The
Bride of the Lamb
Contents
“ Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of
the Lamb
has come. And his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to
be
clothed with white linen, bright and pure” - for the fine linen is the
righteous deeds of the saints.
1. Introduction
2. The Bride of
Jahweh in the Old Testament
3. The Bride in the New
Testament
John the
Baptist was the first person to preach that the Messiah would
have a people that He
wanted
to become His bride, (John 3:29). Jesus referred indirectly to Himself
in the
parable of the wise and foolish virgins as a bridegroom, (Matthew 25).
Jesus
referred in more sayings and parables to Himself as a bridegroom, (e.g.
Luke
5:35). Please notice that these sayings have no doctrinal value, they
served as
comparisons or illustrations. The apostles took the picture of God in
the Old
Testament as the man of His people Israel and applied it to the
relations of
Christ with the Church. Paul used this picture in some of his epistles
to
express the intimate and unique relationship of Christ with His church,
(2
Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25, 26).
We
need to be very careful with the exegeses of the passages in the book
Revelation where is referred to the church as the bride of the Lamb,
for it is
apocalyptic literature with much figurative and symbolic language,
(e.g.
Revelation 19:6, 7).
In
the New Testament are also other pictures used to express and
illustrate the
relation of Christ with His church. The
church is a building or a temple of living stones or a body in which
God wants
to dwell with His Spirit and Christ is the head. As the head of His
body He is
giving life and directing His Church.
The
story of Isaac en Rebecca in Genesis 24 is a beautiful typological
picture of
Christ and His church. The typological details can be worked out in
details.
Abraham is God is the God the Father, the Holy Spirit is the servant
hat is
going to look for a bride for the son, Christ, in a far country. The
bride
joins the servant to be married to the son. The son loves His bride
immediately. It is very surprising that no writer in the New Testament
used
this story as a typological example as such.
The
story of Joseph and his Egyptian wife can also receive an typological
meaning,
Genesis 40, 41). After rejection and unjust suffering Joseph becomes a
governor
and receives – still being rejected by his own brothers – a heathen
wife. This
woman is typologically the church. Later on his brothers begin to
believe in
him after he revealed his true identity. This story has also not been
used in
the New Testament as a typological teaching about Christ and His
church.
5. Preaching about
the bridal church in revival movements
Much
revival preaching emphasizes with great enthusiasm the repentance of
sin and
dedication to Christ with renewed faith and intensive personal power.
The new
convert knows that Christ loves him and he loves Christ. The renewed
and new
believers experience and feel an intimate relationship with Christ. In
this
enthusiastic phase of their faith they are often deeply moved through
the
picture of Christ, the bridegroom, with them as the bride in certain
texts of
the New Testament. The fire of the new love for Christ is burning in
the heart
and this can often be the cause of fanatic ideas. It is not easy to
keep in
this period of renewed faith everything in the right balance. The
powerful and
emotional faith of the first love can easily lead to conflicts with
other
believers who are ot so enthusiastic and cause conflicts about issues
of morals
and spiritual insights. The new converts do not feel welcome and
understood in
the fellowship of their church and this may result in the formation of
new
groups and even a new church fellowship, which could lead to
separation. The
new movement or church may then be regarded by them as the true bride
of
Christ. In this new fellowship the new and renewed believers can
without any
hindrance experience their love for Christ as their Bridegroom. The
renewed
believers will wait for the return of Christ. This subject is often
preached
about in much revival preaching and teaching. The call is often heard:
"Be
ready for the soon return of Christ, the Bridegroom, so that you will
not be
left behind in this evil world and the lukewarm church."
The
subject of the return of the Lord and the meeting with Him in the air
was part
of the teaching of the apostle Paul. He taught this subject in 1
Thessalonians
4:13-18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11. The return of the Lord gives a
beautiful
hope and comfort to the believers. Looking forward to meet the loved
ones who
have died and to be together forever with the Lord is also a comforting
expectation. However Paul warned also that this expectation should not
develop
in confusion and unwise fanaticism, (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3; 3:11-12).
b. Do
only those who are revived belong to the bride as is preached by some
preachers? Look at Revelation 2:5-8.
Revelation
19:6-10. Our special attention is drawn to verse 7 and 8. The
bride has made herself ready for the wedding with the Lord. Please
notice of
what is written here, ‘made herself ready.’
And a little further,
‘for
the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.‘ We could
conclude
that those who belong to the bride were active in their sanctification,
trying
to be as Christ as much as possible in their daily living, living a
truly
Christ like, righteous life.
2 Timothy
2:19. The apostle
Paul teaches here that ’everyone who
names the name of the Lord (believes in
Him), depart from iniquity.’ His teaching
here and in other epistles is in harmony with the teachings of the
apostle
John.
I also conclude that no preacher, teacher of leader of a movement, could decide on the basis of human observance and judgement who will belong the bride of not. Only the Lord knows the heart of each human being and therefore also of those that are His, (please read 2 Timothy 2:19).
There are
those that teach that God has two brides. In historical order: Jahweh
has as His bride the people of Israel and Christ has as His bride the
Church. This teaching presents a difficulty for how can the Trinity
have two brides, for it is one? The answer
is that there could be an earthly and an heavenly bride. Israel was and
remains Gods earthly people, the nation He has loved chosen to bless
all people; Genesis 12:1-3. The Church will be an heavenly people,
chosen out off all nations, all those that love the Lord Jesus. They
will be living for ever with Him in glorified bodies; (Philippians
3:20,21).
God
is the Eternal One and His love continues on from age to age and from
his
covenant people of Israel to all that
believe in His Son and love Him.
8. “I am the bride of
Jesus.”
There have
been Christian women that regarded themselves
as the bride, the wife, of Jesus. In visions and ecstatic experiences
they
claimed to have had an intimate relationship with Jesus. Some claim
that they even
experienced a kind of sexual intimacy with him.
We reject, of
course, such claims and are sure that
their origin cannot be the Holy Spirit. Even in these days there are
women,
usually unmarried, who have such mystical experiences. According to
modern
medical insight should some women with such experiences suffer from
mental
disorders.
We know that
even healthy, dedicated believers could
develop unacceptable ideas about their relationship with Jesus. We can,
of
course, have only great respect for all those women who serve the Lord
with
great dedication in many practical ministries in hospitals, amongst the
poor
and on the mission fields.
If we have in
pastoral work to deal with women that have
ideas of a too personal, intimate relationship with Jesus we have to
use much
wisdom, patience and perseverance and will always be alert, because the
source
of such mystic fantasies could be an evil, unclean spirit, that took
possession
of these persons.
We could
conclude that dedication and sincerity do
not always protect us from the possibility
to develop abnormal believes, ideas or doctrines. As I said earlier,
the
beautiful and intimate picture of the bridegroom with his bride must
not be
understood or interpreted in a sensual, personal way
in the relationship with Jesus.
It is beyond
all doubt that a sound, intelligent and
balanced understanding of the Bible remains necessary, even more when
religious
enthusiasm as in revival meetings and movements reaches a high
intensity, (2
Thessalonians 2:1,2 and 3:5-12). But, having said this, I want to
emphasize too
that there should always be room for spiritual intimate, elevated,
ecstatic
experiences with Jesus.
The picture of
the Church as the bride of Christ is a
beautiful image, full of deep and intimate meanings. More than likely
is this
the cause of its vulnerability for all kinds of misinterpretations and
wrong
applications. It is to be regretted that all things that are beautiful,
delicate and intimate are so vulnerable and can easily be damaged,
undeliberately
and even deliberately.
The question
who of the believers do or do not belong
to the bride of Christ needs to be studied with wisdom and
cautiousness. All
extreme and unbiblical teachings need to be challenged with sound,
biblical
teaching.
E-mail:
pastor.tjderuiter@telfort.nl
Internet:
home.telfort.nl/tdruiter