A few weeks ago, I posted the courtship story of my friends
Chiawuotu and Kimberley (click here to read); well they wedded on the 15th
of August in a beautiful ceremony in Cattrerick, North Yorkshire. Like most
eventful days months or even years of planning is required however the day itself with all its fun, happiness and
excitement seems to just come and swiftly go. This event on the other hand was different;
something about this day left an impression on the mind as it provided a glimpse
of a much greater and more anticipated future event – the marriage supper of
the lamb.
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| The Bride and Groom |
The theme
of the wedding was the parable of the 10 virgins found in Matthew 25: 1-13. A
very fitting theme for a wedding as marriage in the bible is more than just the
union of man and woman before God but it is a symbol or illustration of
Christ’s relationship with the church.
Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the
body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in everything. Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but
that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as
their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself…This is a great
mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:22-28,32
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| Happy are all who fear the Lord |
The same
illustration of the marriage relation is seen in the Old Testament where God is
likened to the husband/bridegroom and His people/church are likened to the
bride.
For as a young man
marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice
over thee. Isaiah 62:5
For
thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer
the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. Isaiah 54:5
The Wait
Chiawuotu
was waiting patiently at the front of the church for his bride to arrive. The
groomsmen entered followed by the flower girls and the bridesmaids, but where
was his bride? All guests were seated and finally the church doors opened and
there Kimberley was dressed in pure white ready to meet her groom. Chiawuotu
declared his love for Kimberley and called her forth with a song that they had
written together, the opening line of the song was “Happy are all who fear the
Lord, they shall live by his will”. Hand in hand with her father Kimberley
joined him in song as she gracefully made her way forward to meet Chiawuotu.
They ended the song with the words “It’s the cry of midnight” which brought to
mind the theme of the wedding and the words of the parable found in Matthew 25.
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| The bridegroom waiteth |
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| The bride comes forth |
Chiawuotu
and Kimberley made use of the symbols found in the parable of the ten virgins with
a white and midnight blue colour scheme (blue representing God’s commandments –
Numbers 15:38-40), the groomsmen were carrying white bibles and the bridesmaids
were carrying small lanterns. Even the wedding date was symbolical of the
parable (I’ll let you Adventist historians figure that one out J)
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| The Bridal Party |
The parable reads - Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which
took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom…And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go
ye out to meet him…the bridegroom
came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door
was shut…Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 25: 1, 6, 10,13
It would be good to read through the whole parable when you get a chance as there is a lot more to this parable than what is being discussed here, but this
parable basically tells a story of waiting virgins /brides who are preparing to meet the
bridegroom so that they may enter into the marriage supper with him. A call
goes out at midnight to signify the coming of the bridegroom and the brides who
were faithfully waiting and who had prepared for him were ready to enter with
him into the wedding. Likewise with us we are waiting for the second coming of
Jesus Christ, and as a bride prepares for her wedding day by making herself
ready to meet the groom and keeping her dress white. We too are to wait patiently
for the coming of our Lord, keeping our garments white (Revelation 19:8) and being
ready to meet Jesus when he comes.
As we wait for Christ he is also waiting for us – James 5:7 Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth,
and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
The Wedding Ceremony
Before Kimberley was given away, her father gave a touching speech
about Kimberley’s family life, her personality, her foreign mission service and
her love for God and Chiawuotu. The two came together at the marriage altar and
stood as an emblem of purity and fidelity. Their lives and their conduct during
their season of courtship served as a witness of God’s faithfulness and a
demonstration that God’s ways are truly perfect , and His ideals are higher
than what the human mind or the world can tell.
They shared their own personal vows such as: “I promise to stay close
to Christ through daily communion, the study of God’s word and daily surrender
that the love that I give may come from God and that we may work together
intelligently for the salvation of souls.”, “I promise to be pure in thought,
action and feelings ever being faithful to the seventh commandment.”, I promise
to forgive always and not to coldly draw away when mistakes are made but to
instead draw closer to each other during those times.” And “I promise to become
intelligent in regards to disease, it’s prevention and its treatment that I may
do all in my power to restore and preserve our health, and that we may work together
to make our home and our marriage a ministry of healing for others.” These
precious promises were sealed with a kiss (their very first kiss J).
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| Entering into a precious covenant |
This day
was extra special to me because even though it was Chiawuotu and Kimberley’s wedding
they moved the focus from themselves and pointed us to Christ, the real
bridegroom who first loved us and emptied himself completely that he may gain
us - His bride. More precious than the covenant and commitment they made
to each other before God, was the deep impressions of the spirt of God on the
hearts of all guests and witnesses that awakened a deeper desire to walk
faithfully before God and to receive him – the bridegroom - as our great
reward.
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| Mr and Mrs Anyanwu |
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready… Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Revelation 19: 7, 9
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| My picture with the newly weds |
Congratulations
Chiawuotu and Kimberley Anyanwu, may your married life have an influence for
time and for eternity.
With overflowing love,
♥ Miss Daisy ♥
p.s The wedding ceremony was recorded via live stream to watch this special event please click here.
