chosen princess, the church, can enter the presence of her Lord. Yet her wedding dress is woven by her many acts of faithfulness while away from her Bridegroom on the fallen Earth. . . . Each prayer, each gift, each hour of fasting, each kindness to the needy—all these are the threads that have been woven together into this wedding dress. Her works have been empowered by the Spirit, and she has spent her life on Earth sewing her wedding dress for the day when she will be joined to her beloved Bridegroom.
This gives us a wonderful reason to remain here on this Earth, even though we long to be with our beloved Jesus. The wedding approaches, yet . . . part of us wants fewer days between now and the wedding, because we’re so eager to be with our Beloved in our new home. But another part wants more days to better prepare for the wedding, to sew our dress by acts of faithful service to God.
The imagery is beautiful but potentially disturbing. A pure bride doesn’t want to appear scantily clothed or dressed in rags at the altar before her beloved Bridegroom and a crowd of guests. But if she has been diligent to prepare, her dress will be substantial, beautiful, and complete.
~ Randy Alcorn, We Shall See God
We aren’t individual brides of Christ; we are collectively the bride of Christ. Christ is not a polygamist. He will be married to one bride, not millions. We belong to each other and need each other. We should guard not only our own purity, but each other’s. We are our brother’s keeper. . . . Because we will be part of a community of saints that constitutes the bride of Christ for eternity, and because we will worship and serve him together, to prepare properly for Heaven we must be part of a church now.
~ Randy Alcorn, [Heaven]
The one-flesh marital union is a signpost pointing to our relationship with Christ as our bridegroom. Once we reach the destination, however, the signpost becomes unnecessary. That one marriage—our marriage to Christ—will be so completely satisfying that even the most wonderful earthly marriage couldn’t be as fulfilling. Earthly marriage is a shadow, a copy, an echo, of the true and ultimate marriage. Once that ultimate marriage begins, at the Lamb’s wedding feast, all the human marriages that pointed to it will have served their noble purpose and will be assimilated into the one great marriage they foreshadowed. The purpose of marriage is not to replace Heaven, but to prepare us for it.
~ Randy Alcorn, 50 Days of Heaven
“As they increase in the knowledge of God and of the works of God, the more they will see of his excellency; and the more they see of his excellency . . . the more will they love him; and the more they love God, the more delight and happiness . . . will they have in him.
~ Jonathan Edwards, The Miscellanies
In Jesus’ day, the Jewish marriage custom required that the groom go to the bride’s father and establish the price for gaining his bride. The father and the future husband sealed the covenant with a cup shared between them. The groom would then leave for a lengthy period, returning to his father’s home where he prepared an apartment that would become their home.
Then, without announcement, when everything was finally ready and the wedding feast prepared, he would leave his father’s home and walk through the streets of the town to receive his bride and take her home.
Needless to say, there was no time to prepare herself for that great celebration if she waited to hear the shouts in the streets. Given that her hope was fixed on that day, she had already prepared herself in anticipation of his coming for her.
~ Joseph Stowell, Eternity
Do you find it odd to think of God as an enthralled lover? Do you feel awkward thinking of Jesus as a suitor intoxicated on love? If so, how else do you explain his actions? Did logic put God in a manger? Did common sense nail him to a cross? . . .
He came as a prince with his eye on the maiden, ready to battle even the dragon itself if that’s what it took to win her hand. . . .
You are spoken for. You are engaged, set apart, called out, a holy bride. Forbidden waters hold nothing for you. You have been chosen for his castle. Don’t settle for one-night stands in the arms of a stranger.
Be obsessed with your wedding date. Guard against forgetfulness. Be intolerant of memory lapses. Write yourself notes. Memorize verses. Do whatever you need to do to remember. Aim at what is in heaven. . . . Think only about the things in heaven (Colossians 3:1-2). You are engaged to royalty, and your Prince is coming to take you home.
~ Max Lucado, When Christ Comes
Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn’t exist. He need convince us only that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we’ll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we’ll set our minds on this life and not the next, and we won’t be motivated to share our faith. Why should we share the “good news” that people can spend eternity in a boring, ghostly place even we’re not looking forward to?
~ Randy Alcorn, [TouchPoints: Heaven]
