The Bride is Getting Ready: Preparing for Beauty

Ezekiel 16:4-15

 

Ez. 16—A divine love story:

How God met His people, Jerusalem

How He rescued and adopted them

How He engaged them

How He lavished care and gifts on them to beautify them

 

Preparing for Beauty

1. Beauty comes from what I put on my flesh

“I bathed you with water and anointed you . . . So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine lined and costly fabric and embroidered cloth . . . You became very beautiful”  (Ez. 16:9,12)

• I am beautiful when I put on salvation:

I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.  For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness . . . as a bride adorns herself with jewels. (Is 61:10)

• I am beautiful when I put on worship:

“Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones, for praise looks beautiful on the upright” (Ps 33:1)  [Praise looks good on you!]

• I am beautiful when I put on the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit [engagement ring] guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.  Eph. 1:14

• His gifts increase my net worth
• His gifts identify me as belonging to His family
• His gifts are a deposit of my future glory

 

2.Beauty comes from what I put in my soul:

“Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil.  You became very beautiful.”  (Ez. 16:12)

I am beautiful when I eat “holy food”

• The Bread of His Word
• The Bread of His presence
• The Bread of Fellowship

 

3.Beauty comes from what I put forth from my heart:

“But you degraded your beauty by offering your affections to anyone who passed by” (Ez. 16:25)

• I am radiant when I am loved by Him
• I am radiant when I love Him back

The Bride is Getting Ready Part 3