The Five 'B's -- Bride

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The Five 'B's' of a Godly Woman: A Blogged Bible Study

Syllabus:
July 29 -- Intro
Aug. 5 -- B1: Brave
Aug. 12 -- B2: Beautiful
Aug. 19 -- B3: Bold
Aug. 26 -- B4: Bride
Sept. 2 -- B5: Becoming
Sept. 9 -- Conclusion

A Godly Woman is a Bride

(Warning: I'm going to get really abstract here...)

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.' -- Rev. 19:6-7

I began studying this under the assumption that the Bride of Christ is clearly stated to be the church, but as I really dug into it I found that there was no scripture reference that states this explicitly. There are, however, scriptures that *imply* that the church is the Bride of Christ...most notably the passage in Ephesians 5: 22-32, which compares the relationship of husband and wife to that of Christ and church. Also, the passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 describes the catching away of the believers (which is commonly called 'The Rapture',and although that name is not given to it in Scripture it works as a short description of that catching away) as very much like the traditional wedding ritual of the Bridegroom taking the Bride from her father's house to the house he has prepared for her. Compare that imagery to John 14: 1 - 3: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. That is a picture of the Jewish Bridegroom preparing to receive his Betrothed.

So the entire body of believers is the Bride of Christ...and there's a wedding coming.

But the abstract thing is that what we are corporately, we are also individually. I have no idea how God manages to do this, but we each are, in this case, not one part of a whole, as in only experiencing the event corporately, but each one experiencing the marriage as an individual, with the whole attention of the Bridegroom. We will not be hidden in the crowd, occupying just a part of the bridal train; we will, as individuals, 'see face to face...know fully as I am known.' (1 Cor 13:12)

Think of the most incredible corporate worship service you have been in. When the Spirit of God is moving, the body as a whole perceives it, but it is because the individuals in the body experience it; each experience is fully individual. God moves on the body...and each person experiences God's presence as a personal event. So it is with the Bride.

As far as each individual is concerned, each one of us is...alone...the Bride.

The most intimate knowledge is reserved for the Bridegroom and His Bride.

I still remember the moment that I realized that the Bride of Christ is going to be celebrated at the marriage feast...and what follows a marriage feast is a consummation.

What can the consummation of that marriage be? We have no earthly idea, because such a thing is not an earthly possibility. Not only is it beyond our experience, it is beyond our ability to consider.

But there is a greater marvel than that.

Consummation leads to conception leads to birth.

What will the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride engender? CS Lewis was right to call it 'the beginning of all things'.

Closing thoughts Revelation 19:7 states that '...his bride has made herself ready.' Verse 8 goes on to state that her garment is fine linen, which stands for the righteous acts of the saints. However, Ephesians 5:25 - 27 says that '...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,...to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish,but holy and blameless.' Think of the bride on the morning of her wedding...bathing, anointing, dressing...preparing for the ceremony. However, much of that has been done for us, as the Bride of Christ. HE has cleansed us, anointed us, provided the garment of righteousness for us. Our task in making ourselves ready is only to receive what He has done, and put on the righteousness He has provided. How am I submitting to that process, and in what ways am I still trying to substitute my own righteousness, which Isaiah 64:6 clearly demonstrates is not a bridal gown, for the true righteousness He has provided?