The Bride Of Christ
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
In Gen 2:7 we learn that man was formed from dust (yatsar: fashioned) by a “creator” for His own pleasure.
And Proverbs 16:4 tells us that God made all things for Himself.
Eph 2:10 says that we are His workmanship.
Now God looked at the man that He had created and said in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
And because He loves us, God made a bride for Adam from a piece of Adam so that she would be a match - absolutely suitable.
In doing this God shows Himself to be a God of relationship.
And I hope to show that just as He made a bride for Adam from Adam, so He will fashion a bride for Himself from Himself.
The Bride that God is preparing for Himself is the “Bride of Christ”.
We see pictures of this bride in the OT accounts of Isaac and Rebeccah (Gen 24); and David and Abigail (1Sam 25).
Both Isaac and David are types of Jesus and Rebecca and Abigale are types of His Bride.
They are each virtuous women; women of strength and integrity.
Proverbs 31:10 asks, “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.”
A virtuous woman; a woman without defect - how is this possible?
This is only possible though the Love of Jesus.
So who is the Bride?
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Rev. 21:9-11
The Scriptures declare that Christ’s Bride will occupy the new Jerusalem.
This is the House of God (Bethel) - A condition or state of being rather a place.
This will include all who have accepted the salvation of the Lord on His terms; not human goodness but His Cross as the only means of salvation.
Where did she come from?
We read in 1 Peter 2:5, “… you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
And 1Peter 2:9&10 continues, ”But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
The Holy Jerusalem is a living organism made up of Living Stones.
How is she prepared?
In Exodus 20:24-26 God instructed Moses, “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.
26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.'”
Verses 24 and 25 is a warning to keep our focus on God and not be distracted by human achievement or effort.
The altar is nothing but a place of sacrifice and as such should be an appropriate symbol of the dust or clay that is the true place of sacrifice - ourselves (Rom 12:1).
In the same way, the stones making up an altar may refer to the living stones of scripture, which we are, that are shaped by the will of God rather than by human good or human effort.
The pagans made altars of precious metals and gems.
In this way the place of sacrifice was a place of exaltation rather than of humility, and ceased to be an appropriate symbol of the truth it foreshadowed.
The place of worship was to be wherever He records His Name - a perfect description of all who take God at His Word.
Such is Beth El: the household of the mighty One.
Verse 26 warns against building steps up to the altar.
Steps going up to the place of sacrifice indicate elevation and make it an exalted place.
This causes sacrifice to be a work of human good (fig leaves).
Rather, it should be a place of humility and brokeness.
The nakedness that is uncovered by ascending the steps to the altar is not the nakedness of nudity; rather, it is the nakedness of human pride carefully disguised by piety and religious ceremony.
It is interesting to note that as Israel moved further into apostasy and self-importance, they raised the altar and did indeed build steps to ascend to it.
The altar to God is made of “living stones” fashioned by the Word of God.
And the Lord said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. Exodus 34:1
This was preliminary - a foreshadowing of the reality made manifest by Jesus 1500 years later and foretold by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:33, “… this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
The New Testament believer is flesh indwelt by the Spirit of God.
As it declares in 2 Cor. 3:3, “… clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”
We have been touched by Jesus and Changed by bearing His “mark”!
In Ezekiel 9:4 God told Ezekiel in a vision to, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it."
The mark set on the foreheads of those who agreed with God (saw things the same as He does and shun evil) was the letter 'tav', which is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
It was originally a pictogram in the shape of a 'T' (the true form of the cross).
Rabbis consider the tav to be representative of completion.
How will she be known?
John on Patmos said in Rev. 15:2:- “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.”
Charagma: Mark or etching (character)
There will always be a family resemblance to those we are related to.
Who will bear the mark of the lord?
The Apostle John tells us in John 1:12-14:- “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (Jesus turned it into a right - a privilege can be revoked, but a right is legally upheld for all who are entitled to it - Romans 8:39) to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
In truth the Bride of Christ is taken out of Christ just as Eve was taken out of Adam.
It is Christ in us that is the hope of Glory.
Have you been reshaped by the Word of God?
Do you bear the mark of Jesus?
Are you a citizen of the Holy Jerusalem?
God extends to all mankind a glorious, inconceivably gracious, offer:-
Victory over temptation and the ability to walk in righteousness, freedom from all kinds of bondage, joy unspeakable, peace beyond understanding, and eternal life in His glorious presence.
We have been given Christ’s engagement ring with all rights and authority that accompany such a wonderful distinction.
What a prize!
What a privilege!
Who can earn such a thing?
Nobody but Jesus and all those who bear His Mark.
Amen
Read the written sermons preached by Pastor David here.
