The bridegroom
March 29th, 2008Hello from Virginia USA!
We have just travelled from the West coast to the East coast of this nation. This is part of what the Lord has been showing us in this time.
The 20th Century bought about great change & development not previously seen in history. It hosted two consecutive English speaking empires that were influenced heavily by Christianity, the UK & USA. The 20th Century hosted 2 world wars, which birthed a new place for women in society while men were off at war, aiding the development of the modern feminist movement. This century flowered with the modern missions movement, resulting in evangelism on a level & to a degree previously not witnessed in history. It ushered in technological advancement that now sees world knowledge double every 9 months & communication without geographical barriers. Human achievement witnessed man walking on the moon. Then late in this century, a new voice in the wilderness started to call out. A voice of a new generation in God. A voice that invited us into a deeper relationship as a ‘bride’ for Jesus, our bridegroom. The bride was exhorted to get showered, dressed & ready for the return of the bridegroom. It was a word in season. A call to holiness, righteousness, & wholeness admist a changing spiritual climate. But did we miss something in this century in the Western world?
Did we miss the Jewishness of the Bible and in this, a middle eastern culture & worldview? The Western world is a Greek based world & culture. Its worldview & spirit so absolutely opposite to its Hebrew counterpart. In Middle Eastern culture & certainly in Jewish culture, the bridegroom is the centre of the marriage ceremony. It revolves around him & what he has done (to prepare a place for the bride – this meant building his home onto his Father’s house & when this was complete, then the marriage ceremony was completed. John 14:2). Everything was about the bridegroom, NOT THE BRIDE. Jesus echoed this when he said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14) As the Western World exploded a focus on women & a striving to be ‘god’ (the fruit of the Greek spirit), the bride was made the centre of the marriage ceremony. Everything on that day is about her, & for her. But not so in the time, day & culture of Jesus the Jew, who our faith is rooted upon. Did we look at Jesus through our Western worldview spectacles with a changing focus on women & miss something so important? Him. Who influenced who? Did we miss lifting Jesus up & seeing what He has done, that could bring us into a whole new dimension & reality with him? When Jesus was lifted up, he cried “It is finished.” What was finished? Work. He did what mankind had spent centuries trying to do, be good enough before God. Yet for all the 20th century’s developments & gifts, we still were not able to achieve a ‘godness’, nor goodness. Two world wars testified to that!
LIFT UP JESUS! Look not at the bride with all her glory & her shame. But look at the Bridegroom! Look at His glory & what HE did. He is the measure of all that is, not what we are or do. This is the fullness of the reformation, which began 400years ago with the German, Martin Luther. When we are prepared to lift Jesus up, not ourselves, & rest in His work, not ours, we discover all we have missed in a century now past. It is no longer about the things of men. It is no longer about men. It is no longer about the bride. It is about Him who is crucified, the bridegroom, Jesus. He is Messiah, we are not. There is a whole new depth & presence of Jesus, our bridegroom, to experience. Let us look no more at the former things, “For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” (Isa 43:19).