Rev. 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
The many characteristics and aspects of the New Jerusalem need to be our enjoyment and experience today, and in the church life we need to have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. Every genuine believer in Christ is a miniature of the New Jerusalem, and every local church is a “little New Jerusalem”.
In Revelation 19:7-8 we see that the wife of the Lamb has made herself ready, and she is clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. The New Jerusalem is righteous: the bride of Christ is clothed in fine linen, which fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
At the time of our regeneration God made Christ our righteousness and He justified us; as the father clothed the prodigal son with the best robe when he returned home, so God covers us with Christ as our objective righteousness before Him when we return to Him through repentance (see Luke 15; 1 Cor. 1:30).
But there is yet another garment, the wedding garment, which is being prepared during our Christian life as we allow Christ, the indwelling One, to live in us and for us a life that can be justified by God and that is always acceptable to God (see Matt. 5:6, 20).
As Paul aspired in Phil. 3:9, we need to seek to be found in Christ, having not our own righteousness which is out of the law but the righteousness which is of God and which is God Himself living in us and for us.
Also, the bride of Christ is beautiful, and what Christ as the Bridegroom sees in His bride is beauty. For this, today we are in the process of having any spots, wrinkles, and imperfections removed by the washing of the water in the word (see Eph. 5).
Our beauty is not our best behavior or our improved character; our only beauty is the shining out of Christ from within us, Christ living again in us.
As we get into the word of God in a prayerful way and receive the washing of the water in the word, we are being cleansed, purified, and beautified with Christ Himself, and our living will be beautiful in God’s eyes – Christ will live in us again!
The Wedding Garment – the Righteousnesses of the Saints, Christ Living in us
You can’t go to a wedding without a proper wedding garment, and you cannot enter the wedding feast without having the proper garment (see Matt. 5:20; 22:11-13). The New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ, the wife of the Lamb, has a wedding garment, which is “the righteousnesses of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-8).
When we believed into the Lord, God has made Christ our righteousness objectively before Him, and in Christ we are justified before God (1 Cor. 1:30). However, day by day in our Christian life we need to prepare our wedding garment, which is the second garment, the subjective righteousness – Christ living in us.
Objectively, Christ is the One who covers us before God and in Him we are justified (see Rom. 3:24, 28; 5:1, 9; 4:25; 5:16, 18). Subjectively, Christ is the indwelling One living in us and for us a life that can be justified by God and that is always acceptable to God (see Matt. 5:6, 20).
Paul desired to be found in Christ, having not his own righteousness but the righteousness which is of God.
On the one hand, in our Christian life we can apply the blood of Christ and enjoy the cleansing from all sins – this is the first robe, our objective righteousness. On the other hand, we should be preparing our wedding garment by learning to live the Christ who is within us as the Spirit, and express Him through our soul.
We need to have the Lord deal with and smash our own self-righteousness (as He did in both Job and Paul), and have hundreds and thousands of instances of God in Christ living in us.
We need to be earnest with the Lord concerning the genuine God-man living, and be one with Christ to let Him live in us and be expressed in us. The only living that is right with both God and man is God living in us and being expressed through us (see 2 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
We are not merely good men, good Christians living a good Christian life; we are God-men, those who express God and are right with God and with man by having Christ live in us.
If we cooperate with the Lord and let Christ live in us, not having our own righteousness but seeking to live Christ and have Him being expressed through us, we will be qualified to meet the Lord and enter into the wedding feast.
Christ died for us to be justified, and now He wants to live in us for our subjective righteousness. We are truly righteous when we express Christ. If we don’t express Christ and if Christ doesn’t live in us, no matter how “right” we think we are, we are not righteous.
Lord, we want to have this second garment so that we may enter into the wedding feast of the Lamb. May our daily Christian life be one of preparing the wedding garment, praying to be one with You, seeking Your righteousness, and learning to let Christ live in us. May we enter into the genuine God-man living. Train us and disciple us. Don’t let us go. Live in us day by day. May it be no longer us but Christ who lives again in our daily living.
The Beauty of the Bride – the Shining our of Christ from Within us
Eph. 5:26-27 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
When a man gets married, he wants his bride to be beautiful; when a woman is the bride, she seeks to be the most beautiful she can ever be.
The Lord Jesus will marry a bride that is very beautiful, and in Ephesians 5:27 we see that Christ is preparing the church so that He might present her to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
As the universal Man, Christ needs a bride that is beautiful and matches Him. For this, today Christ is washing us by the water in the word to remove any spots, wrinkles, blemishes, and any such things.
If we spend time with the Lord in the divine romance, loving Him, opening to Him, reading His word with an exercised spirit of love, there’s a metabolic washing in the word that beautifies us, removes any spots and wrinkles.
The beauty of the bride doesn’t come from herself but from the Christ who is constantly being wrought into the church and who is then expressed through the church. We become a reflection of Christ, and this is beautiful to Him.
Christ lives in us and shines out through us, and this makes us His beautiful bride (Song of Songs 4:7; 6:4, 10; 7:6). Our beauty is not our best behavior, our improved character, our ethics, or our morality; the only thing that Christ considers beauty in us is the reflection of Christ in us.
When Christ shines in us and lives in us, He appreciates that and this meets His standard. The washing of the water in the word both removes the spots and wrinkles, and it adds the element of Christ, working Christ into us so that He may be lived out of us for our beautification as the bride of Christ.
Whether brothers or sisters, we corporately are the bride of Christ, being beautified as Christ lives in us and shines out through us.
Lord Jesus, gain Your beautiful bride for Your wedding day! Work Yourself into the brothers and the sisters in the church and be lived out through them every day! Lord, be our living today. May You be the One who shines out through us. Wash us in Your word and remove any spot and wrinkles that we may be beautified with You as our beauty. Lord, our only beauty is Christ shining out of us! Eliminate our peculiarity and anything that doesn’t reflect You in us. Lord Jesus, make us Your beautiful bride!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msg. 343), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 2 / msg 2, The City and the Bride.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Christ comes quickly for His Bride, / Wedding feast He will provide, / Garments bright and pure supplied— / Dress in time! / Taking Christ as life she’s dressed, / By much suffering stitched and pressed; / Righteous acts are thus possessed— / Dress in time! (Hymns #1304)
# A glorious Bride He is preparing for His wedding day; / She’ll be so bright and pure, fine linen covering her. / O Lord, work in Thy righteousness, this is the only way; / And blessed we will be to join that feast with Thee. (Hymns #1311)
# He will sanctify thee wholly; / Body, spirit, soul shall be / Blameless till thy Savior’s coming / In His glorious majesty! / He hath perfected forever / Those whom He hath sanctified; / Spotless, glorious, and holy, / Is the Church, His chosen Bride. (Hymns #825)
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