It has been nearly two thousand years since the church was established. The seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 clearly and accurately prophesy the various stages of the church during these two thousand years as well as in the future. In this lesson we shall see the prophecies concerning the consummation of the church as God’s ultimate purpose.
God’s eternal plan is to obtain for Christ a counterpart—His church—through redemption and the divine life. According to the entire Bible there is a divine romance between the creating and redeeming God, typified by the male, and His redeemed people, typified by the female. This is a basic matter revealed in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament God told His redeemed people, Israel, that He was their Husband and that they were His wife (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 3:14; 31:32: Hosea 2:19). In the New Testament Christ is revealed as the Bridegroom coming for His bride, and this bride is the church (John 3:29). In Ephesians 5 Paul says that the wife is a type of the church, and the husband is a type of Christ. Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (v. 25). Furthermore, Christ and the church will become one (vv. 31-32). In Revelation 19 the wife is the aggregate of the overcoming saints who will be married to Christ the Lamb and will enjoy the marriage dinner with Him (vv. 7-9). Ultimately, in Revelation 22:17 the New Jerusalem will be the aggregate of the Spirit, the consummated God, and His counterpart, the consummated church, to be the ultimate consummation of the divine romance as revealed in the Bible.
In His creation God first created a man (Gen. 2:7). But the man, Adam, did not find a helper as his counterpart (v. 20). In order to produce such a counterpart, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. Then He took a rib out of Adam and built it into a woman, named Eve (vv. 21-23). Because Eve was the same as Adam in life, nature, and form, she could be his counterpart. This is a wonderful picture depicting Christ and the church, signifying that only the church, which has the same life and nature of Christ, can become Christ’s counterpart for His satisfaction and rest in love.
In Ephesians 5:32 Paul says, “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” Christ and the church as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), typified by a husband and wife as one flesh, are 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 of Christ, and is one with Christ.
In John 3:29 John the Baptist said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” This indicates that Christ is the Bridegroom who comes for the bride. This also implies that the church should be a corporate bride prepared for Christ, enjoying Him as the pleasant Bridegroom. Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:2 says, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” The church has been presented as a pure virgin to Christ, the unique Husband. She should belong only to Him, appreciate only Him, and love only Him. 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 gains the bride. All those who believe into Him must follow Him, and all those who follow Him should become His bride to be His increase. As Eve was the increase of Adam, so the church as the bride, the wife, is the increase of Christ the Bridegroom, the Husband.