Martin Luther provided an illustration about who we are as God’s people.

Imagine a king marrying a poor girl who was also a prostitute, he said. Her life had been filled with poverty, regret, sin and shame. But all of a sudden, things are different because of the marriage.

Her status is now changed—she is royalty! Plus, all that the King has is hers. She isn’t poor anymore.

This, said Luther, is what has happened to us.

In the Bible, the church is described as the bride of Christ—a bride which he loved fervently and sacrificially. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Wow! By ourselves we’re a horrific mess of poverty, regret, sin and shame. But since Jesus chose and married us, everything is different. The King has said: “All that I am I give you, all that I have is yours.”*

His illustration is a fitting reminder about who we truly are in a world which tries to convince us of lies.

But it’s also a call to humility. We aren’t the bride of Christ because we’re perfect, powerful or prestigious. We’re the bride of Christ because he has lavished his love upon us and made us his own.

Live like royalty, but do it humbly.

When you show or share your faith with others, are you just trying to look good, or are you pointing others to a generous King who truly goes out of his way to make all things new?

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Notes: 

–*As told in: Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart (Bridgend: Union Publishing, 2022), 84.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.