Deo Gloria
Sermon for January 16, 2022
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Isaiah 62:1-5
Theme: Behold God’s Beautiful Bride!
- Dazzling in her righteousness
- Royal in her standing
- The delight of her Lord
There are so many beautiful things about a wedding. There are all of the beautiful flowers, for example, from the bouquet carried by the bride to the boutonnieres worn by the men to the arrangements that adorn the altar. There is the wedding cake—5 layers high with a fountain right in the middle. There are the sharp-looking tuxedoes and beautiful bridesmaids’ dresses. And last, but certainly not least, there is the bride herself. She has taken great care to look her very best. She has spent hours on her makeup and on her hair. She has put on her finest jewelry—glittering gold, sparkling diamonds. She is dressed in a very special dress, a long, elegant wedding dress, sparkling with sequins and lace. When she comes walking down that aisle, she is a beautiful sight to behold.
That’s what we see this morning in the verses of our text. We see a beautiful bride, God’s beautiful bride—what we normally refer to as the Christian Church. Yes, believe it or not, God is speaking about his people in these verses, about all those who believe and trust in him. To him they are special. To him they are precious and dearly loved. They are his bride. She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Dazzling in her righteousness, royal in her standing, the delight of her Lord. Behold God’s beautiful bride!
Whenever you go to a wedding and watch the bride come walking down the aisle, one thing you can’t help but notice is her dress, her dazzling, white, wedding dress. She may have spent months looking for just the right dress. It may have cost her a thousand dollars—perhaps even more—but it was worth it. She looks stunning in that dress.
One of the things we can’t help but notice as we look at God’s bride is her dress, her stunning, wedding dress. She looks dazzling in her righteousness. Take another look at the description God gives us in the first two verses: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness and all kings your glory.”
What a striking contrast that is to way God describes his people back in chapter 1: “See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!(v. 21) “See how the faithful city has become a harlot!” God’s people had been unfaithful, very unfaithful. They were guilty of spiritual adultery. They had not been faithful to the Lord, their God. They had given their love and devotion to other gods, gods like Baal and Asherah and Molech. In his eyes they had become like a bunch of prostitutes, deserving of his wrath and condemnation.
In these verses, though, God peers into the future and sees a new city, a new Jerusalem, a new group of people—not the nation of Israel or some other earthly nation, but believers, people who are faithful to him, people who believe and trust in him, people who give him their love and devotion. This is his bride. This is his Church, what we normally refer to as the Holy Christian Church, all those who believe in him as their Savior. As a proud husband he brings out his bride for everyone to see. The nations ooh and aah. The kings marvel at her beauty. She is dazzling in her righteousness.
But how did she get to be that way? How did she get to be so glorious and stunning and beautiful? How did she get to be righteous? Because God made her that way. These people were not righteous on their own. They did not live a holy and righteous life. They were sinful. They were rebellious. They were guilty of things like murder and adultery, things like hatred and robbery and slander. They were covered in the dirt and filth of their sins. They were anything but righteous. But God intended to send a Savior, someone who would suffer and die in their place and take their sins away, someone who would live a righteous and holy life in their place and who would give his righteousness to them. Through faith in that Savior, God would make his people righteous. He would clothe them with garments of salvation and array them in a robe of righteousness.
In our Gospel lesson this morning we catch a glimpse of that Savior very early in his ministry, performing his first miracle, revealing his glory to his disciples. There we see the righteousness of God’s people, the one who is their righteousness—we see him beginning to shine. There we see the salvation of God’s people, the one who would bring them salvation—we see him beginning to blaze like a torch. Throughout his ministry that light would shine as he lived a holy and sinless life for his people. Even on the cross that light would shine as he offered a perfect sacrifice for all their sins. And then on Easter morning that light would blaze forth from the empty tomb, dispelling the darkness of sin and death and proclaiming the good news of forgiveness and salvation. This is how much he loved his people. This is how much he loved his bride. No sacrifice was too great for her. No price was too high to pay, that she might be holy and sinless in his sight, that she might be dazzling in her righteousness.
Do you see yourself in that picture? There are some striking similarities, aren’t there? Do you see yourself, for example, as the harlot? Like God’s Old Testament people, have you been unfaithful to the Lord? Have you been guilty of spiritual adultery? Is the Lord still your first love, or have other things taken his place in your heart, stolen away your love and devotion, money perhaps or work, earthly things or earthly treasurers—things like fishing or football, or maybe friends at school—have things like that become more important than your Lord? If we’re honest, we have to admit our guilt, that we haven’t always loved the Lord our God more than anything else. We haven’t always been faithful to our Lord and done what is right and obeyed his commands the way we know we should. You and I must confess today that we too have played the harlot at times, that we too have been unfaithful to our loving Lord.
Do you see yourself in the other picture as well, though, as the beautiful bride, dazzling in her righteousness? Through faith in Jesus Christ that is what God has made you. He has washed away the dirt and filth of your sins. He has covered you in a gorgeous gown, the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. When he looks at you, he sees someone who is holy and sinless and pure. He sees his beautiful bride, dazzling in her righteousness.
April 29, 2011—I’m sure many of you still remember what happened on that day. That was the day Prince William and Kate were married. Kate was not a member of the royal family. Her maiden name was Middleton—Catherine Middleton. Like most other British people she was a commoner. But once she married Prince William, she became a member of the royal family. She became Lady Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
The same is true of the Church, of God’s beautiful bride. She too is royal in her standing. We see that pictured in v. 3: “You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” Like Lady Catherine, you and I do not belong to the royal family by nature. We are commoners. We belong to the family of sinners. We are members of the fallen and corrupt and sinful human race. There was nothing noble or regal about us.
But on the day we married the King, on the day God brought us to faith in Jesus as our Savior, we became royalty. We became princes and princesses in the kingdom of God. We became members of God’s royal family. Peter talks about this too in his description of God’s people in his first letter. You remember what he said: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God”(2:9). “A crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand”—that’s you. “A royal diadem in the hand of your God”—that’s me. That’s God’s people, his beautiful bride. Not only is she dazzling in her righteousness, she is royal in her standing.
And she is the delight of her Lord. What kinds of things do you delight in? What brings you joy and pleasure? Do you enjoy ice fishing or snowmobiling in the wintertime? Do you enjoy getting together with your friends and watching the playoffs or the Super Bowl? Do you enjoy kicking back on a Sunday afternoon and watching a good movie or reading a good book? Do you enjoy watching your children play basketball or swimming? Do you enjoy a nice, quiet dinner with your husband or wife?
There is nothing that brings God more pleasure than his bride. There is nothing in which the Lord takes more delight than his people. Take another look at what he says in verses 4+5:
No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be Hephzibah, and your land Beulah, for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
In the not too distant future the city of Jerusalem would be called “Deserted” and the land of Judah would be called “Desolate.” Because of their unfaithfulness, because of their sinfulness and their refusal to repent, the Babylonian army would soon be standing on their doorstep. They would attack the city of Jerusalem and destroy it. And the place would be deserted. Likewise they would ravage and pillage and plunder the land of Judah. And it would be desolate.
But here again God is looking ahead to a new day and a new city and a different group of people. What he sees is his Church, those who are his people by faith not by blood. Unlike his Old Testament people, they would never be called “Deserted.” Instead they would be called “Hephzibah,” a word that means “his delight is in her.” Unlike the ancient land of Judah, their land would not be called “Desolate.” Instead it would be called “Beulah,” a word that means “married.” For, as God explains, “the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.”
Imagine the feelings of a young man who marries his high school sweetheart. Imagine the feelings of a bridegroom as he sees his bride walking down the aisle on the day of their wedding. His eyes are captivated by her beauty. His heart just swells inside. He loves his bride. He rejoices in his bride. His delight is in her. That’s the way God feels about you. He loves his people with all his heart. They are his pride and joy. His delight is in them.
Do you feel deserted or forsaken at times, perhaps because someone you love deserted you, because the one who is supposed to love you often treats you like trash, because your boyfriend or girlfriend dumped you for someone else? God will never desert you. You are Hephzibah to him. He delights in you. Do you feel at times that your life is desolate, because death has taken away a loved one, because sickness has robbed you of your health, because a COVID economy has taken away your job or ruined your business or brought an end to your career? Do you look out over the wasteland of your life, a life filled with suffering and heartache and pain because of your own sinful and indulgent lifestyle, and wonder if God could ever forgive you, if God could ever love you? Don’t listen to Satan’s lies, the lies he likes to whisper in your ears. You are Beulah to God. You are married. You are his precious child, his beautiful bride. He takes great delight in you.
Next time you go to a wedding and you see the bride come walking down the aisle, I hope you’ll remember these words from Isaiah 62 and see something else as well. I hope you’ll see yourself, that you’ll see yourself the way God does, the way he sees all his people, the way he views his Church. He sees you as his beautiful bride, dazzling in righteousness, royal in standing, his joy and his delight. Look! Here she is—God’s beautiful bride! Amen.