Sarah: The Bride of Christ Fulfilled

Sarah:  The Bride of Christ Fulfilled

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Several biblical symbols represent the church. Among them is the church's calling as the holy, radiant, spotless Bride of Christ, the Lamb of God. Many times women in scripture picture the attributes of the church as that Bride. None is flawless, but each is beloved. Even so, the church, the Bride of the Lamb, though not without flaw, is dearly loved of our Lord.

Sarah, the beloved wife of the patriarch Abraham is such a picture.  Most of us know her story. Her name originally was Sarai (princess). Like many in her era, she was married to her half-brother Abram. Abram later became Abraham, the mighty patriarch of Israel.  As a young woman, Sarai traveled with Abram from Ur to Haran.  She was sixty-five years old when she and Abram entered the land that God had promised.  

Childless, Sarai’s heart ached to give Abram a child.  In that pain, she gave her handmaiden, Hagar, to Abram.  Her heart ached even more when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.  How often in our own lives have we taken what we thought were the right steps only to find that we were on the wrong path?

When Sarai was ninety and Abram was one hundred years old, God changed their names to Sarah and Abraham and renewed His promise to them.  In their advanced years, God’s promise was fulfilled in the birth of their son Isaac.  Issac means laughter.

Sarah’s life teaches the Church that we must wait patiently for God’s timing in the fulfillment of His promises to us.  God’s timing is impeccable.   Anything that we may do in an effort to hasten fulfillment can lead to grief and disappointment.  When we wait patiently for the Lord, we are walking in faith.  “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV)  It is our faith that gives birth to Issac, gives birth to our joy and laughter.

God has spoken promises over His own.  He who has promised is faithful to fulfill those promises.  Worry, doubt and unbelief rob us, like they robbed Sarah, of the peace and joy God desires for us.  The chorus of a hymn by Ira Stanphill says it so well:   “Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.” In her later years, Sarah walked in such faith.  It was not too late for Sarah, and it is not too late for us.

In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter penned a stirring description of wives, and because the Church is the Bride of Christ, the passage also describes all Christians, male and female, in our walk with our Lord.  “Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror” 1 Peter 3:3-6 (NKJV).

Like Sarah, we are to be submissive to our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The gentle, quiet spirits of the redeemed are an adornment that is precious to our God.  It is in that adornment that we find fulfillment and joy.