Adorning His Bride (Poem, Part 1)

See the series here

By a shock, some Christians may be greeted,

When at ‘Heaven’s pearly gates’ they arrive,

And there’s no record in Heaven’s archives,

That their assigned good works were completed! ¹

 

You see, during life, they may have been taught,

That The Lord’s salvation was full and free—

Like a ‘hell fire insurance’ policy,

That, for them, The Lord’s death sacrifice bought.

 

If they checked ‘Get salvation’ off their lists,

But ignored its ‘Reformat your life’ command,

And didn’t do their good works Heaven pre-planned,

At those gates, will they face …unticked checklists? ²

 

Salvation is a kind of internship,

During which we’re to demonstrate commitment,

To The Lord’s Kingdom on Earth appointment—

A free, conditional relationship…

Think of it as an ‘If—Then’ covenant,

Like those He had with old Jewish nations.

He gave Judah and Israel …options.

They reneged, then they became arrogant!

 

You know their stories, how they both suffered,

Severe consequences of their choices,

Through history’s 2nd and 3rd ages.

A one-sided deal, is one that’s …ABSURD!!

 

So why do some of us today seem to think,

The Lord thinks a one-sided deal for us,

Is one He considers …righteous and just??

He doesn’t! It isn’t!! That kind of thinking…. stinks!!! ³

 

Salvation’s for …His traits in us to hone.

‘To replace lost angels??’, I once wondered.

Wrong!

If by His enemy, we’re not captured.

We will be honored …to sit on His Throne!

 

That’s a deal angels were never offered! ⁴

And it’s worth sacrifices in this life!

Let’s get busy doing good works for Christ,

We’re saved to be workers in His vineyard.

 

Our good works will follow us to Heaven!

That’s a paradox—one worth pondering.

They will adorn His bride we’ll be adoring!

HEY,

I speak not of us bona fide Christians!!!

 

His bride we’ll adorn …is Jerusalem! ⁵

Good works done here, will there, somehow reverberate,

In ways we can’t fathom, perhaps within its gates.

WoW!

In Part 2, I’ll share my notions… AWESOME!

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¹ ‘For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in (i.e., do, perform and honor Him in) them.’ (Ephesians 2:8-10) ponder these questions:

* When did The Lord prepare good works for us to perform in life?

* How we are to perceive what they are, and  when to do them?

² Unticked checklist -- a list of items where boxes or indicators next to each item, have not been marked as completed, checked, or otherwise acknowledged.

³ See: Incense or Smoke? (Poem).

⁴ See: Hebrews 1:13-14, Ephesians 2:4-10, and Revelation 3:21.

⁵ Please, please see: Revelation 14:13, 19:6-8, 21:2, and especially, The Bride of Christ (Series). These will be helpful to comprehend for Part 2. Across the world, actively and openly following Christ — especially testifying of Him — can trigger intense opposition. Each act of obedience by His faithful believers, is a costly jewel, forever adding to the adornment of His Bride, to His glory.