The Most Expensive Wedding

No, we’re not talking about Princess Diana’s 110 million dollar wedding (how can a dress even cost $150,000!) This is the story of a wedding that started in a garden.

It was here, in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were given a mission: to be fruitful and multiply, and to continue bringing order to the garden so that its boundaries would expand. As they were fruitful and multiplied, more and more people would be in need of this expansion of the garden, until, using Habakkuk’s language, the Earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. But would they be obedient to the one rule not to eat from the one forbidden tree? We know, of course, they were not. We see this “first Adam,” because of his shared disobedience, was not able to lead us into the glorious future of all that God had intended for us. He and Eve were then banished to the wilderness that surrounded the garden. Wondering in the wilderness, the rest of the Bible is then set up where a “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) would be required to make things right once and for all.

Before Jesus was captured, tried, and crucified, we see that the last and most excruciating temptation was also in a garden. We also see that, as was also done to Adam, Satan tempted Jesus having to do with a tree. But those are the only similarities. You see, the Garden of Gethsemane, as opposed to Eden, was not a garden that met all of one’s needs. Adam had Eve. But because His disciples were all sleeping and fled in fear, Jesus didn’t have anyone by His side. Unlike Adam, when Jesus was tempted by Satan having to do with a tree – to run away from the cross – He obeyed God and finished His mission.

And just think of how amazing it truly is that Jesus went through with this mission. He is GOD Almighty. He holds all things together. We can understand that He made every tree and yet was murdered on one; He made the Sun and yet was murdered in its heat; He made all the water and yet said on the cross that He thirsts; and He made each and every one of us and yet we were who murdered Him. When He created the universe He did so with the simplicity of a spoken word (Hebrews 11:3), and yet, on the Cross, He didn’t take the easy way out but suffered more than we could ever fathom. And it's through this cross that Jesus, the second Adam, will lead us to the glorious future of all that God has prepared for us; not only what the first Adam failed to lead us into, but an even better, eternal future.

Thus, we see the contrast between two bridegrooms; the first in Genesis (Adam) and the final in Revelation (Jesus). The Lord describes Himself over and over again as the Husband to His people. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were constantly unfaithful to Him. And still, like Hosea bringing back his unfaithful wife from slavery to himself, He continues to call them to Himself. He sent them love poetry in the form of the Song of Solomon to portray the joyful and personal relationship He desired to have with them. In the New Testament, the Gospel shows us a picture of God redeeming us; Jesus being the true Bridegroom. Now, those of us who are joined to Christ are being made into His pure and beautiful bride. We are the bride, and we are going to enjoy an eternal 'marriage' to our Bridegroom. We say “Come quickly Lord Jesus,” and He replies, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Jesus says time and time again that His hour has not yet come. And then we find out what He meant: the cross. John the Baptist also describes Jesus as the Bridegroom, and that he was a friend of the Bridegroom standing by rejoicing (John 3:29). Jesus came into the world to claim His bride, to purify her and clothe her in white linens. And on that cross, He paid the ultimate price to make her His own. He shed His own blood and ultimately gave His own life to pay for His wedding. The marriage supper of the Lamb, as described to us in Revelation, is something we can look forward to. It's going to be the most expensive wedding in the history of the world. It will be even greater than Eden. All of creation can look forward to that day, when Eden is redeemed beyond what we can imagine.

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” (Revelation 19:6-8).

Not only was Jesus looking to His cross when stating His hour had not come; He, for instance at the wedding at Canaan, was also looking ahead to His own wedding supper. That was a day He was looking forward to, as we can as well; as Scripture states it's a day we can put ahead of us. Right now, it's already but not yet; we've already been united with Jesus; we're already bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh; He is already caring for us and loving us as His bride. But there is also a not yet of His coming. Scripture ends with the bride yearning for this not yet and praying for Him to come (Revelation 22:17). And then He assures us with a promise: “Surely I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20).

Yes, we lost Eden. But it’s not good to keep looking back at what we lost. How much better it is for us to look forward to what we gain! Jesus says He is coming back to make things new and better than Eden. While it was incredible, Eden was not a perfect place by any means. What He has in store for us, though, is perfection. There will be no worry of temptation or deception, no fear, no pain, no tears or anything of the sort. It's eternity, but let us know for certain that God's story "ends" better than it begins!

We will see Him face to face. And by looking forward to that event, that anticipation actually helps us to live for Him in the world today. Think of marriage today, and how that event between lovers is a covenant picture between God and the church. The wife is to respect her husband and allow him to take the primary responsibility in the household. And the husband is to use his responsibility to lay down his own agenda and to prioritize his wife’s spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being above his own. This type of marriage that God so strongly desires for couples is a picture of the Gospel story, where the husband mimics Jesus and the wife mimic the church. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful, eternal future we have.

All of creation
All of the Earth
Make straight a highway
A path for the Lord
Jesus is coming soon

Call back the sinner
Wake up the saint
Let every nation shout of Your fame
Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride waiting for her groom
We'll be a church ready for You
Every heart longing for our King
We sing "even so come"
Lord Jesus, come
Even so come
Lord Jesus, come