The Church is described in the Bible as the Bride of Christ (the bride imagery is eventually expanded to include all the saints from before and after the Church age when God brings home a Bride for His beloved Son). The bride of the Lamb is described more fully in Revelation 21 as the Holy City Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. The City is called the Bride because it takes on the character of its inhabitants:
“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”
Revelation 21:9-10 (NIV)
Read the rest of Revelation 21 for an amazing description of “the new Jerusalem”.
Jesus told His disciples that He has
gone to prepare a heavenly home for His Bride and will return to take her home
with Him:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
John 14:1-4 (NIV)
This will happen at the rapture
of the saints:
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
Jesus told the parable of the ten
virgins describing His coming for the Bride to take her to the wedding:
“‘Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
‘And at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is
coming; go out to meet him!” Then all
those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give
us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “No, lest
there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and
buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy,
the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding;
and the
door was shut.
‘Afterward the other
virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to
us!” But he answered and
said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
‘Watch therefore, for you know neither
the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.’”
Matthew 25:1-13 (NKJV)
After the rapture the Church will
celebrate the marriage supper, be rewarded, and later return to earth with Christ when He comes again to set up His kingdom.
Meanwhile . . .
We are living through a day of
many trials. God is purifying His Bride
and strengthening souls:
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:6-9 (NIV)
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 5:8-11 (NIV)
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Romans 5:3-4 (NKJV)
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4 (NIV)
As a result of faith believers receive constant deliverance from the power of sin now and finally the full redemption of our bodies in salvation. With this in mind Peter explains how we are to live:
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is
revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you
had when you lived in ignorance. But
just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written:
‘Be holy, because I am holy.’
God’s people are called to “be holy in all you do” because God is holy. We glorify God best by being like Him. Furthermore, godliness is the greatest witness of testimony to the power of Jesus Christ. Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, “A holy minister is an awful weapon in the Hands of God.” While becoming holy is a work of the Holy Spirit in us, and we cannot make ourselves holy without His help, notice that the command to “be holy in all we do” indicates that we have a responsibility in the matter.
Similarly, John wrote:
“Beloved, now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know
that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And
everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV)
Living in the reality of Christ’s return should make a difference in the believer’s behavior. We will someday be like Christ and a desire should be growing within us to be like Him now. This would be a good time to stop and evaluate if that is happening. Remember, sanctification is a process, but we should make sure we have not come to a standstill. God’s purpose is to save and sanctify His children and as He does so with each individual He is purifying the Bride of Christ. He is Faithful, and He will do it—if we let Him:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-23 (NKJV)
God Himself will sanctify us
completely, but we are to “not quench the Spirit” and “abstain from every form
of evil”. So while we can’t sanctify
ourselves we do have a part to play, and God expects us to be responsible to
play it. We have to desire to honor Him
more than we desire things that do not honor Him. If you find that difficult to do ask Him to
sanctify your desires and spend time in the Word and with Jesus. Think of a bride who is consumed with getting
ready for the wedding day—do you see Him as the promised Groom for His Bride,
the Church, your Beloved? The more we love Jesus the less other
affections will have a grip on us.
Paul agrees with the Father’s
will for a purified Bride for His Son:
“I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 (NIV)
While Paul was specifically sharing
his concern about false teachers he was also expressing his deep concern for
the spiritual purity of the Corinthians and wanted them to be pure until the
“marriage day” finally arrives as described in Revelation:
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”
Revelation 19:7 (NIV)
Worthy is the Lamb. Ask yourself, am I a worthy bride? Am I making myself ready? Do I have an adulterous relationship with
food as an idol? We fall far short of
God’s holy standard daily but because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to
us we can be “holy and blameless in his sight”:
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
Ephesians 1:4 (NIV)
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
“. . . that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith”
Philippians 3:8-9 (NKJV)
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV)
Notice the “purifying” effect of
His love. Will you allow God to sanctify you?
Don’t quench the Holy Spirit, but instead respond to the prompting and
conviction of the Holy Spirit and submit to God as He purifies the Church and readies
the Bride for the Groom coming for the wedding day.
Your Christian dietitian and friend in Christ,
Diane
