Ultimate Love, Extreme Missions
Ephesians 5:24-32

Paul J. Bucknell

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Missions & Marriage
A) Picture of Marriage (Ephesians 5:31-32) |
B) Choosing of the Bride (Ephesians 5:25, 29) |
C) Preparing of the Bride (Ephesians 5:26-27)

Purpose

Part 4 of 4 of Ultimate Love, Extreme Mission entitled, Preparing the Bride. Just as a woman prepares herself for her marriage, so Christ waits until his bride is ready for Him. She will become complete and transformed just as Ephesians 5:26-27 states.

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C.) Preparing of the Bride

Ephesians 5:26-27

"That He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:26-27).

In the Hebrew customs during Jesus' time, the bridegroom would become betrothed, go away for an uncertain period of time to prepare a home, and then, by surprise, come and bring the bride to his new home.

Jesus uses this to illustrate several spiritual truths. Christ has come, secured us with His life, betrothed us to Himself, and now gone away busily preparing a house for her.

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3).

Some might wonder why God waits so long before judging the evil in this world, or why He tolerates it. There are at least two answers to these questions. Perhaps both answers are rather unexpected. This reveals God's greater scheme. This is true on two levels.

(1) Christ is saving all His people

First, God is saving all His chosen people. The bride is not totally prepared until totally formed!

Ephesians 5 speaks of the mystery of marriage. Just like in marriage, there is a covenant between God and His people. There is another mystery mentioned in Ephesians 2: that of Israel and the Gentiles. The two were made 'a new man.'

Normally, we think of the Lord's way for combining Jew and Gentile as the amazing way God made them into one body. We could, however, also think about how determined the Lord was to reach out to the world. Despite Israel's unwillingness to obey the Lord, God's infinite wisdom broke through in a special plan to reach out to the world, without breaking any of His old promises.

If the Lord is so zealous to reach the lost (i.e., reach the Gentiles), so should we. We ought to join efforts to reach the last unreached peoples across the globe.

Praise God for how He is doing this through the church! Right now, in 2010, "of the 16,351 people groups by country, 6,645 are still considered unreached," representing 2.75 billion people out of 6.70 billion (Joshua Project). Although our church supports such efforts, we need to strategize to do more. God is set on completing the bride, that is, bringing the rest of the people into the church (His bride) before His return to get her.

God has commanded us to join Him in this venture of completing the bride. We do not do it separately from Him but with Him, thereby building our intimacy.

INDONESIA.  One local Chinese church has recently "adopted" an unreached people group in Sumatra and had the opportunity to share its vision with other local Chinese churches. Pray others will catch a similar vision-to commit to a focused and intentional relationship with unengaged peoples in Indonesia to bring about a biblical and indigenous church movement in each people group. 

The Lord, however, is also doing one more thing. He is perfecting His people.

(2) Christ is perfecting His people

Notice Christ's purpose is restated three times by the three 'that' words:

• "That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word

• that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory

• that she should be holy and blameless.

What a powerful statement! Christ has some very clear purposes of what He is doing in His bride during this time to prepare for His return. He is helping her prepare for that glorious reunion.

We hardly have time to go into detail here, but we should realize that God has a strong purpose of purifying His bride. We might think of all the preparations a woman makes to get ready for that big day.

She is so prettied up. Clothes, jewelry, friends, family, and that sparkle in her eye. She spends time caring for her skin, nails, and hair, even before dressing. She eyes that moment and spends her time preparing for that moment; she becomes his. Yes, she is His, but not totally consumed. All promises but not yet reality. She is waiting for that magic wedding moment.

The perfection of the bride consists in the development of two areas (in addition to ensuring that) all the parts are present - see above).

Opportunity to do good works

In Ephesians 2:10 (a study) we see that the Lord arranged all the good works we are to do.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Right now, He gives us the opportunity to live out these good works as a way to manifest our love and devotion to Him. He empowers us to do them through His Spirit. As we anticipate His return, we focus on pleasing Him.

It is not a manual that He gives us filled with duties, but as we day to day prayerfully seek Him, He reveals these things and empowers us to accomplish them. The Lord wants to draw us into a deeper trust relationship as we learn to depend upon Him.

Improvement in character quality

God has also given us the opportunity to lovingly respond to Him by the way we personally put off our sin. The Lord calls us to be Christ-like. We are to remove the blemishes.

"What am I doing here?"

Frankly, when I go overseas to train pastors, I do not know how I can do these things. I keep asking myself, "What am I doing here?"

I don't have the money, energy, focus, or stamina. I love my family, my home, my church. Furthermore, I am white from a very conservative background, while I need to mix with people who are much more lively in nature than I am. I do not fit. I do not understand their language and cultural backgrounds.

But as He calls, I make myself available. I trust Him to provide the needed monies. I seek Him for wisdom to bring the right messages to feed His sheep. Do you see how it works? The temptation is to forget Him and get caught up in the things of the world (spiritual adultery).

We are inadequate, but He is ever so near to help us successfully complete these good works for His glory. They are not to gain His approval but to express our gratefulness to Him.

Each of these good works is a means by which we can get closer to Him, because we need His help to do them. The Lord is as much concerned with the good works we do as with the deeper relationship it cultivates between us. Remember the marriage model. The Lord is after a wonderful, intimate relationship.

In the diagram on the left, three purposes for these good works is listed:

• Our opportunity to demonstrate our appreciativeness

• Our opportunity to deepen our relationship with Him, and

• Our opportunity to gain eternal rewards.

Application

This is our one chance to show God our love. God has given us this opportunity to respond to Christ with our good works and praise.

Remember, it is not an assignment on our own. The very things He asks us to do might frustrate us because they seem so hard or awkward. Think about how hard it is to share the gospel with your parents, classmates, or friends. But this is our opportunity.

God wants us to lean upon Him for extra strength and wisdom. At the same time, He draws us close to Him. Don't forget the bride's picture. God wants His people to be close and intimate with Him. He uses these situations to develop that intimacy. The Lord greatly desires to cultivate a close relationship with us. These good works are a means to that end of developing our trust.

We should also remember that He wants us holy. The Lord is purifying our lives. Have we forgotten about His return? Do we long for His return? Have we unknowingly become spiritual adulterers?

Conclusion of message

Right now is the time for us to get caught up in our great God. He is glorious and powerful and has revealed His great plan to us.

We are part of an eternal marriage plan and might not even realize it! But now we do. Let us be serious and seek how God wants to work through our lives. It is not that we have to be that smart, talkative, or in the right position. We are there communing with Him, identifying with what He desires for us, and seeking how to assist Him in His plans.

A.) The Picture of Marriage (Ephesians 5:31-32)

God's plans are to be trusted because He means the very best for us.

B.) The Choosing of the Bride (Ephesians 5:25, 29)

Being greatly loved makes us willing and even desiring to please Him and join Him in His work.

C.) The Preparing of the Bride (Ephesians 5:26-27)

We are to join Him in bringing others into His family and to seek opportunities to do good while waiting for His return.