Ephesians 5:26-27 reveals that today Christ is sanctifying the church, “cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.” Today Christ as the life-giving Spirit is sanctifying the church through separation, saturation, transformation, growth, and building up; in the future Christ as the Bridegroom will present the church to Himself as His counterpart for His satisfaction. This is the preparation of the bride. In Revelation 19:7 the voice of a great multitude says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” This indicates that the marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy. By the continual working of the Holy Spirit throughout the centuries, the bride will be ready at the end of this age, and the marriage of the Lamb will come.
When Christ comes back, He will marry the overcomers who represent all the saints in the church (vv. 7-9). For this reason, the readiness of the bride depends on the overcomers’ maturity in life. Verse 8 says, “It was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” Righteounesses in this verse can also be translated as “righteous acts,” referring to the subjective righteousness of the overcoming saints, who form the wife in verse 7, that enables them to meet the requirement of the overcoming Christ. Hence, fine linen speaks of the overcoming living that is lived out by the believers’ overcoming life, which actually is Christ lived out of them. Fine linen in verse 8 is equivalent to the wedding garment in Matthew 22:11-12. According to the revelation of the Scriptures, the believers need two garments—one for salvation and one for preparation to be the bride. For their salvation, the believers need a robe to cover them. This robe is the robe put on the prodigal son in Luke 15:22, which signifies Christ as our righteousness for us to be justified before God (1 Cor. 1:30). However, the believers also need a second garment, which is the wedding garment in Matthew 22:11-12 and the garment of fine linen in Revelation 19:8, so that they may be qualified to attend the marriage dinner of the Lamb to be His bride. The second garment is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believers. It is the Christ whom they live and express in their daily living.
The Gospel of John reveals that Christ came as the Lamb to take away sin (1:29) and as the Bridegroom that He might have the bride (3:29). The book of Revelation prophesies that Christ is still the Lamb and the Bridegroom. This indicates that the goal of God’s will is for Christ to have the bride. Revelation 19:7-8 speaks of Christ and His counterpart, His bride, getting married at His coming; this is the marriage of the Lamb. Verse 7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The bride is the overcoming believers in the millennium (vv. 8-9).
The future position of the overcoming believers is the bride, and the future position of Christ is the Bridegroom. The believers are on earth preparing to become the bride to meet Him, and Christ is on the throne in the third heaven preparing to come as the Bridegroom to meet His overcoming believers. He is coming as the Bridegroom, and the overcoming believers are going as the bride. When He comes back, Christ and His overcoming believers will meet, and that will be the wedding of Christ’s marriage.
Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” This prophecy concerning the church as the counterpart of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth in eternity. The New Jerusalem is a living composition of all the saints redeemed by God throughout the generations. She comes out of Christ and is prepared to be Christ’s counterpart by participating in the riches of the life and nature of Christ.