"And then I saw her face" - Real Photos of Grooms' First Glimpses of their Brides
"[A]s the bridegroom rejoices over the Bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:5b)
I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering - as a follower of Jesus Christ - what it will be like to finally, actually see Him and be with Him face-to-face.
But, aside from a bit of admitted trepidation, I haven't spent nearly as much time thinking about the Lord's reaction to seeing me - or His collective Bride as the Church He ransomed coming to be joined to Him at last.
Recently, however, I ran across a blog written by Jared C. Wilson, pastor of Middletown Springs Community Church. His blog is titled: The Gospel-Driven Church, and his Nov. 28th entry is called "At Last."
In it Wilson has posted a series of real photos of various grooms' reactions to seeing their brides for the first time on their wedding day. (Photo courtesy: The Gospel Coalition)
The photos have captured that very moment of awe, as the eyes and facial expressions no doubt say more than these bridegrooms were able to speak at the time.
"...there is an echo here and also a foretaste," explains Wilson. "I see these photos, think of my wedding day, the wedding days of others, the desire and imperative to be intoxicated for all time (for better or worse, in richness and in poorness, in sickness and in health, til death do us part) and I see an echo of Adam laying eyes on Eve for the first time:
"'This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.'
(Genesis 2:23)
"The first song ever sung (by man, anyway) is a love song. Smitten by the vision of his bride for the first time, music erupts from his mouth. And there is the foretaste in this moment and every groom spotting his bride in her virginal white, as the bridal march whips up, all the stops out, of Christ the Bridegroom presenting we His Bride to Himself at the end of days. Dazzling in the reflection of His own glory, cloaked in the virgin white of His own righteousness given freely to us, the culmination of the lavishing of the riches of His own grace draws near. At last. And forever. For Christ and His Bride will have this moment of rapturous wedding joy for all eternity. The Lamb will receive the reward of His suffering, and of His love - the infinite worshipful devotion of His spotless Bride."
Follow the link provided to view the photos and read Jared Wilson's full blog post.
