The Bride of Christ
Last Updated:
08/08/2008 01:01
|
This Bible study goes over the main scriptures connected to the bride of Christ
and explaining who she is.
There are several points surrounding the body of Christ, the church, that
support the overall view of end-time events as well and label for us the
general timing of the bride's catching away to the marriage of the
Lamb. This study is my attempt to put together all relevant scriptures
pertaining to the bride.
Who is the bride of Christ?
There are two lines of thought
I'm aware of as to who the bride is, the church (true
Christians) and
New Jerusalem.
Church As The Bride
I believe The church is the bride of Christ. We are the bride-to-be now waiting for the Bridegroom's
return. I
just have a hard time getting past the obvious parallel connection made
between Christ (head) and the church (body) and the husband and wife. Here it
is in context:
Ephesians 5:15-32
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands,
as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even
as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to
love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and
cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a
man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they
two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning
Christ and the church.
In
Ephesians
5:15-32 above, we see a relationship between husbands and wives laid
out:
-
Husband head of wife
(Christ head of church and savior of the body) [The church is called the
body of Christ]
-
Wives subject to
husbands (Church subject to Christ)
-
Husbands love wives as
Christ loves the church and gave Himself for it
-
Husbands love wives as
their own bodies (Christ nourishes and cherishes the church)
-
Man leaves
mother/father and is joined unto his wife (two are then one flesh)
-
We are the body of
Christ and He is the head, but we are one in Him and He in us | John
17:18-26 |
1 John 4:12,13 |
1 John 3:24 (Same thing that happens in marriage)
This is our marriage where we become one
with Christ. There is also this
kingdom of heaven parable that is very similar to
ancient Jewish wedding custom. A good look at Jewish
wedding tradition and how it relates to our relationship with Yeshua
and prophecy can be found in the book
Lost
In Translation: Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of Our Faith.
Matthew 25:1-13
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were
wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and
took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their
lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the
foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and
you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while
they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in
with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Matthew 7:13-23 But
he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
And in
Matthew
25:1-13 we see the relationship of virgins waiting for the bridegroom
to come. Half of the virgins are foolish and have let their oil run out over
the night. When they are called to go out and meet the bridegroom, they don't
have oil meaning they don't have light, which means they can't see and
therefore don't go out to the bridegroom.
They don't try to get oil until after it's too late to
get the oil, Christ is the only way to receive this oil.
Hebrews 1:9 I believe the
oil represents the
Holy Spirit Then we see those five virgins that
did have oil go with the bridegroom to the marriage and the door shut. This is
a kingdom parable meant to show how the kingdom of heaven comes.
I think this is the picture of the
end-times church. There are some who really love God and there are some that
are too content without Him to have much to do with Him. What does it mean
to love God?
John 15:10-15 says that to love God is to
obey His commandments, the
Shadows of Love.
Obedience to His Word, which leads to imitating Christ, brings the Holy
Spirit to bring to remembrance what He commanded from His Word, the Bible.
1 Corinthians 8:3 says, "But
if any man love God, the same is known of him." Those who love God
know Him because they know His Word. Through prayer we communicate and
listen to the still, small voice. It is not just us who do the talking. When
you understand how thought is the voice of the spirit realm, communication
becomes easier to comprehend, but we must take time to communicate -- pray
in stillness.
Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Revelation 3:14-22
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of
the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to
buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that
thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,
and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set
down with my Father in his throne. He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
When you
understand the customs, the parallels to the
harpazo are pretty amazing.
But
does the Bible tell us who the bride of Christ is? I sure believe it does... Romans 7:1-4
Know ye not,
brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be
dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she
be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her
husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are
become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God.Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands,
love your wives,
even as Christ
also loved the church,
and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Ephesians 5:29-32
For no man ever yet hated
his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be
one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning
Christ and
the church.
2
Corinthians 11:1-3 (Paul
speaking to the church)
Would to God
ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am
jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to
one
husband, that I may present
you as
a chaste virgin
to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Ephesians
5:22,23
Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
For the husband is the
head of the
wife, even as
Christ is the
head of the church: and he is the saviour
of the body.
Christ is the head, and we are the body of Christ. We see this relationship of
husband and wife incorporated with the union of the head (Christ) and
body
(church). This doesn't mean if you go to church, you're part of the bride of
Christ. Only those who worship Yeshua in Spirit and Truth as their
personal Savior are the bride. They are filled with the Holy Spirit, being the
oil in the lamps. They are the ones called out in the parable of the 10
virgins. According
to the parable, 50% of those who consider themselves to be the bride don't have
the oil and will have the door shut on them.
Matthew 25:1-13
This shouldn't scare you if you love Jesus. The Bible says we love Him because
He first loved us. I lived in fear much of my life because I hadn't read the
details for myself from the Bible. I had no understanding with which to stand
against the lies with so I accepted some of them. We have a sword though, God did not
leave us defenseless.
1 John 4:15-21
Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this
world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him,
because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he
who loveth God love his brother also.
If you believe that is true, then nothing Satan says can change it. Rebuke that
spirit in the name of Yeshua! The Bible says that God dwells in you and perfect
love casts out fear. God is our strength and He has not left us in darkness! Your love
for Him and obedience to Him make you the bride and nothing can take that away
except you yourself withdrawing from Him. The Holy Spirit fills a true
believer who sets their sights on Yeshua. They are obedient and believe the
Word, by faith they are saved through the grace of God.
Matthew
25:1-13
Then
shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their
lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise,
and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no
oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said
unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise
answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye
rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to
buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the
marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins,
saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Matthew 7:13-23
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto
you, I know you not. Watch therefore,
for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Hebrews 9:28
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and
unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin
unto salvation.
I believe there is a reason we are told
to watch for His coming. We should all as Christians understand the
importance of watching according to God's Word.
New Jerusalem As The Bride
Ref:
TrueLight Ministries There are some who
believe that New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ based on these passages:
Revelation 21:1,2
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:9-11
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the
seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying,
Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and
shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her
light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone,
clear as crystal;
If John is viewing all of the bride and the bride resides in New Jerusalem,
then seeing the bride, the Lamb's wife as a whole would be to view them
through the crystal clear New Jerusalem adorned as a bride for her husband.
Revelation 21:18
And
the building of the wall of it
was of jasper: and the
city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Revelation 21:21-23
And the twelve
gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and
the street of the
city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass. And I
saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple of it. And the city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
In addition, Malachi associates them that fear the Lord and think upon
His name with jewels. To me it seems that when John is shown the Lamb's wife
and sees New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ together dwelling in New
Jerusalem are what is seen. I don't think it fits Biblically that New
Jerusalem itself is the bride given the rest of this page.
Malachi 3:16,17
Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and
the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that though upon His name.
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him.
Is there a medium in
this study that falls in line with Truth? As I mentioned before, some think the bride is
New Jerusalem, and
others look at
Christians as the bride of Christ. I'd like to point out
a couple of things.First, in
Revelation 21:1,2 New Jerusalem is seen by John "prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband." I would like to
point out the word "as" which shows a relation without stating that New
Jerusalem is the bride. Also that New Jerusalem is a
city. Is Christ marrying a city?
The 12 gates of New
Jerusalem mirror the
12 tribes
Revelation 21:12 and the 12 foundations of it are named after the 12
disciples
Revelation 21:14. This means New Jerusalem is designed around the people who
founded God's people and represented God on the earth. These are all they
who lived by faith. Why would the bride have parts of her named after these
things? Wouldn't the bride be the center? You don't create a city that you
marry that's named after the ones you love, you marry the ones you love and
name cities after them. This brings me to the second question. What is
God's most precious creation? All of history is played out for the
benefit of redemption of humans to God. All other things will pass away
except those who love God. Marriage, in my mind, is based on love and that's
what God is. He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son to die for
us. Do you marry a city or do you marry those created in your image, such
that marriage is the joining of two into one. We have Christ in us when we
place ourselves in Him by giving our lives to Him. So is the bride a city,
or those people that love God?
I believe the
convergence of these two is the answer. God loved us so much that He sent
His Son who willingly died so we could live. When we accept that, He sends
His Holy Spirit, the comforter, to be with us while He is preparing His
Father's house with many mansions for when He comes back for us.
John 14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
He loves us
so much and names the city gates of New Jerusalem after the 12 tribes of
Israel, who were responsible for God's Word being available to us. It was
through the Jews that salvation came, and it's through the gates named after
them we must enter the city through.
The 12 disciples
were the foundation for salvation being spread across the whole earth. So
too are their names written on the foundations of the city of New Jerusalem,
symbolic for the body.
In this way, the beloved part of God's creation who obey His voice and love
Him with all their hearts reside in the Father's house with many mansions.
When New Jerusalem is adorned as a bride for her husband, it symbolizes the
completed body, Christ the head (cornerstone) and we the body joined in
marriage to one. It is the habitation of God, Christ, and all that are His,
and apparently the only place that isn't destroyed before the new heavens
and new earth. So it makes sense that New Jerusalem the city in which the
bride resides would descend out of heaven AS a bride adorned for her
husband and indeed represents the purpose of God's creation who reside
inside of it with Him.
The Body of Christ
Christians are also called, as the church, the body of Christ. We are
linked to the idea of being the body
and Christ the head many times through scripture. Indeed, the communion
we take as believers is a symbol of that and the marriage is when we are
no longer two anymore, but married to Christ, one with Him. This is
represented, I believe by New Jerusalem, a 1,500 mile cubed pyramid,
with Christ represented in the capstone and the body of the pyramid
below it. Here are some more scriptures linking the
church/body/bride
under the Chief Cornerstone (Capstone)/Head/Groom.
Romans
7:4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye
also are become dead to the law by the
bodyG4983 of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God. 1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the bodyG4983
of Christ?
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the
bodyG4983
of Christ, and members in
particular. Ephesians 1:18-23
The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is
the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to
the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave
him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his bodyG4983,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Ephesians 4:12
For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
bodyG4983
of Christ:
Ephesians 2:13-22
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh [close]
by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one bodyG4983
by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached
peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through
him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an
holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.
1 Peter 2:6
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold,
I lay in
Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded.
Click picture for more on New Jerusalem
 There is reason that this theory of the pyramid may be incorrect...
Revelation 21:16
And
the city lieth foursquareG5068,
and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city
with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth
and the height of it are equal.
Foursquare (G5068)
tetragōnos
(tet-rag'-on-nos)
From G5064 and G1137; four cornered, that is,
square: - foursquare.
Is this "square" talking about the whole shape? Or by saying the city "lieth
foursquare" does it mean that the base of it is a square? To be
honest, I don't know, but the information I've shared leads me to just
present what I've found and make it clear that I don't feel this is
something we can know for sure and it really doesn't matter that much
anyway. So continuing on... Israel
as the Bride?
Hosea 2:1-13
Say ye [Jews living by faith]
unto your brethren [Unbelieving Jews],
Ammi [H5971
-A people/tribe]; and to your sisters, Ruhamah
[H7355 -Love
compassionately/show mercy]. Plead with your mother
[Israel as a nation], plead:
for she is not my [Lord] wife,
neither am I her husband: [Conditional]->
let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her
adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked, and set her as
in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like
a dry land, and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy upon her
children; for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother hath
played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she
said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool
and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
[Israel as
a nation caught up in the worldly things] Therefore, behold,
I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not
find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not
overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall
she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better
with me than now. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and
oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
[Israel didn't recognize God's provision for
them] Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the
time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool
and my flax given to cover her nakedness. [Diaspora
of 70AD to 1948AD]-> And now will I discover her lewdness in
the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will
also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her
sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. And I will destroy her vines and her
fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have
given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall
eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned
incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels,
and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
Here we see several groups
of people mentioned.
-
The Lord (man)
-
Mother (woman)
-
Her children (sons and daughters)
The mother is the one whom the Lord is
not betrothed to because of her whoredom.
Hosea 2:14-23
Therefore, behold, I
will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably
unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of
Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her
youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it
shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi
[H376
-Good husband]; and shalt call me no more Baali. For
I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no
more be remembered by their name. And in that day
[1948-present] will I
make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of
heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow
and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie
down safely. And I will betroth thee
[Sons and daughters of Israel] unto
me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in
judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee
unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come
to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens,
and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the
wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me
in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;
and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and
they shall say, Thou art my God.
The only
reconciliation I can see now with my current understanding of the bride of
Christ is if this is speaking specifically to particular individuals out
of Israel who find Christ before the harpazo. This can't be after the
harpazo because the marriage of the Lamb is before Christ returns in glory.
Revelation 19:7-14 I think this is verified by the first 13
verses of
Hosea 2. Keep in mind that within a people there
are both believing and unbelieving. For instance, not all Christians live
their lives as Christians are supposed to and therefore are not truly
Christians because they don't live by faith. This is shown Biblically in the
kingdom parable of
Matthew 25:1-13, where five of the ten virgins have the door to
heaven closed on them. Those who do not have the door shut on them are the
bride of Christ, comprised of Jews and Gentiles. They are also called the
just.
The Just
Who are the just? The answer is those who live by faith in Christ, or
Christians, Jew and
Gentile. However to be clear, national Israel is yet blinded,
Luke 19:41-44 and
Romans 11, until the fullness of the Gentiles.
Romans 11:25 So the majority of Jews will not accept Christ until
after the harpazo.
Romans 1:16,17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:7-14
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of
faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Hebrews 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him.
What is faith then?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
Nobody alive has seen Yeshua, yet we believe He is God. That is faith. Our
faith is built upon belief in the Bible. Our belief in Christ, whom the Bible
is all about
Revelation 19:10, is the evidence of what we can't see. Faith is what we
cling to because it is promised to be connected to our salvation, which is
what we all hope for. So the just are those who accept Christ's sacrifice for
our sins and we repent for them. That's what He died on the cross for. They
aren't just in themselves, but only through believing in Christ.
The Harpazo Tie-In
Now the marriage
aspect is limited by certain time constraints because the marriage of the
Lamb
Revelation 19:7,8 happens before Christ returns in glory.
Revelation 19:11-14 Therefore, our harpazo to the marriage
of the Lamb must happen before Christ returns in glory if we are to even
attend our own marriage. Since we also are
not appointed to God's wrath
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 which is
coming on the children of disobedience
Ephesians 5:1-7 dwelling on the earth, we must
be removed from the earth before it comes. God's wrath starts before He
returns in glory, in fact, according to scripture, the
sixth
seal comes before the day of the Lord (Joel
2:31) and the
day of
the Lord is the beginning of God's wrath as also laid out in
Isaiah 13:9-13. So there must be a catching away spoken of in
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 and
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 before that point.
For more detail on the harpazo, visit
here.This brings me to an aspect to our gathering to the Lord I've noticed in
a couple of passages that seems to attach the
importance of watching to being caught up.
Revelation 3:2,3
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that
are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast,
and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee
as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
This is just one of the many watch scriptures that seem to attach
watching with not being caught off guard regarding Christ's coming. We
don't know the day or hour of that coming, but we are also not in
darkness regarding it either. So the medium point seems to be that we'll
know just about everything but the day or hour of this time. This is
what I have found in my study of Bible prophecy, that God has not left
us in darkness regarding the coming times.
They key is to think in terms of the Bible and not the 21st century.
There are so many opinions of scripture that confuse what it actually
says so there is division and some just give up worrying about it. This
is why I started from scratch taking the Bible for what it says and
interpreting what is symbology with scripture.
In doing so, many foundational points became clear without which none of
Bible prophecy would fit or make sense. First and foremost was the
belief stated above that God means what He says. This destroyed the
replacement theology deception that skews many peoples' view of Bible
prophecy among many other issues.
I've found that the more I study Bible prophecy, the more I see that
Yeshua truly IS the Word, and all the prophets wrote was focused on Him.
The more I recognized Israel when God spoke of her, the more clearly I
saw that events of the end would focus around her. To study Bible
prophecy accurately requires a love of God's Word and deep respect for
it as written. It also forces one to learn the whole council of God.
To me, this shows a true love for God and our Bridegroom Yeshua. Many
people out there have no idea what God's Word says. One important thing
is that if we love God, we will obey Him and keep His commandments. If
we don't know what He said or what His commandments were, how can we
obey? If we aren't really interested in obeying, conforming our mind to
that of Christ, how much love does that show for Him? The bride of
Christ is a group of people who love God, His ways, and His Word. Not
everyone who says they are Christians obey His Word, and not everyone
that says they are a Christian will enter the kingdom of heaven. Even
some who cast out demons in His name! The parable of the 10 virgins
shows that half of those who were waiting for the Bridegroom
(Christians) are shut out of the door because they have no oil to light
their lamps. The Holy Spirit is that oil, without which there is no
flame and no light. We only receive the Holy Spirit through Christ. Some
"Christians" just aren't interested in acquiring said oil because they
are content where they are...in the world.
Now I'm not judging anyone without placing myself at the top of the list
because the majority of my life was spent in the world and focused on it
over God. I changed my mind though (repent is 2 words in Greek, change
mind), and God has been faithful to answer my prayers for understanding
regarding His plans, not my wishes or vain imaginations. Again it boiled
down to taking God at His Word, the Bible. Which again points back to
Christ and God's plan for our future and layout of God's dealing in
Israel's past in the world.
Christ's blood covers our sins, but if He doesn't know us, we will not
enter the kingdom of heaven. How does He "know" us? Associating this to
our relationships with each other, can we say we know someone if we
never communicate with them? Of course God knows our innermost thoughts.
I believe the thrust behind Christ saying He doesn't know someone is to
point out to them that they never made an effort to communicate with
Him. Today's world is hustle-bustle and nobody has time anymore it
seems. How many Christians take time out of the world to make time for
Yeshua? I have no idea, but my best guess would be about 50%.
This is not advocating "works," but rather recognizing relationship and
unity in God's Word and obeying and following that Word. The blood of
Christ is all we need to cover our sins, but true relationship with
Christ begins right now and continues for eternity!
I think much of this is brought on by a lack of understanding, which is
how God's people perish. I believe that lack of knowledge has been the
result of millennia of Satan's attacks on God's Word and the
continuation of the Babylonian system in it's myriad of forms. See
History of the Mystery of Iniquity
Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou
hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be
no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I
will also forget thy children.
This is where the church must speak up, repent, and obey God's Word. I
think much of the church is asleep because the Word of God is not
central to them. I know for me, I grew up in the world without
understanding the spiritual influences of that world and much of my own
selfish desires mixed in, a deadly combination without Christ. I never
tried to outright disobey God's Word, but I never really studied it
either. How do we obey what He said if we aren't sure what He said?
I believe the bride of Christ is starting to wake up now and as prophecy is fulfilled more
will recognize the signs of the times. At the same time, the Bible
is clear that in the end there is a falling away from God, one of
the prerequisites to our gathering to Him. The key is to have the
Word of God as our foundation in these coming times because
deception is one of the main warnings of the end times. Many will be
deceived and teachers will tickle the ears of those looking for a
belief system that will fit their desires rather than the Truth. So
as the bride of Christ, let us be girded about with the Truth of
God's Word and prepared with understanding of what God says is
coming so that we can see through the deceptions and be a light in
the darkness that is prophesied to take over the world.
What is the
difference between the bride of Christ and the rest of those saved and going
to heaven?
Galatians 3:25-29
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you
are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free
man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants,
heirs according to promise.
If we are sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus, then would this still apply when faith is no longer required?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.
During the millennium, will there
be faith in Christ Jesus? He will be dwelling on
the earth among us as the Meshiach Nagid, having taken the kingdoms of the
earth to rule with a rod of iron. This will be after the marriage of the
Lamb.
Revelation 19:7,8 So if faith is the evidence of things
not
seen, can there be faith when Christ is seen and known throughout all
of the world? Everyone will be required to travel to Jerusalem to worship
Him.
People will still have to accept Christ when He dwells among us, but this
will be after the bride of Christ is married to Him. This doesn't mean that
nobody else will go to heaven and we must put on our immortal bodies for
that, which are what the fallen angels disrobed from to come to earth in
Genesis 6:1-8 according to
Jude 1:5-7.
Jude 1:5-7
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how
that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner,
giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are
set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Genesis 6:4
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that,
when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children
to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The term "sons of God" refers to direct
creations of God, which we will be when given our new incorruptible bodies.
In the case of Genesis 6, they were the fallen angels. Angels are directly
created by God while humans are born of their mothers and fathers. Through
faith in Christ now, we are born again. We are already born again now in the
spirit, but we are awaiting our bridegroom to come back for us to consummate
the relationship and give us our new bodies, which are direct
creations of God. Then our spirit will reside in these new temples, one with
Christ as two become one in marriage.
So more than just the bride will be "sons of God," but I believe the
distinction between "the redeemed that
comes out of the millennium and the redeemed of today" is that the redeemed today are the bride of Christ and the redeemed from the
millennium are not, even though they are saved by accepting the atoning
sacrifice of Christ. The bride of Christ is differentiated by those
who live by faith. That state can't happen during the time when faith is not
required because what is real is evident and apparent among us.
 I
would like to first direct you to a book I just found,
Lost
In Translation: Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our Faith,
which goes into this topic in greater detail regarding the Hebrew
marriage customs and the parallels in scripture regarding the bride
of Christ. Moreover it clarifies the responsibility of the bride to
accept a series of covenants as in the marriage tradition that show
the bride's desire to complete the marriage. The page linked above
are some excerpts from this book which
you can purchase at Amazon for $10.87. I highly recommend this
book to expand greatly on the ideas expressed above.
Links
-
Lost In
Translation: Rediscovering the Roots of Our Faith
- "Their are several scripture verses discussed in which the depth of
the meaning just doesn't come over from the Greek translation, and it
makes much more sense in context when explained from the Hebrew language
and the cultural background. The study of the Hebrew betrothal to
marriage process is so very interesting and it is impossible to really
understand many of the things Jesus said and the book of revelations
without understanding that. They discuss the four cups of wine involved
in the betrothal process and what they mean. How much meaning does the
words of Jesus in the garden, 'if it were possible let this cup pass
from me, however not my will but yours be done.' In reference to the cup
of suffering, one of the betrothal cups! Nothing Jesus said or did was
without great meaning, if we understand it as He meant it. The Lord's
words, 'I go to prepare a place for you' are another milestone in the
betrothal process! There is teaching regarding the menorah, the
Festivals, & Color. All of these subjects are brought out richly through
how God instructed the ancient Hebrews and Israelites. There is also a
good teaching on the book of Enoch, which was part of the Hebrew
scripture's cannon at the time of Christ, and was referred to by many
other book of the bible. The book of Enoch was found intact with the
Dead Sea scrolls, the old manuscript of the old testament ever found.
The Menorah becomes a literal framework for the book of Revelation."
-
The Bride of Christ by Kory -
To understand the word of God, you must understand who wrote it. Jews -
inspired by the Holy Spirit. Kory discusses the bride of Christ according to
scripture from a Hebraic perspective of the betrothal process and the
drinking of wine alluded to by Christ.
Related Topics:
|
