Who Is the Bride of Christ?
by
Philip du Nard
The book of Revelation clearly indicates that Christ will take a bride or wife Revelation 21:9-10. Upon reading Eph. 5:22-23, I used to think that this passage identified the church as being the bride of Christ, as is traditionally believed in Christendom. But upon reading more closely, I see that such is not the case.
What this scripture does, as do other passages ( I Cor. 12:12 & 27; Col. 1:24 ) is identify the church as the body of Christ.
The analogy here is not being the wife of someone but being the head of something or someone. The relationship which Christ has with the church is applicable to the marriage relationship because "the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church." Only in the first instance is there also a marriage relationship.
The love which Christ has for His own body is an example of how husbands are to love their wives, as well as their own bodies, not because the body of Christ is the wife of Christ but because husband and wife are one flesh and so when a man loves his wife, he is, in a mysterious sense, loving his own body, or flesh.
The prophetic Word identifies the redeemed and restored nation of Israel as being the bride of Christ Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14
Since the passage in Revelation shows that the bride, the lamb's wife, is identified as the holy Jerusalem, one might mistakenly confuse the church with the new Jerusalem if one believes that the church is the bride of Christ as well as His body
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Philip du Nard
The book of Revelation clearly indicates that Christ will take a bride or wife Revelation 21:9-10. Upon reading Eph. 5:22-23, I used to think that this passage identified the church as being the bride of Christ, as is traditionally believed in Christendom. But upon reading more closely, I see that such is not the case.
What this scripture does, as do other passages ( I Cor. 12:12 & 27; Col. 1:24 ) is identify the church as the body of Christ.
The analogy here is not being the wife of someone but being the head of something or someone. The relationship which Christ has with the church is applicable to the marriage relationship because "the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church." Only in the first instance is there also a marriage relationship.
The love which Christ has for His own body is an example of how husbands are to love their wives, as well as their own bodies, not because the body of Christ is the wife of Christ but because husband and wife are one flesh and so when a man loves his wife, he is, in a mysterious sense, loving his own body, or flesh.
The prophetic Word identifies the redeemed and restored nation of Israel as being the bride of Christ Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14
Since the passage in Revelation shows that the bride, the lamb's wife, is identified as the holy Jerusalem, one might mistakenly confuse the church with the new Jerusalem if one believes that the church is the bride of Christ as well as His body
previous page Powered by MSN TV next page