In Colossians 2:2 Paul speaks of the mystery of God, which is Christ, and in Ephesians 3:4, of the mystery of Christ, which is the church. In Ephesians 5:32 Paul says, “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” The fact that Christ and the church are one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), as typified by the husband and wife being one flesh, is the great mystery. It surely is a great mystery that the church as Christ’s counterpart comes out of Christ, has the same life and nature as Christ, and is one with Christ.
The church is the bride, the wife, of Christ, who is the Bridegroom, the Husband. The word of John the Baptist in John 3:29 indicates that Christ is the Bridegroom. “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” The bridegroom is a most pleasant person, who comes for the bride. The church should be a corporate bride prepared for Christ. To us He should be the attraction, the pleasure, and the satisfaction. As those who constitute the counterpart of Christ, we should enjoy Him as such a pleasant Bridegroom.
In 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul speaks concerning Christ as the Husband. “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one Husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ.” Here we see that Christ is the believers’ Husband, the unique Husband for us to love. We should belong only to Him, and we should appreciate Him and love Him. As our Husband, Christ has attracted us, and we have been presented as a pure virgin to Him. Now we should care only for Him, allowing nothing to replace Him in our hearts. Our love for Him should be pure, and our whole being should be focused on Him.
As Eve was Adam’s increase, so the church as the bride, the wife, of Christ as the Bridegroom, the Husband, is Christ’s increase. After John the Baptist referred to Christ as the Bridegroom, he went on to say, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). The increase in verse 30 is the bride in verse 29. For the Lord to increase means that He must have the bride. All the following must go to Him. All those who believe in Him should follow Him to be His bride as His increase.
In Revelation 19:7 and 8 we see that Christ and His counterpart, His bride, will be married at His coming back. Verse 7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy. God’s economy in the New Testament is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His redemption and divine life. By the continual working of the Holy Spirit through all the centuries, this goal will be attained at the end of this age. Then the bride will be ready.
The words “His wife” in Revelation 19:7 refer to the church (Eph. 5:24-25, 31-32), the bride of Christ. However, according to Revelation 19:8 and 9, the wife, the bride of Christ, here consists only of the overcoming believers during the millennium, whereas the bride, the wife, in Revelation 21:2 is composed of all the saved saints after the millennium for eternity.
As the Lamb, Christ needs a wedding. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ is the Lamb who came to take away sin (1:29) and also the Bridegroom who came that He might have the bride. Christ’s goal is not to remove sin; His goal is to have the bride. In the book of Revelation we see that Christ is the Lamb and the coming Bridegroom. As the Bridegroom, He must have a wedding.
We need to emphasize the marriage of Christ and His bride so that we may know that our position is that of the bride and the position of the coming Christ is that of the Bridegroom. We are on earth preparing to become the bride to meet Him, and He is on the throne in the third heaven prepared to come as the Bridegroom to meet us. Therefore, He is coming as the Bridegroom, and we are going as the bride. When we meet Him at His coming back, we shall have a wedding.
Revelation 19:7b says, “His wife has made herself ready.” The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers. Furthermore, the overcomers are not separate individuals but a corporate bride. For this, building is needed. The overcomers are not only mature in life but are also built together as one bride.
Revelation 19:8 says, “It was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” “Pure” refers to the nature, whereas “bright” refers to the expression. The Greek word translated “righteousnesses” may also be rendered “righteous acts.” These righteousnesses do not refer to the righteousness (which is Christ) we received for our salvation (1 Cor. 1:30). The righteousness we received for our salvation is objective so that we may meet the requirement of the righteous God. The righteousnesses of the overcoming believers who compose the bride in Revelation 19:8 are subjective so that they may meet the requirements of the overcoming Christ. Hence, the fine linen indicates our overcoming life, our overcoming living. It is actually the Christ whom we live out of our being.
The fine linen with which the bride in Revelation 19 is clothed is equal to the marriage garment in Matthew 22:11 and 12. According to the revelation of the Scriptures, the believers need two garments-one for our salvation and another for us to be prepared as the bride. For our salvation we need a robe to cover us. This is the robe that was put on the prodigal son in Luke 15:22. Such a robe signifies Christ as our righteousness, and it is for us to be justified by God in His presence. All believers in Christ have this robe, the first robe, Christ as our righteousness, our justification, which enables us to stand before the righteous God. However, we also need the second garment, which is the wedding garment in Matthew 22:11 and 12 and the fine linen in Revelation 19:8. Whereas the first garment qualifies us to meet God for His salvation, the second garment qualifies us to attend the marriage feast of the Lamb as His bride. The second garment is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. It is the very Christ whom we live and who is expressed through us in our daily living. This is the righteousnesses of the saints in Revelation 19:8.
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