Jesus makes His ugly bride beautiful by His love for her.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?… And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)”

“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. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) (Revelation 19:7-8)”

We’ve all been invited to a wedding where the Bride was really ugly. You don’t want to be unkind but just being honest, she was a lovely person, a good friend, but when it came to looks, she was a bit Shrekish. But when the wedding came she looked amazing!

All beautified, with her hair styled by pros, and her gorgeous dress, and makeup a work of art… wow! Even the ugliest bride can undergo a makeover for her wedding and turn out looking good. You’re right, this is so shallow! Ok, let’s go deeper.

Imagine a bride who is ugly on the inside. She is just horrible. Her tongue regularly dishes out biting lashes at everyone around her. She lies about herself all the time. She thinks she’s amazingly smart but everyone knows she’s lucky if she’s average. Her selfishness is legendary. If only she was kind to other people, but no, she’s not even that. True, she’s very good looking. But as you sit there, you’re thinking, ‘I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.’ ‘I give this marriage three years tops.’

She is ugly on the inside. How do you fix that? A good hairdresser, an amazing dressmaker and a makeup artist with the talents of Michaelangelo can make an ugly bride pretty, but who can fix a bride who’s ugly on the inside? This is where the classic line applies: what does he see ‘in’ her?

Jesus Christ is the Ultimate Beauty Consultant. He changes people on the inside! In the verse above, Jesus gives us a vision in pictures of the future when Christ and His bride the church, (‘church’ doesn’t mean any organisation but believers everywhere all over the world), finally come together. She is radiantly beautiful… on the inside! Her beauty is her goodness.

This is lasting beauty. Outer beauty, captivating though it may be, is so temporary and we all get used to it so quickly. Inner beauty gets better and better forever. How did she get so beautiful? ‘given her to wear.’ Grace.

Jesus Christ gave her an inner beauty that she didn’t have before. And it grew and grew. It was all grace. Hollywood thinks people are beautiful on the outside. Humanists think people are beautiful by nature but every day life proves them wrong. Religious people think people are beautiful by following rules. Biblical Christians know that grace transforms us, and as a result, we do good deeds.

If your beauty is skin deep, you’re going to get uglier and uglier. If you’re captivated by Jesus’ grace, and He transforms You inwardly, you will do righteous acts and you will get prettier and prettier. Then, one day, you’ll be ready for the Wedding Feast that lasts forever.