<\/p>\n
\u201c. . . so that [Christ] might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish\u201d (Ephesians 5:27).<\/p>\n
IT IS INTRIGUING TO THINK OF CHRIST \u201cPRESENTING THE CHURCH TO HIMSELF.\u201d The basic image is that of a bride being presented to her bridegroom (as in 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2), but here Christ is pictured as presenting His own bride to Himself. Christ gave Himself up for His bride, in the words of Richmond Lattimore\u2019s translation, \u201cso as to set the church next to himself in glory, with no spot or wrinkle or anything of the sort upon her, but to be holy and without flaw.\u201d Or as Ronald Knox renders it, \u201c[Christ] would summon it into his own presence, the Church in all its beauty, no stain, no wrinkle, no such disfigurement.\u201d The idea is that if the church is at any time to be a bride worthy of the Lord\u2019s own purity, He Himself will have made her so.<\/p>\n
In the ESV, \u201csplendor\u201d is the word used to describe the Lord\u2019s bride, the church. Other possible translations would be \u201cglory\u201d or \u201cradiance.\u201d These are words that all refer, in their literal sense, to things that shine brightly, but we often use words like \u201cglory\u201d to mean \u201cmajestic beauty\u201d (American Heritage Dictionary<\/em>). And that phrase \u2014 majestic beauty<\/em> \u2014 wouldn\u2019t be a bad way to characterize the church which Christ died to cleanse and set apart for Himself.<\/p>\n The object of Christ\u2019s sacrifice was a bride \u201cwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.\u201d This object will be fully realized in heaven, but even now those who have been washed from their sins in baptism (Acts 22:16; Ephesians 5:26) are in a process leading to that goal: \u201cbeholding the glory of the Lord,<\/em> [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another\u201d (2 Corinthians 3:18). For after all, Jesus Christ is the key to the church\u2019s splendor, both now and in eternity. The bride\u2019s beauty is that of her Bridegroom.<\/p>\n \u201cThe enemies of Christ are triumphant, Christianity is a failure, they say, and the church of God herself looks on in pain at the shortcomings in her midst. But lo, at length from the very heart of the shadows appears the majestic figure of Jesus, his countenance is as the sun shining in his strength, around those wounds in brow and side and hands and feet \u2014 those wounds which shelter countless thousands of broken hearts \u2014 are healing rays\u201d (Oswald Chambers).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n