The Bride of Christ

     The institution of marriage is recognized everywhere; throughout all of history, marriage and the celebration of it has been a core part of societies worldwide. Adam and Eve, the pinnacle of God’s artistry and the first two humans on Earth, were created as husband and wife (Genesis 2:24-25 ESV).* Weddings have been elaborate throughout history, some going on for weeks at a time with continual feasting and celebration. It is no mistake that God created marriage as a beautiful picture of a covenant which He has made between Himself and His church. He is the bridegroom and we the church are the bride, betrothed and belonging to Christ, awaiting our final and permanent union with Him. 

     God’s idea and implementation of marriage is beyond creative, and there is no way for us to fully understand the mystery of it until we are united with Christ. However, I want to be cautious to not create a whole theology out of marriage examples. Yes, it is wonderful and it is a beautiful picture of unconditional love and undeserved redemption; but, not all marriage analogies in scripture are pointing to exactly the same thing. I will primarily be using marriage in one of the ways it is used in Scripture, which is to give our limited human comprehension a taste of the wonder and awe of salvation through Jesus Christ.  

     I recently got married, and going through that entire process has deepened my love for the Lord because I have a slightly clearer glimpse of His love for the church and, thus, for me. I knew my husband for five years prior to getting engaged, then got married 18 months later. Though this may seem like a long time to some, it is but a blink in light of the time and preparations involved in the union of Christ and His church. The amount of time we spent in preparation was no small feat! Creating the guest list, curating save-the-dates and invitations, assembling a bridal party, making bouquets, ordering dresses and tuxes, booking vendors, collecting decorations, editing timelines, and planning a honeymoon were some of the logistical tasks involved. On top of that, the more important preparations occurred in the hearts of my husband and I. Attending pre-marital counseling and having countless conversations about the state of our hearts prior to entering a lifelong covenant were essential. Here on earth, in our human marriages, this seems like a lot of preparation. After all, wedding celebrations are still typically elaborate in varying degrees as they have always been. To think about all the time devoted to preparing for a marriage, especially as the bride with much planning and pampering leading up to the big day, my heart becomes saddened. Not because of my wedding, but because I feel the weight of a lack of preparation as Christians for our glorious union with Christ. 

     As mentioned above, Scripture begins with the institution of a marriage in Genesis, and it also ends with a marriage celebration. This celebration is no normal wedding celebration, however. It is the ultimate wedding celebration where we, the church, are finally united with Christ. This union is described in Revelation 19:6-10. Verses 7-9 read: “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

     The “Bride” here is in reference to the church: believers who are saved by the grace of God alone. The “Lamb” here is the Lamb of God: Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. The bride was granted the gown of righteous deeds, which is the gracious gift of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ. He has made us a bride ready to be presented blameless and spotless because He took our filth, our sins, upon Himself when He died on the cross and took our deserved death penalty in our place. That’s unconditional love.

     God’s abundant mercy and unconditional love is shown vividly in the Old Testament accounts of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert before entering Canaan (the Promised Land). The Lord brought the Israelites, His chosen people, out of slavery in Egypt and guided them through their 40 years of wandering despite their lack of obedience and overall enthusiasm toward receiving the gift God prepared for them. Over and over again, the Israelites grumbled and complained because they believed God had abandoned them; or, things were too rough in the wilderness and they wished to be enslaved in Egypt again. Numbers 14:22-23 says, “none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it” (emphasis added).** They continually turned away from God who mercifully provided for them, though not all of them were allowed to enter the promised land in the end. The point here is that God has never broken a covenant; He always fulfills them. He has given us a picture of this kind of love through marriage. God created marriage as a covenant separated only by death. Though in Scripture God gives marital unfaithfulness as a permissible reason for divorce in our fallen world, He created marriage as a beautiful, permanent covenant separated by death alone. He showed mercy in His perfection when He did not abandon His chosen people when they were unfaithful to Him, even repeatedly. He is the ultimate example of perfect, unconditional love. 

     One man who showed this kind of covenant love and devotion in the Old Testament is one of the minor prophets, Hosea. God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1:2-3). His prostitute wife, Gomer, was not faithful to him, yet he remained faithful to her. Chapter 2 of Hosea goes on to align this story with God and the Israelites as He explains how Israel’s unfaithfulness deserves punishment. Yet, God will uphold his end of the covenant with Israel and show them mercy and unconditional love. Hosea 2:16, 19-20 reads, “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ [...]  And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”

     This passage is breathtaking! Not only because the Lord showed the Israelites mercy (undeserved kindness) despite their unfaithfulness, but also because He betrothed His people to Himself forever. He doesn’t keep us in our unfaithful, prostitute state, though. He clothes us, His bride, in righteousness, justice, love, and mercy. He presents us in the end as spotless, holy, and full of splendor (Ephesians 5:25-27). We believers, the church, are betrothed to Christ. It’s similar to the excitement of the engagement phase; all of the preparations for the wedding feast are taking place. 

     There is something unique though about the “marriage covenant” between Christ (the bridegroom) and the church (His bride). Human marriages are covenants that are made by two people. One of the significant parts of covenants in the Old Testament especially is that two people would “cut” a covenant; they would literally cut an animal in half and each person would walk between the two parts of the animal. This symbolized that each holder of the covenant was vowing to have done to himself what was done to the animal should he ever break that covenant. In the case of cutting the animals, they were saying they would have themselves cut apart if they should ever break their end of the covenant. 

     Here is where it gets interesting when considering God’s covenant with Abraham, for example. In Genesis 15, God is ratifying His covenant with Abraham regarding the offspring that he would bear and the land he would inherit. When offspring is mentioned, who is it referring to? “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring”. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). First, recognize that God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ, our bridegroom (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant made to Abraham. Second, see what was required of Abraham in order for him to fulfill his side of the covenant: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly” (Genesis 17:1-2, emphasis added). Did Abraham or his descendants fulfill this command? Were they totally blameless? Of course not! So, look at what happens when God ratifies His covenant with Abraham: “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, [...]’” (Genesis 15:17-18). God did not let Abram walk between the cut animals. The torch and fire pot are representative of God’s presence; He was the only one who passed through. This shows that God took both sides of the covenantal agreement upon Himself. But take note: He did this knowing that Abram could not perfectly keep his side of the covenant. So, by taking the consequence of both sides upon Himself, God pronounced a death sentence on Himself, which was fulfilled once again in Jesus Christ. The point here is that the kind of love God has for the church, the bride, is so vast and powerful and unconditional that He knowingly prepared to die for the church, an unfaithful spouse. 

     Would you enter a marriage and walk down the aisle to a future spouse at the altar when you knew for a fact they would be unfaithful to you? And then still commit to love them unconditionally and die for them despite their infidelity? That is the kind of love God has for us, the church; and we only have a partial glimpse of that kind of love through our human example of marriage. 

     Salvation belongs to the Lord. He is the creator of us, the creator of marriage, and the designer of redemption. May we prepare for our eternal union with Him by vigilantly pursuing Him and sharing the good news of the Gospel as we excitedly wait for Him during this time of betrothal. He is preparing a place for His bride. 

* All scripture in this article is referenced from the English Standard Version (ESV) translation.

** “What Were the Ten Times That Israel Refused to Trust and Obey (Numbers 14:22)?,” GotQuestions.org, April 6, 2021, https://www.gotquestions.org/ten-times-Israel-tested-God.html.