THE BRIDE OF CHRIST - HIS CHURCH

She Must be UNVEILED

The Bride and the Groom: What does the bible say about marriage? God-idea and commitment is essential to any successful marriage Genesis 24:58-60. Marriage holds times of great joy Jeremiah 7:34, romance is important Genesis 29:10, 11 as it creates the best environment for raising children Malachi 2:14, 15. it is permanent Matthew 19:6 and ideally and only death should dissolve marriage Romans 7:2, 3. In Matthew 5:32, Unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust, the foundation of all relationships and is based on the principal practice of love, not feelings Ephesians 5:21-33. As a living symbol of Christ and the church, it is good and honorable.

God gave marriage as a gift to Adam and Eve, created in perfect for each other. It was not just for convenience nor was it brought about by any culture. It was instituted by God with basic aspects that; the man leaves his parents and in a public act, promise himself to his wife, the two are joined together by taking responsibility for each others welfare and by loving the mate above all other; the two are united into one in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union that is reserved for marriage. Strong marriages include all three of these aspects.

Adam and Eve were not embarrassed in their innocence. But after they sinned, shame and awkwardness followed creating barriers between themselves and God. In that moment of small rebellion something large, beautiful and free was shattered…God’s perfect creation. Adam was separated by his desire to act on his own. The effect on a glass window is the same whether a pebble or a boulder is hurled at it…thousands of fragments can never be reassemble. We often experience those same barriers in marriage. 

The Bride of Christ or bride, the Lamb's wife is a term used in reference to a group of related verses in the Bible—in the Gospels, Revelation, the Epistles and related verses in the Old Testament. Sometimes the Bride is implied through calling Jesus a Bridegroom.

Ideally a husband and wife have no barrier-feeling or embarrassment in exposing themselves to each other or to God. But like Adam and Eve Genesis 3:7, we put on fig leaves, barriers because we have areas we do not want our spouse or God to know about. Then we hide just as Adam and Eve hid from God. In marriage, lack of spiritual, emotional and intellectual intimacy usually precedes a breakdown of physical intimacy. In the same way, when we fail to expose our secret thoughts to God, we break our lines of communication with Him.

Yes, truly marriage is a living symbol of Christ and the church, a spirit-guided relationship. Christ is the Head of His Church. He is the Savior of His Body. The church submits to Christ for He loved her by giving up His own life to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s Word. He did all this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. Jesus cares for the church and we believers are members of His Body.

 
The scripture says that a man shall leave his father and mother and is united to his wife and the two become one. This is a mystery illustrating of the way Christ and the church are one. The church, His Body submits. One way to disarm the antagonism that the external culture may inject into marriage relationship is to remember that the wife gets to submit and the husband gets to die. Real spiritual leadership involves loving service [a form of dying] just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet. A wise and Christ-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband’s leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.

 Christ’s death makes the church holy and clean from the old ways of sin and sets her apart for His special sacred service Hebrews 10:29; 13:12. By the washing of baptism, Christ cleansed His church. Baptism is the channel through which we are prepared for entrance into the church. God’s word cleanses the church John 17:17 and Tutus 3:5. What a wonderful relationship I have as a unit of the Body of Christ. Through the covenant of the Blood, I am one with Christ. What a unity? Thanks to the Holy Spirit of God for making this possible. Through honoring, respecting and loving the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Presence in me, we are in intimate relationship with Christ, the Head of the church. We see 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul anxious that the church’s love should be for Christ alone, just as a pure bride saves her love for one man only. By ‘pure bride’ he meant one who was unaffected by false doctrine…I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ…

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