I have known about the basic aspects of this phenomenon for quite some time as I am sure that most believers know about as well. So, it is not that I am the only one privy to information the rest of you are not. I am, of course, talking about eternal life as the Bride of Christ through His proposal. However, there are some revelatory and deeper characteristics of the proposal and the Bride of Christ.
I would be remiss not to tell you up front, for those who are not sure of the basics, that we are proposed to Christ, on this side of heaven, at Communion. There is much more to the proposal, and the Halaka [1], but it isn’t the crux of this blog. That said, the church [2] is the Bride of Christ.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [John 3:16 KJV]
v2 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.
v3 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. [John 14:2, 3 KJV]
Throughout the New Testament Christ spoke to the Jewish people in terms that they’d understand, speaking to them using metaphors of Jewish marriage customs [3]. We are the temple of God [4] and the many mansions of which John 14:2 spoke [5]. Our husband to be, died on the Cross and bought us for a price [6]. He left His Spirit behind to prepare us until He returns to abduct us [7] and take us home to our new residence after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb [8]. Now, another aspect of the revelation.
Jesus IS eternal life [9] as John 3:16 declares. Jesus is a gift from God. On this side of heaven, like I said, we are bought with a price and betrothed [10] to him as long as we accept Him into our hearts as Lord and Savior [11]. He then dwells in us through His Spirit to prepare us as John 14:2 declares for the union with Christ.
In John 17, we find Jesus praying and asking the Father that all believers be restored to pre-fallen state of Eden. Remember that God made man in His image [15], which is spirit [16]. He hadn’t made man yet. Later, man lost his sinless state through Adam with his bite from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the sin nature entered the world. In the book of Revelation chapter 21 verse5, God says that “I make all, things new.” In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says that those “In Christ” are new creatures. It is a reintegration of God and man. Spiritual consummation, as I define it, is faith in God through the renewing of our mind [17]. I base this on, once again Scripture, in Hebrews 11:16 and Mark 12:30, 31.
Lord Jesus, I come to you in the spirit of thanksgiving, with praise. I am in awe of you and the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father’s immaculate and perfect plan of the world, your birth and life, mercy, and grace, and the Holy Spirit giving you life, and leading us to all knowledge. I am at a loss for words. I love you my Lord and my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength. In your precious name, I pray, AMEN.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life [18].
[1] Jewish Law
[2] Believers/Christians
[3] Tell of separation before marriage.
[4] 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
[5] If you want a brief teaching on Jewish Marriage customs, holler. Brief in that people write books on this subject, and have. Jewish Marriage Customs is the single most illuminating aspect of Scripture that opened my eyes wide to Bible teaching and Scripture.
[6] 1 Corinthians 6:20
[7] 1 Thessalonians 5:17 The Rapture.
[8] Revelation 19:6-9
[9] Everlasting
[10] 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 Paul considered himself the spiritual father of believers, and as such in his day, the father was the matchmaker for his children.
[11] Husband. When we accept Christ into our hearts, His Spirit comes into us only to prepare us John 16:13, for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the marriage is consummated. This is NOT a sexual consummation but a spiritual consummation.
[12] If Joseph and Mary had Jesus, He would have inherited the sin nature. How then could He have been sinless and our Savior? Back to square one, sinful.
[13] Luke 1:26-38
[14] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[15] Genesis 1:27
[16] John 4:24
[17] Romans 12:2
[18] John 14:6
