The Real Royal Wedding
by Richard Hemery
The royal wedding is only a few days away, and many column inches in the newspapers have been devoted to discussing the bride’s dress, and the formal dress (or not) of the other guests. It reminded me that there is another royal wedding due to happen, at which we will all corporately be the bride, and individually be the guests. This is the wedding of the ‘Lamb’ and His Church. It will be followed by a great banquet, to which many are invited. (Not all who were first invited will choose to come, leaving room for other guests – the good and the bad) At this wedding also there will be a strict dress code (Matthew 22:11–12) and anyone without the correct outfit will be tied up and thrown outside! I hope that doesn’t happen at Westminster Abbey!
As it is obviously important to wear the right outfit, what should we wear? I believe the answer is found in Isaiah 61:10, ‘I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.’
God Himself will provide our covering, a garment of salvation, and a robe of His righteousness. As Ruth asked Boaz, we need to ask Jesus to cover us with this garment. We need to accept the righteousness that Jesus provides. It is His righteousness, not our own, and we certainly don’t want to appear in substandard clothing we have provided ourselves. If we do, we may be challenged, and we will certainly have no answer.
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the wedding invitation – we humbly accept! Thank You, Lord, for the wedding clothes – we put them on with joy! Thank You for covering us and clothing us in salvation and Your righteousness, and we throw away our own rags to ready ourselves for Your wedding feast. Amen.
Richard Hemery was born in Surrey, United Kingdom and studied archaeology and ancient history at University. He has been a Christian for 20 years and has been part of the Ellel Ministries team at Pierrepont since 2001 working as the bookshop manager.
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