Daily Devotional: Day 164
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8, KJV).
At the beginning of Revelation 19, John saw a vision of the end. In the vision, the host of heaven rejoiced over the fact that God had judged Babylon, the whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication and shed the blood of God’s servants. Then follows a call to rejoice and give honor to God. Why? Because the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. The Lamb here is referring to Jesus, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (cf. John 1:29). This tells us that Jesus has chosen a bride for Himself and heaven is getting ready for the great celebration of the marriage of the Lamb. Jesus’ bride is the Church which He purchased with His precious blood.
Notice that according to what John saw, Jesus’ wife had made herself ready. The wife of Jesus is not a single individual. ‘She’ refers to the worldwide group of believers who make up the Body of Christ. These people are together known as the saints. How will Jesus’ wife make herself ready for the marriage? The Bible tells us: Jesus’s wife will be clothed in fine linen, clean and white. Then, the Bible explains what the fine linen means. The fine linen is the righteousness of saints. This is an important detail.
The righteousness of saints referring to the righteous deeds of all who are born again, including those who have died in the Lord. Collectively, our righteous acts will be like a fine line, clean and spotless, with which we shall be clothed (see Revelation 3:1-6). Living a righteous and pure life is how we (Jesus’ wife) make ourselves ready for the marriage of the Lamb. Let no one think that he is righteous even if he sins and produces unrighteous fruit. The Lord sanctified us and made us righteous through the new creation (cf. Ephesians 4:22-24). Producing fruit of righteousness shows that we are indeed from a righteous tree. Only righteous people shall be in heaven at the marriage of the Lamb. As you live a righteous life in Christ, that is the fine linen you’ll be wearing in heaven. In heaven, there will be no magical white robe to cover our unrighteousness.
Jesus is pure and spotless. He is the Lamb without blemish (cf. 1 Peter 1:18-19). He, therefore, will marry only a spotless bride, clean and pure. This explains why Ephesians 5:25-27, says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (emphasis added). Jesus went through all this trouble to make us pure because we are the Bride He loves. Consequently, He wants us to walk in purity and holiness.
Jesus is coming back for a spotless Church. Anyone living in sin will not be at the marriage of the Lamb. Let no one deceive you that it is impossible to be holy and spotless. If it weren’t possible to be holy, Jesus wouldn’t entertain that expectation upon His return. We have all the divine grace we need to keep ourselves pure. Walking in purity and holiness is our only valid option. The good news is, we can do all things through Christ Jesus our Lord. Let’s together make ourselves ready for Him who loved us and has set us apart as His Bride.
May the Lord bless you and preserve you from all harm. Amen.
For further study: 1 John 3:1-9
Higher-Self Realities 