Father of the Bride - Part One

[Christ] gave up his life for her [the church] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish.
Ephesians 5:26-27

One of the greatest honors, and most difficult tasks, is knowing that, as a dad, you are preparing your daughter to become a bride to be given to another man.

As the church, we are being prepared for a marriage, too. We are being transformed, by the Father, to be a bride who is prepared for her Bridegroom.

When we look at the customs of the ancient Hebrew marriage process, we can see a glimpse of how the Father prepares us to be the Bride of Christ...

The traditional Hebrew marriage process had two separate parts that took place at different periods of time, the betrothal, a type of engagement, followed by the actual ceremony at a later time. This is a symbolic picture of our present relationship with Christ and the wedding to come later.

Throughout a little girl's life, her earthly father will help his daughter to be a prepared wife. He will teach her what girls need to know about boys, how to recognize a sincere and suitable suitor, the expectations of a groom, and the character of a good wife (from a husband's perspective). He will also be her covering until her husband assumes that responsiblility.

There are so many parallels to the preparation of an earthly father-of-the-bride as there are to Our Heavenly Father-of-the-Bride. His Word teaches us what we need to know about our Prospective Bridegroom, and how to recognize Him. It shows us the expectations of Jesus, and how we, the church, must assume the character of a perfect Bride. God, the Father, also covers us until the return of our Bridegroom when we shall reside with Him forever.