The Earthly Bride and her Heavenly Bridegroom

Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (May 2014)

The true church of Christ is not only described as His disciples and witnesses but also as His bride. All these capacities oblige Christians to live holy and fulfil their upward call in a dedicated way. The command towards sanctification is closely related to our position as the bride of Christ. Paul writes to the church in Corinth: “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2-3). We should take care that sin does not enter into our lives in the form of growing cold in our love, fleshliness, or spiritual deception. These things can only be averted if we faithfully observe our calling as members of the bridal church of Jesus Christ. Make sure that you have a testimony of both justification and sanctification.

The preparations which the bride has to make to be ready for the Bridegroom’s return demand a separated life under the full control of the Holy Spirit. The oil in the lamp (Matt. 25:1-13), as well as its light, symbolise the presence of the Lord in our lives. It enables us to follow in the footsteps of Christ and to become conformed to Him: “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

Spiritual vigilance and readiness to serve are characteristics of the bride – but also a wedding garment which is untainted by sin (Eph. 5:25-27). We must put on the Lord Jesus and diffuse the fragrance of His knowledge everywhere, so other people may be drawn to Him with cords of love. Our main interest should be Bible study under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit searches all things, also the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10). David often entered into the presence of the Lord by investigating the treasures of His Word, in which he discovered riches of grace by which he was spiritually motivated and strengthened: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple” (Ps. 27:4). True happiness can only be found in Him: “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

All those who long after the fullness of the Lord with undivided hearts will certainly find it: “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see the light” (Ps. 36:8-9). The Son of God invites everybody to drink from this river of divine blessings: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive” (John 7:37-39). After receiving the Holy Spirit when we are born again we still need the filling of the Holy Spirit so He can fully control and empower us to serve the Lord. Paul realised that the power and fullness of Christ’s presence through His Spirit was still lacking in the lives of many Christians, and for that reason he earnestly interceded for them:

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height [of] the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19).

When we behold the greatness of the creation around us, the thought should occur to us that the love of the Lord Jesus is also without bounds and immeasurable – it is wider than the world, higher than the highest heaven, and deeper than the deepest sea. The main purpose of our lives should be to be rooted and grounded in divine love, to the extent that it will determine the basic character of our thoughts and actions. That is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, which is extended to all believers.

Only those Christians who fully understand their calling and devote themselves to it with undivided hearts are busy building with gold, silver and precious stones on the foundation of Christ in their lives. They will be commended by the heavenly Bridegroom when He comes for His bride. Those believers in whose lives this fullness is lacking are building with perishing material on the foundation of their repentance. Spiritually speaking, they are leading fruitless and unfulfilled lives, and as such they are in danger of appearing before the judgement seat of Christ with empty hands (1 Cor. 3:11-15).

Members of the bridal congregation of Christ should ensure that they never find themselves in this situation. In Psalm 45, we are reminded that we will appear before the King of kings in an ivory palace as His bride: “You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured out upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You for ever. ... You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. ... [In] ivory palaces they have made you glad. ... At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. ... The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colours.”

The exalted nature of this occasion is emphasised by the fact that God’s Son Himself is also addressed as “God: “Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Ps. 45:7). The word “Elohim” is used in this scripture for both the Father and the Messiah-King. This is the first name which is mentioned for God in the Bible, and it refers to the Triune God. This personal noun is used in both singular and plural contexts: “Then God [Elohim] said, Let Us [Father and Son] make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. ... So God [the Triune God] created man in his own image; ... male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:26-27).

It is the desire of God the Father that all believers become conformed to the image of God the Son. How else can the bride be rendered glorious for the illustrious wedding of the Messiah where she will stand at His side? We must be sanctified during this life as preparation to appear before the heavenly Bridegroom. That will only happen if we have an active expectation of Christ’s second coming, and daily search ourselves with a view to be cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1). Everyone who cherishes the hope on the appearing of Jesus Christ “purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Purity is the key to a life of service to the Lord, while at the same time it also adorns our future wedding garment: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-8). Righteous acts can only be produced under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to that end we need to fully surrender ourselves to His control.

We should persevere in holiness and resist any feelings of despondency which may be caused by pressures from the world and attacks against us: “Hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations” (Rev. 2:25-26). Do you persevere on the narrow way as you should? Consider the faithfulness of all the heroes of faith in biblical times (Heb. 11), and also during the 20 centuries of church history, and derive inspiration from their example: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).

When we stand in the heavenly ivory palace of the Bridegroom, faith will be consummated by the full revelation of divine reality. We will subsequently not live by faith in the sense that we only experience the unseen world spiritually, but our eyes will behold the fully revealed glory of the Lord and His kingdom. Only then will we fully know just as we are now fully known by the Lord. Like Christ, we will also have glorified bodies (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2).

The world around us is daily becoming more and more entangled by spiritual and moral darkness, and continuously drift away further from the Lord and His righteousness. By their own actions, unrepentant sinners are heading for the judgements of God which will be poured out upon a rebellious world during the coming tribulation period (Matt. 24:21; Isa. 13:9). These judgements are definitely not meant for the bridal church of Christ, and for that reason we must ensure that we escape this coming time of disaster: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

Are you busy watching, praying and separating yourself from the perverse lifestyles of the world? While unrighteousness is proliferating and filthiness and injustice increase, consecrated members of the bridal church should become more holy (Rev. 22:11). Although we are in the world we are not from the world. We have a completely different calling in life, and because of that we follow lifestyles and pursue objectives which radically differ from those which are entertained by people to whom worldly happiness and material wealth are the ultimate purpose of their lives.

As children of the light we have been promised an imperishable kingdom of which the glory can not even be expressed in human language (1 Cor. 2:9). To be co-heirs of this kingdom we must be worthy to be united with Christ forever as His bride at the marriage of the Lamb. Only then will we reign with Him as kings when He reveals His kingdom at His second coming. He has paid the full price to make this blessing possible, and that is why the glorified church will sing to Him in heaven after the rapture: “You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10).