The past week and half have been an epic time for our family. Our oldest son, Ryan, was 
married to Jenny Florio on October 24th in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
As parents, we’ve prayed for years for the mates our kids would marry. Jenny is a beautiful answer to our prayers. On top of that, friends and family came to help serve and celebrate. The wedding weekend was one of the most joyful times in our lives.
It’s fascinating how God uses wedding imagery to convey the heights of human joy. When the Lord promises a restoration to Israel after the devastation of exile, He says, “there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord” (Jeremiah 33:11). The voices of the bride and groom are the sounds of unbridled happiness.
The Lord also uses wedding imagery to capture the wonder of His relationship to the believers who make up the Church—His bride. In the final chapters of Revelation we are given a glimpse of the ultimate wedding celebration that awaits in heaven: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and the like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah, For our Lord God almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:6-7).
Our youngest son, Michael, made a comment about the wedding imagery in the Bible that helped heighten my enjoyment of Ryan and Jenny’s wedding. Michael suggested that one of the reasons we should fully enter into the joy of a God-honouring earthly wedding is because it mirrors the joy we feel about the heavenly “wedding of the Lamb.” Our joy on earth is a preview and a pointer to the joy we will have in heaven with Christ.
Wedding day glory on earth gets us ready for the glory of the ultimate Wedding Day in 
heaven.
I preached a message about this them the Sunday after Ryan and Jenny’s wedding. The sermon, an exposition of John 2:1-11 was entitled, “Wedding Day Glory.” You can listen to the sermon here.
Rick and Linda Reed 