Many true believers in Christ wonder what it means when we read in the scriptures about Christ being the bridegroom and the people of God His bride.
It seems to me that we have to look at it very similar to a man and woman getting married. I don't think we have to be confused about this: it's a love relationship, one where vital union between Christ and His people takes place.
Of course this must become a practical reality, not simply a doctrine or theory. It's a reality for those who believe this and respond to the inner draw of the Spirit of God deep within a believers' soul.
Christ dwells within us by the Spirit. That in and of itself is being the Bridegroom, although His dwelling entails everything pertaining to His life. It begins with the love relationship between God and His people. Everything else springs forth out of that.
What this tells us is we need to quiet ourselves before the Lord in our lives, and allow Him to relate to us as the Bridegroom deep within. It's a wooing, not simply a loud, pushy demonstration that anybody can latch on to in and of themselves. It's real, it's personal, and it's initiated by Christ Himself, for those willing to listen and hear.
As believers, we need to ask the Lord to draw us witin to Him where He dwells within our spirit, and calls us from our souls to look to Him within. That's what Christianity really is: the Spirit of Christ within us, sharing all of Himself and changing us into His image as we allow the practical work of the cross to eliminate our selfishness. That happens in our lifetime on the earth until we leave it.
This is why He said when He speaks to us, it doesn't do much good for those who are always thinking about problems, situations, concerns, loving this world, themselves, among a plethora of other things described by Jesus as that which keeps Him from being centered on in our lives.
Christ as our Bridegroom is within all who believe. The question becomes then who is willing to hear the voice of the Bridegroom within, and share in a fantastic fellowship and intimacy. Not too many are willing to travel this road, as it's a costly pearl where you sell everything to attain it.
Not too many of those naming Christ are willing to pay that price to obtain the pearl of our Groom who is Christ.
The price is the loss of our self in order that He can build Himself within us, and that building comes as He takes up residence as the groom. From that union with His people who He is will gradually be built and the Bride of Christ revealed in the created world, to be seen by all.
Jesus will have a people like this before He returns for them, and the Spirit within us is calling from deep within to share in that with Him; to share His life.
We can't do this at all, it must be Him initiating it, and us responding. Even then we must ask Him to enable and empower us to pursue His wooing, as without Him we can do nothing.
The key to participating in this intimate fellowship with the Lord is ignoring all the outward things that always grab out attention and distract, and quiet our souls and restfully allow Him to share Himself with us.
That's the starting and ending point on our journey to know this great God of ours, who created us for this very reason.
Showing posts with label Christ Bridegroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ Bridegroom. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, December 30, 2007
No Need of sun or moon
Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
First I need to remind you that this city, this bride, coming down out of heaven has absolutely nothing to do with anything created or external, meaning that it is something eternal and spiritual, invisible in its essence. In other words it is revealing spiritual realities that are hidden within Christ from the Father. To not see that is to miss everything.
One way to help you understand what it is that is being revealed here is to go back to the book of Genesis and see the creation happening concerning the sun and the moon.
So as far as the creation account we need to remember that there was the original light that are the first words we know of that are spoken by God. "Let there be light..." Later on, the sun and the moon, along with the stars are created.
Remind yourself that we are told that creation is revealing and unveiling the invisible attributes of God: his divine nature and power.
I just want to point out that the light created on the first day was different and separate from the sun, moon, and stars. These things were representations of something hidden in God.
Of course, one of the reasons that we are told that there will on longer be a sun and a moon here, is because the natural is of no consequence in this city, this bride of the Lamb. That is what is being revealed here.
Another way to see this among God's people is to remember where we are told that "all should know Him, from the least to the greatest." This reference to light here, is concerned with this reality.
The sun and the moon represent one that has light contained within, and that light being reflected onto another body.
Do you see this in the light of the goal of the eternal purpose? God wants to be all in all. He is not interested in so-called special believers having all of the light, and others simply reflecting the light from others. No, the Lord is the lamp: period.
One of our purposes as a people is to help others to be holders of the light of our Lord, not to be those who encourage others to be dependent upon man.
This doesn't mean that we don't walk together in this, or don't think that we can't learn from one another. Rather, it means that everything we are, must move toward the purpose of God being all in all, not toward an endless dependency, or lightlessness within every one.
Do you see where this is going here? In the heart of God, we exist for Him and one another, so that all of us can know Him intimately, without some type of person that is a go-between.
Rather we are to encourage and pray for one another that we would learn to walk in deep union with Him together.
This goes back to Christ being the alpha and omega, the beginning and end. In reference to Him being the lamp of the city, His wife, this is not only the end, but also where we must begin. To start anywhere else, brings us straight out of the heart of God.
No Temple Here
Revelation 21:22
And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb, are its temple.
In all of my research and studies I have found that this particular reference in the scriptures is one of the most neglected and misunderstood.
Many wish that it wasn't in there, others, that see many of the things that are talked about on this site, don't believe it has reference to today.
The great strategy of most that don't understand the spiritual significance of New Jerusalem, is to simply dismiss this as another thing that will happen after all things on the earth have been completed. If there weren't other places in the scriptures that contradict that, there may be some ground to stand on there, but there are many places that blow way of thinking away.
For example when Stephen was about to be martyred, he reveals that God does not dwell in temples made with hands. Does anybody seriously think that he didn't know about this city of God? Did he just come up with an interesting saying? No! He was one of the very few that saw the end of all types and shadows and that the real was now here.
Another place that speaks of this is when Jesus talks about He being in the Father, Him being in us, and us being in each other etc. This is spiritual temple language and insight. This is talking about dwelling in one another spiritually and in union with Christ, the Father, and each other.
Now having said all of this, let's look at some of the significance of this tremendous revelation of Jesus Christ. No temple! What a challenging statement.
Not only in the days of the apostles and the early church, but just as much in our own day, this has been something not comprehended by many.
Today we see something of this and look, for the most part at it from an outward point of view.
In other words, we begin to see that there was no such things as special buildings that the early believers ever met in, or would even come into their way of thinking. Yet, for the most part the modern-day response is to move from these so-called "churches" to meeting in homes.
While this is a good step, it misses a lot of the point altogether. Simply transferring where the people of God meet, doesn't begin to deal with what is eternally on the heart of God. Everything that is being done in the buildings, can simply be started again in another physical setting. I am talking about the practices here.
So what is it that God is saying in all of this? What is the mystery? It's really not that hard to understand at all. It goes back to Jesus describing what eternal life is: that we may know Christ and His Father. It goes back to spiritually comprehending the end of all things: that God may be all in all. This is temple-talk from God's point of view.
Now I am not saying that because this is dealing with spiritual realities that we shouldn't leave the religious system, but if we do it without seeing more than simply exchanging physical locations, we miss the point entirely.
We leave because we are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God Almighty Himself. We are looking for a city build from the reality of the person of Jesus Christ, not on systems and logic, or certain traditions.
This temple is not simply one individual either. It is the entire Godhead in communion with one another and us. So it is with us, it is a corporate dwelling that God is building. Again, He created all of mankind to dwell in and be all to - not just a few.
This doesn't mean that we aren't individually dwelling places of God. But together we are being built into a temple for Him. As we embrace and share Christ with one another, we grow into all that He is. That is the significance of there being no temple in the wife of the Lamb. He couldn't care less about bricks and mortar, He is after intimate union with His woman. His bride. There is nothing that He will allow to compete with that.
When we individually enter into union with Christ and one another, something greater than ourselves begins to happen. That is what this aspect of the great eternal purpose of God unveils.
Revelation 21:22
And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb, are its temple.
In all of my research and studies I have found that this particular reference in the scriptures is one of the most neglected and misunderstood.
Many wish that it wasn't in there, others, that see many of the things that are talked about on this site, don't believe it has reference to today.
The great strategy of most that don't understand the spiritual significance of New Jerusalem, is to simply dismiss this as another thing that will happen after all things on the earth have been completed. If there weren't other places in the scriptures that contradict that, there may be some ground to stand on there, but there are many places that blow way of thinking away.
For example when Stephen was about to be martyred, he reveals that God does not dwell in temples made with hands. Does anybody seriously think that he didn't know about this city of God? Did he just come up with an interesting saying? No! He was one of the very few that saw the end of all types and shadows and that the real was now here.
Another place that speaks of this is when Jesus talks about He being in the Father, Him being in us, and us being in each other etc. This is spiritual temple language and insight. This is talking about dwelling in one another spiritually and in union with Christ, the Father, and each other.
Now having said all of this, let's look at some of the significance of this tremendous revelation of Jesus Christ. No temple! What a challenging statement.
Not only in the days of the apostles and the early church, but just as much in our own day, this has been something not comprehended by many.
Today we see something of this and look, for the most part at it from an outward point of view.
In other words, we begin to see that there was no such things as special buildings that the early believers ever met in, or would even come into their way of thinking. Yet, for the most part the modern-day response is to move from these so-called "churches" to meeting in homes.
While this is a good step, it misses a lot of the point altogether. Simply transferring where the people of God meet, doesn't begin to deal with what is eternally on the heart of God. Everything that is being done in the buildings, can simply be started again in another physical setting. I am talking about the practices here.
So what is it that God is saying in all of this? What is the mystery? It's really not that hard to understand at all. It goes back to Jesus describing what eternal life is: that we may know Christ and His Father. It goes back to spiritually comprehending the end of all things: that God may be all in all. This is temple-talk from God's point of view.
Now I am not saying that because this is dealing with spiritual realities that we shouldn't leave the religious system, but if we do it without seeing more than simply exchanging physical locations, we miss the point entirely.
We leave because we are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God Almighty Himself. We are looking for a city build from the reality of the person of Jesus Christ, not on systems and logic, or certain traditions.
This temple is not simply one individual either. It is the entire Godhead in communion with one another and us. So it is with us, it is a corporate dwelling that God is building. Again, He created all of mankind to dwell in and be all to - not just a few.
This doesn't mean that we aren't individually dwelling places of God. But together we are being built into a temple for Him. As we embrace and share Christ with one another, we grow into all that He is. That is the significance of there being no temple in the wife of the Lamb. He couldn't care less about bricks and mortar, He is after intimate union with His woman. His bride. There is nothing that He will allow to compete with that.
When we individually enter into union with Christ and one another, something greater than ourselves begins to happen. That is what this aspect of the great eternal purpose of God unveils.
The Street, River, and Tree
In considering the eternal purpose of God and the wife of the Lamb, let's look at three important things that are described as existing inside of her.
The Street
First we see that there is a street of gold that is transparent as glass. There is also a river, clear as crystal that flows down the middle of the street. Finally there is a tree that vines across the river and is thus on both sides of it.
Let's look at a couple of things concerning this street. First the street is gold. This always speaks of the nature of God. Then it is described as being like transparent glass.
This street is showing forth the nature of God in all of its purity. The transparent glass showing that absolutely nothing is mixed in with it. Nothing hinders one from seeing through it clearly.
Keep in mind that a street is for traveling and that this was one street, not many.
The River
Now in considering the river, we are told that it is a living river, living waters. It is also revealed that this river flows down the middle of the gold street of the city.
This river is clear as crystal, again signifying that it is completely free of mixture, clear, without impurities.
The river of course refers to the Holy Spirit. Remember that we are told by Jesus that out of our innermost beings will flow rivers of living waters.
This is a river that is going somewhere. Since it is flowing down the street this is another insight into the reality that this is something coming down from God above: A higher life.
The Tree
Lastly we see the tree of life. This is a very fruitful tree. It bears 12 different crops of fruit. Each in its own season. Then we are told that the leaves of the trees are for the health of the nations. (most translations say "healing," but the word in its truest sense means "health.")
When we look at this remember the words of Jesus when He said, "I am the vine and you are the branches." We are those leaves that abide in the roots of Jesus Christ, the true vine.
Now what we need to see here is that the street, river, and tree are completely entwined with one another. The river goes down the middle of the street, and the tree roots itself along the sides of the river.
Just to let you know, this is not, like some have thought, a bunch of trees that have multiplied individually. No, it is one tree, a tree that is one that vines. Jesus, of course, is this tree, and by extension, those of us who abide in Him are part of it also.
There is a place in the scriptures that Jesus tells us that He is in us, we are in Him, and we are in each other. This is what is being shown forth here. The street, river, and tree are part of all of us. And when you see that these exist within the walls surrounding the city, you see that this is all within a people. This is why Jesus told us not to look for the kingdom without but to rather look for it within.
Which is one final thing I want to mention, the river flowed out of the throne of God and the Lamb. This is talking about the rule and reign of God within His people. This is what the kingdom is all about. It is a battle for the hearts of men, not for things on the earth that can be seen.
That's why Jesus told Pilate that if His kingdom was of this world His servants would come and fight, but His kingdom isn't of this world. This world has already been defeated.
So we see that the eternal purpose involves these three things as part of its nature. As we eat of Christ and drink of the Spirit, we walk on a street within that is only all of who God is.
Eventually these things that are within, will begin to reveal themselves without - But first they must be within.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The fabulous reality of Christ being the bridegroom reveals to us the passion of God for His people. I want to focus on the main aspect of this: His union with the bride!
John the Baptist tells us that he rejoiced that he heard the voice of the bridegroom. Before that he reveals that the bride is for the bridegroom. This speaks of nothing else than the union of Christ with His people; an intimate, passionate union that the church over the centuries has neglected.
It has to be considered extremely important that the one chosen to testify that Jesus was the Christ, from the beginning revealed Him as the bridegroom, and that the bride was for Him.
The bride of Christ belongs to only Christ and no other. He is jealous for her. He died for her. Yet most substitute something else for the bride to present unto Christ.
We will do well to remember this: The bride is for Christ, the bridegroom.
What is the significance of this? It’s the union of Christ and the bride that is significant. Without this, the mention of a bride and bridegroom is without meaning.
When Christ died and the veil was rent in two, access to God was of course reinstated to those who believed on Him. Then as a consequence of belief, the Spirit was sent by Christ to dwell within all of those who believe on Him.
Most of us don’t comprehend what this truly means to us. It is an offer of intimacy with Christ beyond any of our comprehension. It is an offer to eat and drink of Him that was passed up at the beginning of creation, but now was offered again to all of those who were hungry and thirsty.
While the Spirit of God dwells within every believer, few take the journey of intimate fellowship and union with the bridegroom. And yet there is more to it than that. Not only are we to experience this individually, we are much more importantly to experience it corporately.
Yet, the very entering into this journey causes problems immediately. The great majority of things that we see in the organized church begin to cause problems with that part of us that hungers for Christ and Christ alone.
That’s why those of us that have been given the opportunity to see these things, will continually live out these things outside of any man-made system.
There is a love relationship that exists between Christ and His church. No man, or system created by man, can be allowed to come between the Lord and His bride. That’s why we show forth history and where a lot of the practices of the church have come from so that you can see clearly what the purpose of God is in the earth. Now it is hidden in many ways because of the choice of many to substitute something else in the brides’ place. This is a tragedy that must be turned from.
Are you part of the living bride of Christ outside of any system and carnal control of men? Are you yearning and hungering after Christ and Christ alone? Do you desire to be part of something bigger than yourself that has been in the heart of God from before the beginning of creation? If you can answer yes to these questions, than you may truly be ready for the adventure and exploration of a lifetime. I hope to meet you on this journey.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The fabulous reality of Christ being the bridegroom reveals to us the passion of God for His people. I want to focus on the main aspect of this: His union with the bride!
John the Baptist tells us that he rejoiced that he heard the voice of the bridegroom. Before that he reveals that the bride is for the bridegroom. This speaks of nothing else than the union of Christ with His people; an intimate, passionate union that the church over the centuries has neglected.
It has to be considered extremely important that the one chosen to testify that Jesus was the Christ, from the beginning revealed Him as the bridegroom, and that the bride was for Him.
The bride of Christ belongs to only Christ and no other. He is jealous for her. He died for her. Yet most substitute something else for the bride to present unto Christ.
We will do well to remember this: The bride is for Christ, the bridegroom.
What is the significance of this? It’s the union of Christ and the bride that is significant. Without this, the mention of a bride and bridegroom is without meaning. When Christ died and the veil was rent in two, access to God was of course reinstated to those who believed on Him. Then as a consequence of belief, the Spirit was sent by Christ to dwell within all of those who believe on Him.
Most of us don’t comprehend what this truly means to us. It is an offer of intimacy with Christ beyond any of our comprehension. It is an offer to eat and drink of Him that was passed up at the beginning of creation, but now was offered again to all of those who were hungry and thirsty.
While the Spirit of God dwells within every believer, few take the journey of intimate fellowship and union with the bridegroom. And yet there is more to it than that. Not only are we to experience this individually, we are much more importantly to experience it corporately.
Yet, the very entering into this journey causes problems immediately. The great majority of things that we see in the organized church begin to cause problems with that part of us that hungers for Christ and Christ alone.
That’s why those of us that have been given the opportunity to see these things, will continually live out these things outside of any man-made system. There is a love relationship that exists between Christ and His church. No man, or system created by man, can be allowed to come between the Lord and His bride. That’s why we show forth history and where a lot of the practices of the church have come from so that you can see clearly what the purpose of God is in the earth. Now it is hidden in many ways because of the choice of many to substitute something else in the brides’ place. This is a tragedy that must be turned from.
Are you part of the living bride of Christ outside of any system and carnal control of men? Are you yearning and hungering after Christ and Christ alone? Do you desire to be part of something bigger than yourself that has been in the heart of God from before the beginning of creation? If you can answer yes to these questions, than you may truly be ready for the adventure and exploration of a lifetime. I hope to meet you on this journey.
Gary
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