The Bride of Christ

When Christ talked about the time He would return, He very often spoke of it as a great wedding celebration which He wanted everyone attend.

Was He using simply using the universally understood festive wedding as a way to describe how joyous the event will be… words to stir up emotions? Or is Jesus referring to an actual future event?

The wedding He speaks of is a very real future event teaches each and every one of us about our own future and the life we are living in the present.

Who Are The Bride & Groom?

Revelation 21:9-10, 1-2 – here we are told a lamb is marrying a city [with walls, gates, streets]. Looks like we have a couple of symbols we need to deal with. The first one is easy… the lamb is Jesus Christ and He is the groom. What about the bride?

Hebrews 11:10,16, 12:22-23, 13:14 – the city [the Jerusalem from heaven] is where the faithful people of God live. Jesus marriage is to the collective body of people who make up the city [the church of the firstborn]. That means you and me. Inclusion in that group is open to all people based on belief and faithfulness not race, class, or gender. Ephesians 2:11-22

Christ Has Been Married Before

Ezekiel 16:1-8 – the one who became Jesus Christ is the same one who had been married to the nation of Israel [entire nation represented by city of Jerusalem]. That marriage like all marriages was a covenant… we know it as the Old Covenant.

But He divorced His wife Israel because she would not believe or remain faithful to Him.

Much later the Old Covenant terminated with the death of Jesus Christ, the husband. The resurrected Christ is going to marry again… to enter into a new covenant. His bride is a new Israel… Not a nation based on birth and bloodlines but a new spiritual nation composed of people faithful to God. 1 Peter 2:9

We Are Promised… But Not Yet Married

Jeremiah 31:31-33 when we enter into that new covenant it is a pledge that we are to be His… like an engagement… which is a promise of a future marriage… but not yet married.

Revelation 19:7-8 an engagement and promise to marry usually kicks off a process of preparation, setting up for the wedding itself, ironing out final issues of compatibility, finances, where you will live… etc. In a similar manner our engagement [the old fashioned word is betrothed] initiates a process of preparation… the "wife to be" makes herself ready.

2 Corinthians 11:2-3– the church has not yet entered into the fullness of the marriage relationship with Christ. Paul, as a pastor, considered himself to be helping prepare the bride for her upcoming marriage. That she may be/remain/become spiritually pure [a virgin]. In the same way the church today preaches, teaches and guides those who are to be part of that bride. Providing greater understanding and a way of living that is compatible with the God family… and the husband to be: Jesus Christ. Sort of like pre-marital counseling.

Human Marriage & The Body of Christ

I have been drawing a comparison between the preparation of the bride of Christ to what we in our culture call an engagement. That comparison teaches us something about the future relationship we are called to… and the present relationships we are now a part of.

That understanding of purity and remaining unspotted is damaged and distorted in a culture where most people live together as if they were man and wife before they are even married.

God through Paul teaches that our human marriages represent the spiritual/eternal relationship we are to have with Jesus Christ and the family of God. When done right… a human marriage can give better understanding about our place and purpose in the spirit-born family of God.

Ephesians 5:21-33 thinking of ourselves as part of the future bride of Christ we learn that even when we are born of the spirit, even when we receive the gift of eternal life, even when we become sons of God just as He is the son of God… we are subject to Christ… just as you wives are subject to your husband. That understanding of authority and role is damaged and distorted in a culture that challenges and changes the patterns of marriage established from the very beginning.

Oneness of Flesh And Spirit

The Church is in many places referred to in many places as the "body of Christ" [Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:12; Colossians 1:18, 24]. The church is compared to a body sometimes even with arms and legs and a head. The comparison is meant to help us understand how we have our own distinct strengths/talents yet work together.

It's a description that is also 100% compatible with the reality of the church becoming the wife of Jesus Christ. He loves and cares for all the various parts of the body that is the church… as His own body. Just as you husbands are to care for your wives as if she were your own flesh or body.

So, God speaks of a married couple, as one flesh.

They become one through a covenant of faithfulness… and they literally become one flesh when they produce children together through sexual union. We now know that each one contributes 50% of the genetic material that goes into creating a new life, a new flesh and blood person… a son or a daughter. You are truly one flesh with your spouse through that son or daughter. There is more to the act of sex than procreation… but children are a tangible result of sex that demonstrates a oneness of flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:16-17 – the joining of the flesh in sex [even where there are no children produced] is a physical act… with a spiritual counterpart. That oneness in the flesh is a reminder of a spiritual union in our future that is very real and very important.

That picture of spiritual oneness and purity is damaged and distorted in a culture where most men and women have multiple partners before and after marriage… where men and women live together as one flesh before ever making a covenant of faithfulness and purity to one another.

Matt 19:3-6 the first man and woman were joined together in marriage by God.

Genesis 2:22-25 they are one flesh… they are made of the same stuff [Eve is made of Adam's rib, a little piece of Him]. So, this first man and woman are of the same kind… yet they're different.

In a similar way we will be given bodies of spirit like God/Christ… made of the same stuff... of the same kind… but different. If we weren't different and unique this entire experience of life would be a ridiculous waste of time and energy. But His spirit works with our spirit to form a wonderful new spirit life… just as a human husband and wife become one flesh and bring forth a new physical life… with unique fingerprints, retinal patterns… DNA sequence… genes… shared by no one else.

The first man and woman were of the same kind but they were also different and had different roles… the woman's role is first described very positively as "helper" for the man. Only after they both fall into disobedience and darkness that woman is described as being "ruled over". Note: the NLT reads: you will desire to control your husband, but He will rule over you Gen3:16. Sentenced to never be satisfied with what God had made her to be.

Like a human marriage we the church will marry Christ… made of the same stuff… of the same kind… but we have different roles. We will be a helper to Him. We will have great authority and position within the family of God [kings, priests, judges]… but we are Christ helpers and He the husband remains the head of the relationship. Jesus likewise places Himself under the authority of the Father… willingly and with oneness of purpose.

Church Teaching on Marriage

A Godly marriage guided and directed by the understanding provide by our creator is a living breathing guide to better understand the future God has in store for you…

• a way to understand how you can be the same as Him yet unique and different
• a way to understand how a relationship of faithfulness and purity is the future of all relationships
• a way to understand how you can be loved, treasured, cherished, be given great authority and responsibility yet still be subject to authority

And that is why the teaching of the Church of God on marriage cannot and will not change to suit the fashions, desires, and philosophies of the world. Marriage's greater purpose is to teach you things that are out of this world.

Would You Like To Be Part of The Wife of Christ?

God's word speaks of a "better resurrection"… that is the resurrection of the Church when Christ returns. Those who latch on to the promise and hope of that better resurrection are the Bride of Christ. There will not be another "better resurrection"… there is another resurrection promised for all humanity… but it won't be as good.

Based on Jesus teachings the wedding celebration it begins once He returns and when it begun the doors are closed and no one else is admitted to enter. The way I read it… no one else will have the opportunity to be part of the Bride of Christ except those who are part of the better resurrection.

You can be among those promised in marriage to Christ… say yes.