Now we need to consider this romance as it is portrayed in the New Testament.
There is no doubt that the gospels give us a full record of Christ as our Savior. However, have you noticed that the four gospels also tell us that Christ has come as the Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34; John 3:29)? He has come for His bride. When the disciples of John the Baptist saw many people forsaking John to follow the Lord Jesus, John told them not to be troubled, that Christ is the Bridegroom, and that all the increase belongs to Him (John 3:30). The Bridegroom has come for the bride. What is the bride? The bride is the increase of Christ. Each of the four gospels presents Christ as the Bridegroom coming for the bride.
In the epistles Christ and the church are portrayed as husband and wife (Eph. 5:25-32; 2 Cor. 11:2). The epistles clearly liken Christ and the church to husband and wife. If we know what is unfolded in the epistles, we will see that Christ is revealed in them as our Husband and that the believers are revealed as His counterpart, as His wife. We must be one with Him in source, in nature, in life, and in daily living.
In the book of Revelation Christ is unveiled as having a wedding (Rev. 19:7) and the New Jerusalem is presented as His wife (Rev. 21:2, 9). In chapter 19 of Revelation we see that Christ will enjoy a wedding feast, and in chapter 21 we see that the New Jerusalem will be His wife. In Revelation 21 and 22, the last two chapters of the Bible, we see that the ultimate consummation of the whole Bible is this universal couple—the husband and the wife.
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that this couple with the two persons are one flesh (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31). Adam and Eve were one flesh. Since they were one flesh, they were also one man. Christ and His chosen people are one, universal, corporate man with Christ, the Husband, as the Head (Eph. 4:15) and with the church, the wife, as the Body (Eph. 1:22-23). Eventually, these two become one, all-inclusive, universal, corporate man. In Ephesians 5 the church is presented as a wife, and in Ephesians 1 the church is presented as the Body of Christ. She is Christ’s wife and Christ’s body. Christ is her Husband and her Head. So, Christ and the church are a universal, corporate man. This is the kernel of the divine revelation in the Word of God. The kernel is simply a couple and a man: a couple with the Triune God as the Husband and His chosen people as the wife, and a man with Christ as the Head and with His chosen people as the Body. This is the central revelation of the whole Bible. In the couple the main aspect is love, and in the man the main aspect is life. Christ and the church, as a couple, are a matter of love, and Christ and the church, as a man, are a matter of life.
The Old Testament is a prediction of Christ by prophecies in plain words, types, figures, and shadows. If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will discover many kinds of clear and evident prophecies of Christ. The Old Testament tells us of whom Christ was to be born, where He was to be born, and about many of the events in His life. A great many verses are concerned with such prophecies of Christ. Besides these prophecies, there are types, figures, and shadows revealing and portraying Christ in a detailed way. So, the Old Testament is considered as a revelation of Christ (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39).
The Old Testament is also a prediction of the church, not in plain words, but only in types, figures, and shadows. As far as plain words are concerned, the church was never mentioned in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the church was a hidden mystery (Eph. 3:3-6). Nevertheless, it was predicted by numerous types, figures, and shadows. The types and shadows of the church are mainly of two categories. The first category is composed of the wives of the men who typified Christ. Eve was a type of the church (Eph. 5:31-32). Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, was also a type of the church (Gen. 24). Ruth typified the church (Ruth 4) and so did the Shulamite in the Song of Songs (S. S. 6:13). In the Hebrew language, Shulamite is the feminine gender of Solomon. Both Solomon and Shulamite are of one name, the one being a male Solomon and the other a female Solomon. This Shulamite was also a type of the church. The second category includes the tabernacle and the temple, both of which were types of the church. Although the church was not mentioned in the Old Testament in clear and evident words, it was nonetheless typified in a full way.