In this lesson we will consider the believers’ being called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb and being His bride in the completing stage of God’s full salvation.
In the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the overcoming believers, those who are rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ, will be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. These called ones will also be Christ’s bride. Therefore, at His coming back Christ will marry the overcoming believers. This is spoken of in Revelation 19:7-9. 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 words His wife refer to the church (Eph. 5:24-25, 31-32), the bride of Christ (John 3:29). However, according to Revelation 19:8-9, during the millennium the wife, the bride of Christ, will consist only of the overcoming believers, whereas the bride, the wife, in 21:2 is composed of all the saved saints after the millennium for eternity.
In the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the overcoming believers will be the bride of Christ. 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 surely be attained at the end of this age. Then the bride, consisting of the overcoming believers, will be ready.
Although the concept of the marriage of Christ and His bride is foreign to most Christians, we need to emphasize it so that all the believers will know that Christ as the Lamb needs a wedding. Our position is that of the bride, and the position of the coming Christ is that of the Bridegroom. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (1:29) and also that He is the Bridegroom who came to have the bride (3:29). Christ’s goal is to gain us to be His bride. The book of Revelation presents Christ our Redeemer as the Lamb and as the coming Bridegroom. As the Bridegroom, He must have a wedding. 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. Thus, He is coming as the Bridegroom, and we are going as the bride. The bride and the Bridegroom will meet neither in heaven nor on earth but in the air. When we meet Him in the air, we will have a wedding.
The marriage of the Lamb will come after the rapture of the majority of the believers (1 Thes. 4:15-17) and also after the judgment of the believers (2 Cor. 5:10). After all the raptures and before the wedding, there will be the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ to determine which believers will be qualified for the marriage dinner of the Lamb. If we are rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ, we will be called to the marriage dinner. However, if we are not rewarded but instead are disapproved by the Lord, we will not be called to His marriage dinner. Those who are chosen at the judgment seat to be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb will be both the guests at the feast and also the bride; they will be a corporate bride.