“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who threw a wedding feast for his son.”
Jesus begins conversations in strange and unusual ways, but His message is different from anything we normally expect. The opening of Matthew 22, I believe, describes for us, something of God’s very big picture plan for creation. God, who was sufficient unto Himself, (not lonely) spoke creation into existence, and He did so in order to accomplish a very specific purpose. When time as we understand it comes to an end, the one thing that will be different is that the Son of God, (His Word, Voice, Expressed Self) will have a Bride. And if you continue the story in Matthew 22, it would appear that this bride, is not necessarily composed of the people that we would expect.
If the phrase “the Bride of Christ” is unfamiliar to you, I am referring to the church. Not “a” church. Not the Baptists, the Catholics, or the Charismatics. I am referring to the ones who will be with Jesus for all of Eternity. And among the groups mentioned, and many others not mentioned, I believe many of those people will join Jesus in eternity, and, frighteningly, many members of those groups will not.
The Bible teaches us that when Jesus returns for His “Bride” she (guys, don’t let the feminine reference throw you off… this includes us too) will be blameless and without spot. It is for this reason, that I think of this “freedom ministry” thing that I am called to, as pre-marital counseling for the Bride of Christ. Freedom, as I understand it, is not so much about helping you have a better life, though that is a wonderful side-effect. Freedom is about preparing us all to unite with Jesus for our eternal destiny, to stand alongside Him and play our role in the ongoing unfolding of God’s eternal plan.
It is crucial to our understanding to realize that God had a plan for man’s role in creation. In the garden of Eden, Adam had a role to play. That plan has never changed. Jesus came to Earth, taught and ministered, lived and died, and then was resurrected. He sent the Holy Spirit to us to guide and empower us now, here on Earth. He did not do this primarily to improve the quality of our lives or reduce our suffering, He did this in order to continue with the plan He instituted from the beginning. We must be careful that we are not satisfied simply to be relieved of our burdens. We have a mission, an assignment, a created purpose. We are being prepared here to fulfill that assignment.
We must become familiar with some of the essential tools of our mission, therefore our time on Earth may be considered boot camp, a place to learn to use the equipment we are given to reign with Christ in eternity.
It is good to no longer be addicted, but it is crucial that we now learn to be sustained by His Spirit. It is good to no longer be afraid, but it is crucial that we now learn to live by faith (interaction with the invisible Kingdom). It is good to recognize that the gifts of God are irrevocable, but it is crucial that we now learn to use them to fulfill His plan, not just to pad our spiritual resume. It is good to forgive those who have trespassed against us, but it is crucial we now learn to be moved by the impulse of His love, and restore on Earth the dominion of God’s nature. It is good to recognize God’s desired outcomes, but it is crucial to now learn that His Means are equally important as His Ends.
The church, the people on Earth who have been born of His Spirit, and are being conformed to His image, faces a time of unprecedented change. The season in which we currently live is marked by massive change in every aspect of culture. World economics, political conditions, even the weather and the planet, all are shifting at an accelerated rate. In this time the church world as we know it is also changing. While it is true that change is good, it is more true that the right kind of change is good.
