.June 19, 2003 (14)A WOMAN. The woman, a Bride. The one receiving a Bride is the Bridegroom. She belongs to Him. She is His and His alone. So, the Bride of Christ. John 3:29 The aim of the Apostle Paul was to present the church as a Bride to the Lord Jesus. Therefore, as a Father in the faith, his means was to promise (an engagement) them to Christ, as a pure virgin. A body of believers who were wholly sanctified and dedicated to the Lord. A people who have been thoroughly cleansed for all the works of the flesh and have been sanctified by the power and mighty cleansing effect of the Word of the Lord. Eph. 5:26 Paul stated it was a profound mystery, which it is indeed. Nevertheless it is the ultimate object of the Father to find a wife for His Son. Eph. 5:32 It is His divine purpose and good pleasure to create a woman, a church, a bride who is to be the very essence of holiness and righteousness. A glorious church, clothed with the sun like glory of the Lord. She is the crowning work of the Lord and possesses His very character and nature of absolute holiness. The very epitome of everything that the Lord Himself is, or ever could be. The bride will be, members of His body one, completely unified with Him. Of His flesh and of His bones. Eph. 5:30 Those who are joined to Him, of necessity, must be like Him in every aspect which is demonstrated in the coordination of a healthy, strong body. The unity, the harmony of such a combination staggers the imagination, but it is true. There will be the marriage of the ages in these last days which is the completion of the grand and glorious plan of salvation. These two shall be one, so is the decree of the Word of the Lord. Gal. 5:31 She is the woman of Revelation twelve, to the exclusion of all others. None other can fill her place in the economy of the Lord.
THIS WOMAN IS DIFFERENT, SHE IS BORN OF THE MAN. The man is the man, Christ Jesus. New birth, birth in the Spirit is found only in the Lord Jesus. At His crucifixion, His side was pierced by a spear in the hand of one of the Roman soldiers. This allowed a flow of blood and water to break forth. It is here that the woman, the church, is born of the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 11:8 We are brought into fellowship with Him by the water and the blood, administered by the Spirit. As with the natural, so with the Spiritual. John 19:34 Paul taught that the woman is the glory of the man. Never is this more true than in this beautiful relationship between Christ and His church. We see her in the fullness of glory, which is His glory. 1 Cor. 11:7 She has been brought into existence for Him. She is the workmanship of the Lord just as Eve was. The Bride is created in Christ Jesus and is to bear His likeness and character. Eph. 2:10 She is the apex of the new creation. Renewed because of the revelation of the knowledge of who and what Jesus is to the church. She will bear His likeness and image in every aspect of her being. Col. 3:10 The only possibility of a marriage in this case is for both individuals to meet the requirements recorded in the Word of the Lord. They must be identical in every Spiritual aspect.