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Author
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Topic: The Bride Of Christ
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MentorsRiddle
Advanced Member
Member # 2108
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posted
Great reply, Found in Him! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I enjoied your last paragraph greatly.
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With you I rise,
In you I sleep,
kneeling down I kiss your feet,
Grace abounds upon me now,
I once was lost
but now I'm found.
The gift of God dwells within,
To this love I now give in.
Posts: 1337 | From: Arkansas | Registered: Sep 2003
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Found in Him
Advanced Member
Member # 7596
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posted
Ephesians 5:31-32
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Marriage is symbolic of our union with God..
Ephesians 1:9-10 (New International Version)
9And he[a] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
Ephesians 3:3-6
3that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
I believe we are the living (alive upon The Earth) body and Bride of The Lord Jesus Christ that will be enraptured, changed and joined to The bridegroom ..for He shall descend with the trumpet call from God...Acts 1 records how he will return...just as He ascended
Praise Him Forever more!
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~To Him That is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy...to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.~ Jude 24
Posts: 1503 | Registered: Jan 2009
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MentorsRiddle
Advanced Member
Member # 2108
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posted
Is it not amazing how many earthly things seem to be symbolic of Spiritual things?
How our relationships with each other can reflect our relationships with God/Jesus/Holy-Spirit.
I think it is so amazing to see God at work in lives, reflecting himself upon earth.
Thanks for this Post,
God Bless.
--------------------
With you I rise,
In you I sleep,
kneeling down I kiss your feet,
Grace abounds upon me now,
I once was lost
but now I'm found.
The gift of God dwells within,
To this love I now give in.
Posts: 1337 | From: Arkansas | Registered: Sep 2003
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
Who Is The Bride Of Christ?
The Church, New Jerusalem, or Israel
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.
In Ephesians 5:15-32, 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
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 customs.
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. 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.
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.
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...
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.
Also Romans 7:1-4, Ephesians 5:22, 23Ephesians 5:29-32,2 Corinthians 11:1-3
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 Him 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.
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
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.
Also Revelation 21:9-11, Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21-23
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.
In addition, Malachi 3:16,17 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.
The Convergence
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.
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. It is the habitation of God, Christ, and all that are His. 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.
Israel As The Bride
In Hosea 2:1-13 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.
The first reason why Israel cannot be the Bride of Christ is because Jesus is a High Priest Hebrews 4:14.
According to the law set forth in Leviticus 21:13,14, a high priest cannot marry a widow, or a divorced woman, or a harlot, but only a virgin. Israel cannot be portrayed as a chaste virgin, since she is an adulterous nation. So, who can be presented “as a chaste virgin?” Paul tells us the answer to that when he is addressing the church in Ephesus.
Ephesians 5: 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 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.
Why did he say that? It is because we are betrothed to Jesus AS a virgin.
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.
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 first.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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