Adorning the Bride of Christ

The understanding of this heavenly phenomenon is a mystery to be revealed by God’s Spirit only.

The book of Ephesians has an interesting New Covenant allegory in it of the marriage between a man and a woman. Paul says the union of marriage represents the symbolic meaning of Christ and His Church “The Bride”. In this Paul mentions a symbolic truth and says “Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself to her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. That He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot and wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26-27 )  Then Paul instructs husbands and wives in loving and respecting one another in the Lord which he ends up to sum it all up in verse 32 which says it in this Way. “ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church”  ( Eph.5:32).

Here the Apostle of Christ Jesus makes a very important point and that is the washing of the water or the word. Water here is directly related to the word of God spoken to her for sanctification purposes. The Lord by giving Himself on the cross purchased for the bride  sanctification or purifying redemption that has given her righteousness beyond her own. This is done by God the Father through Christ’s atoning death and it is called imputed righteousness. Our willful obedience of this truth would attain us the complete fruit of its intended purpose in our life with Him.

The chosen vessels of God foreordained from the eternity past are partakers of this divine virtue. The amazing truth is the means of cleansing which is the word of God that are  His waters of cleansing.

Queen Esther’s preparation in being  presented to the Persian king is very similar to this heavenly phenomenon between the Bride of Christ and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is our Bridegroom. When Hegai the King’s eunuch was assigned to Esther for her preparation she and other candidates needed to go through a twelve month long intense preparation. ( Esther2:12 ) In this the scripture tell us that six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes of beautifications. This process is very much like what the Lord does with His bride to be. The six months of intense treatment of oil of myrrh could represent what God’s word does with us in first convicting of our own sin and lawlessness and to bring us in complete agreement with the need of His righteousness and not our own,  and then the perfumes could mean the preparation of the works of His righteousness performed through us which could  be pleasing to Him for entering into a marriage covenant with Him.

In this preparation of the bride many costly things are used and the King through His grace has prepared them all for His future wife. The vessels of preparation like the eunuch who was only assigned to guide and prepare her was divinely chosen and brought in at the Kings expense. The different oils and perfumes were also chosen and selected and paid for  by His majesty, therefore all the bride had to do was to yield in obedience to that was done for her in advance. So is with us and the Lord our Bride groom. The Lord has sent His word before us and has hired His prophets and ministers long before we were even born. He also has provided for us all the means of sanctification and has laid it all down to just prepare us for this awesome heavenly wedding. We the bride of Christ need to only give heed to this marvelous invitation in responding to it with obedience to His written will by His grace.

Coming to Him solid and earthbound we need to allow Him to wash and cleanse us with the water of his word. This is why many who do not read and obey His word, how could they be washed and cleansed. In His word there are cleansing agents of purification, which can cleans us from all unrighteousness and There is the rod and the staff of His word that can discipline and prepare us for the fruits of His righteousness in us. All of these are prepared in advance for us that we who are called among all people will be washed and cleansed in His sight from all filthiness of this earthly existance. Those who have this hope in  Him would prepare and purify themselves in the waters of His eternal word of truth.

Those who have this hope in acknowledging their purpose in Him would not involve themselves with the prostitution of the rest, like spiritual prostitution being the worst of its kind. The true remnant bride as Paul says would remain a chaste virgin for her husband

To be. These with unveiled faces would wait to see His glory. They would say to their bridegroom kiss me with kisses of your mouth and set me as a seal upon your heart as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire a most vehement flame.

( Song. 8:6 ) During this process of adorning the bride through its pain and pleasures a fervent love is developed in the heart of the bride for her heavenly bridegroom. This love is developed in anticipation of meeting this heavenly husband and this love paves the way for further obedience in sanctification. Now the bride is ready to give all for love and that is why the author of the song of songs says “For love is as strong as death”  It is in the midst of this process that the Shulamite or the bride discovers that “ Many waters cannot quench love nor can the floods drown it.

These waters being the words spoken to her

to steal from her the bridal effections that she has developed in this process. It is here when the chastity of her love for her beloved would not be exchanged with prideful and arrogant lusts for the lesser things of this world or things of the spirit like ministry and fame and spiritual perversions of this age.

It is here where the bride has developed such an appetite for the kisses of His word that nothing else can ever quench this thirst in her.

This is where I believe Jesus said to the Samaritan woman that the water I give you would be the only satisfying source in your life from now on, since that woman had five husbands and the one living with her was an adulterous affair she had with. Here Jesus was referring I think to this adorning beauty of loving Christ more than all, since in the regeneration of her spirit her soul would begin to be beautified by the washing of  His word and that would one day become the words of love that would flow from Abundance of her love to Him. What are the living waters that would flow from her belly? I believe from then on she would begin to utter words of divine love unto her heavenly husband. The adoration of the love of a submitted bride to her eternal husbands love would be to Him as living waters flowing from her heart. Israel of God uttered lip service to Him and was rejected as His future wife, but this one “His Church” would see her bridegroom’s love in sanctifying her for her beautification and therefore would resist all other to remain in love with Him forever. For such a bride is He coming back. Such who worship Him in Spirit and in the truth. This special group of the elect by then  would not exchange anything or anyone for Him, because they have by this time developed a love for Him that the floods of dissipation could not drown it. Yes they would give for this love all they have acquired and possessed.