THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

The woman with a holy, unquenchable passion for her God.

Christ Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world.
He was slain to bring forth a Bride.
After His death and resurrection
God the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to obtain a Bride for His Son.
The Bride He will marry and who will be ONE with Him for eternity.
In what follows we will look at what the Scriptures teach us about this Bride.

In Ephesians 5:25-27, Paul says:
'Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church
And gave himself up for her to make her holy,
Cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
And to present her to himself as a radiant church,
Without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish.'

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul says:
'I promised you to one husband, to Christ,
So that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.'

In Isaiah 62 the Lord speaks of His zeal for His Bride:
'For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
For Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
Till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
Her salvation like a blazing torch.
The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory;
You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown in the Lord’s hand,
A royal diadem in the hand of your God.


No longer will they call you deserted, or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married.
As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you;
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
So will your God rejoice over you.

I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They will never be silent day or night.
You, who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest,
And give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
And makes her the praise of the earth.'

Examples of women who were types of the Bride of Christ are as follows:

REBECAH
The young woman chosen by God to be the wife of Isaac,
Who bore Jacob, who is in the lineage of Christ Jesus,
And was a demonstrator of the attributes of the Bride of Christ Jesus.
(Genesis 24)

MIRIAM
Miriam was a type of the Bride,
Leading the people of God into praise and worship of the Living God.
After the children of Israel had walked through the sea on dry land, it says:
hen Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister,
Took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her
With tambourines and dancing.
Miriam sang to them;

‘Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted
The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.’ (Exodus 15:20-21)

Here Miriam is exhibiting the nature of the Bride.
She was a prophetess
And Scripture declares that Christ Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy.

DEBORA
Judges 4 is the account of Deborah.
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel
She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel
In the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her
To have their disputes decided. (Exodus 4:4-5)

Deborah received a word from the Lord
That would save Israel out of the hand of their enemies,
And it required that she risk her life to carry it out.

RUTH
Ruth was a young woman who held steadfast to her faith in the face of hardship.
She obeyed her mother-in-law, a follower of God
And the Lord delivered Ruth and the mother-in-law from ruin.
The child that Ruth subsequently bore was in the lineage of Christ Jesus.
(The Book of Ruth)

ESTER
Ester was a young woman who risked her life
To save the Israelites from extinction.
(The Book of Ester)

PROVERBS
In Proverbs we are introduced to “Wisdom”, she;
A type of the Bride of Christ.

Wisdom calls aloud in the street
She raises her voice in the public squares;
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
In the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
And fools hate knowledge?
If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
And made my thoughts known to you. (Proverbs 1:20-23)

The Wife of Noble Character
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value
She brings him good, not harm,
All the days of her life. (Proverbs 31:10-12)

THE SONG OF SONGS
Introduces us to the intimacy of Christ Jesus and His Bride.
The Song of Songs is a book that describes the love affair
Between Christ Jesus and His Bride.
The following are paraphrases from that book, put into a poetic form:

WHO IS THIS?
(Christ Jesus speaking of His Bride)
Who is this who appears like the dawn?
Fair as the moon
Bright as the sun
Majestic as the stars
All beautiful you are
There is no flaw in you

You have stolen my heart my sister my bride
With one glance of your eyes
How delightful is your love my darling
Better that wine, fragrant as perfume
You are a garden fountain
A well of flowing water
There is no one like you

You have stolen my heart my sister my bride
With one glance of your eyes

For the King is captivated by your beauty
The King is captivated by your love

I BELONG TO YOU MY KING
(The Bride of Christ speaking to her King)
I belong to you my King
My desire is for you alone
Place me like a seal over you heart
Like a brand upon your arm
For my love for you is as strong as death
It burns like a blazing fire
An ocean of water cannot quench my love
A river cannot wash it away

All the wealth of this world
Is as nothing compared to our love
Every delicacy both new and old
I have brought to you my love

For my love for you is as strong as death
It burns like a blazing fire
An ocean of water cannot quench my love
A river cannot wash it away

Come away with me my lover my friend
Let me be your complete contentment

Come away with me my lover my friend
Let me be your complete contentment
Let me be your complete contentment

ARISE MY DARLING
(Christ Jesus calling to His Bride)
Arise my darling my beautiful one
Arise my darling my beautiful one
Come with me

The winter is past and the rains are all gone
The flowers appear, the time for singing has come
Arise my darling my beautiful one
Arise my darling my beautiful one
Come with me

The cooing of doves is heard in our land
The fig tree forms its early fruit
The blossoming vines spread their fragrance
Arise and come with me
Arise and come
Arise and come
Arise and come with me

Arise and come
Arise and come
Arise and come with me

Christ Jesus has been calling forth His Bride in every generation.
The relationship between Christ Jesus and His Bride
Is an exquisite, beautiful, intimate relationship.
A comparison would be the courtship between a man and a woman
When it is as God intended.

This is the nature of the relationship that Christ Jesus has with His Bride.

THE MARRIAGE OF CHRIST JESUS AND HIS BRIDE
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude,
Like the roar of rushing waters
And like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
‘Hallelujah!’
For the Lord our God almighty reigns
And give Him the glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come
And His bride had made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear.
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)


Then the angel said to me,
‘Write: Blessed are those who are invited
To the wedding supper of the Lamb!’
And he added, ‘Theses are the true words of God.’
(Revelation 19:6-9)

THE NEW JERUSALEM, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
John goes on to say:
'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
And there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem,
Coming down out of heaven from God,
Prepared as a Bride beautifully dressed for her husband
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
'Now the dwelling of God is with men.
They will be His people,
And God Himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
For the old order of things has passed away.'


He who was seated on the throne said,
‘I am making everything new!’
Then he said, ‘Write this down,
For these words are trustworthy and true.’
He said to me:
‘It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End
To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost
From the spring of the water of LIFE.
He who overcomes will inherit all this,
And I will be his God and he will be my son.
But the cowardly, the unbeliever, the vile, the murderers
The sexually immoral,
Those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--
Their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death.’


One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls
Full of the seven last plagues
Came and said to me,
‘Come and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high,
And showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem,
Coming down out of heaven from God
It shown with the glory of God,
And its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel,
Like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a great, high wall with twelve gates,
And with twelve angels at the gates.
On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south
And three on the west.
The wall of the city had twelve foundations,
And on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold
To measure the city,
Its gates and its wall.
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide.
He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 1,400 miles in length,
And as wide and high as it is long.
He measured its wall and it was 200 feet thick,
By man’s measurement, which the angel was using.
The wall was made out of jasper,
And the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
The foundations of the city walls were decorated
With every kind of precious stone.
The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire,
The third chalcedony, the forth emerald, the fifth sardonic,
The sixth carnelian,
The seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz,
The tenth chrysoprase,
The eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.
The street of the city was of pure gold like transparent glass.


I did not see a temple in the city,
Because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
For the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp
The nations will walk by its light,
And the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
On no day will its gates ever be shut,
For there will be no night there.
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
Nothing impure will ever enter it,
Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
But only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of LIFE.'
(Revelation 21:1-27)

At the point in time spoken of here in Revelation 21:1-27
God has now achieved His purpose in creation,
He has redeemed a people to Himself,
And made them ONE with Himself, by the power of His Holy Spirit;
Living stones built together to comprise the City of God;
A Bride who has fully submitted Her will to His will;
A Bride who has made Her WAY, His WAY, Her TRUTH, His TRUTH
Her LIFE, His LIFE.
A Bride who is LOVE, as He is LOVE.
A Bride who is ONE with Christ Jesus.

THE ROMANCE OF ALL THE AGES
Is now consummated,
The Lord of Glory has His glorious Bride
A Bride commensurate with Himself in character and being
By the power of His Holy Spirit
And they live happily ever after

TODAY
Today God is calling a people to Himself;
Those who have ears to hear Him;
Those who hear His voice;
Those who worship God in Spirit and in Truth;
Who have been crucified with Christ and no longer live,
But Christ lives in and through them;
Those who have the humility of a child;
Those who have guarded their hearts;
Those who seek first the Kingdom of God above all else;
Those in whom the love of Christ lives;
Those who live in the Secret Place of the Most High God;
Those who know God and are known by God;
Those who possess eternal LIFE in the here and now;
Those who God honors with His anointing;
Those who do the will and works of Christ Jesus.

This people who God is raising up today
Will join those from all previous generations
Who made Him their LIFE;
A Bride who will come on the scene as Christ Jesus did
When His ministry began in Israel 2000 years ago;
Startling the whole religious community and the world;
Shaking them out of their complacency;
Making it impossible to sit on the fence;
Making it impossible to be lukewarm;
Requiring that a choice be made;
Bringing the Word of God to LIFE;
Verifying its authenticity;
Revealing Christ Jesus in all His Glory.

The name of Jesus will be upon every heart mind and mouth,
Every man women and child,
In every place and every nation on the face of the earth,
And every person will be invited to make Christ Jesus
Their Savior, Lord and Bridegroom.

Isaiah speaks of the Bride of Christ:
'In that day the Lord Almighty
Will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath
For the remnant of his people
He will be a Spirit of justice
To Him who sits in judgment,
A source of strength
To those who turn back the battle at the gate.' (Isaiah 28:5-6)

Just before the end of time,
The Lord Almighty becomes a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath
For the remnant of His people, the Bride of Christ.
In the strength of her God,
She holds back the battle at the gate,
Until her mission is complete.
Her mission is to proclaim and demonstrate
The reality and power of Christ.

Ready or not, here I come
Give all glory to my Son
Get aboard the glory train
Give praise to His holy name

The wind of my Spirit is blowing over the land
Convicting souls, tell me where do you stand
This is the last and final call
Love Jesus go tell all

Take your stand in the victory He won
Everyone else is going to be undone
Stand for Christ, you will not stand-alone
He’s coming to take you home

MARANATHA, come soon Lord Jesus!
Your Bride awaits you!

*The Scriptures are italicized and from The New International Version.