The Real Bridegroom of the Church

Luke 1:76,77, ‘And you my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sin.’ John 3:27-30, ‘To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given to him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. John the Baptist teaches us a very important lesson on how we should view our service to God. He knew his purpose on this earth which was to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah. Through his baptism with water, Israel was to be given knowledge of God’s purpose of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ who would baptize by spirit. When he began his ministry great multitudes followed him as their prophet and he had many disciples, in short he had a big thing going on for him. But when it was time for Jesus to begin His ministry, the great masses that had flocked John the Baptist began to leave and follow Jesus Christ who was also now baptizing. His disciples were alarmed and brought this report to him but his response teaches us the view that we should hold that whatever position we have been given to play by God in his Kingdom, we should not forget that it is to His glory and not ours, that He should increase while we decrease. The moment we appreciate that, we will be free from jealousy of the accomplishments of our fellow servants in the Lord and selfish pride of accomplishment as a result of the favor God has bestowed upon us. We should always glorify God and not ourselves because whatever we have has come from Him. We should remember that the church – the bride, does not belong to us but to Christ – the groom.