Surprise! Guess Who Gets To Be In The "Bride of Christ"?

Reasons for not writing

I have not written for some time now. I should probably use the blogger term "publish" because I have not posted any new blogs for the past several months, but I have written. I believe that the writing part has slowed down because I have not been sharing from the abundance of what the Lord is teaching me and my family. This is something I plan to correct.

At the start of this slow period, my thoughts were somewhat complicated and what I had written seemed confusing. Frankly, I did not know how to proceed or which order to place things in either. Perhaps I had to have some personal growth take place before I could arrange my thoughts and attitudes so my writing would not reflect bitterness at my past experiences. I also do not want to be too careful and picky-choosy in what I say or how I say it. I have dropped the ball UNlike the 3 Hebrew men in

Daniel 3:13-18

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
¹⁵ Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
¹⁷ If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

If the Lord wants me to say something, then I better say it or else things will dry up and not move. All living water comes from God. I desire to have rivers of living water flowing out of my belly that can give life to others rather than try to stop what God is trying to say through me, or divert the flow to avoid blasting someone away. I would rather be gentle, but sometimes there is no gentle way and you gotta tell it like you see it.

In these next couple of blogs, I will be writing mainly to those who have the same common background and experience that I have, from the same group of people. I realize my blog readers from different backgrounds and different countries may have difficulty in understanding  these "types and shadows", thoughts and emotions, but the basic principles are still there, no matter what group you come from.

I share my "Bible Thoughts" from the abundance the Lord is teaching me and my family in the hopes that you can find some value in them. If you have questions, please post them in the comments section at the end and I will do my best to answer them. Click on some of the highlighted words and it will take you to more information.



Preface

I have been reading in Revelation 12 about “The Woman in the Wilderness”. I finally realized that it will be necessary to divide my thoughts into many bite-sized pieces, because, like the Energizer Bunny, the blog just keeps going and going…


I hope I can explain what I see in a way you can understand; things are so intertwined it may be difficult. Who knows, I may even learn to edit HTML and how to link to a paragraph or sentence within blogs. I can see how that would be helpful.

Here’s my attempt at getting it out. Remember, these are just my thoughts and they may be difficult to grasp. I am still trying to wrap my brain around these concepts. It is hard to change, but I want to please God. Please don't choke.


Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.


Revelation 12

From a young age, I learned that the woman in the wilderness was a type and shadow of the church down through the ages, God’s chosen people, just one church.


"The Body of Christ" (my group) was not to be confused with every other church in the world calling themselves “The Body of Christ”. The difference is that other churches call themselves the "Body of Christ" without understanding the Bible the way my group did. Because of this, my group was exclusive; special; the “apple of God’s eye”. I was taught that those from my Exclusive Body of Christ, the "EBC" that reach perfection will be called the “Bride of Christ”.


The “Bride” is supposed to be caught up to God and to His throne where they will rule and reign with Him 1,000 years (or even perhaps for all eternity). In fact, some "Bride" members were “martyred out” and are already under the “golden altar” waiting for their remaining numbers to be martyred out to fill 144,000 individuals (or perhaps 144,000 churches).

Revelation 6:9-11

⁹ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
¹¹ And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

"According to scripture", the remaining number of that 144,000 was supposed to be more special than the first.


Haggai 2:9

⁹ The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.


Revelation 12 gives us a history of the body of Christ, from the early church in the New Testament through the end days.

 

Questions

I have a lot of questions about Revelation 12, but the answers I am coming up with don’t fit what I learned. These are just my thoughts, but if I put them in modern day language, perhaps you can see my points.


The Bible speaks primarily of two women, a good one (an only daughter), and a bad one with many daughters.


I would venture to say that the woman in Revelation 12 is the good one because God took an interest in her and cared for her.


The bad one is called “the harlot”… “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:4-6.


Here are some hard questions: (You might want to pull out your Bible)


1. Who was this woman in Revelation 12? Evidently she is someone God cares enough about to protect. We know a "woman" in the Bible can represent a church. In this case, it could be the early church with a crown of 12 stars (12 apostles).


2. If this woman that God cared and provided for is NOT the harlot, she is pregnant. This was no accident. Who is her husband? My guess would be Jesus.


3. Congratulations, its a BOY! We have an entirely new entity separate from the church. Hmmmm???


4. It was the man child that was caught up to God and to His throne; not the woman. Kingship passes to a son.


5. How can a boy be a bride? How does this make sense naturally or physically, especially considering that God hates homosexuality? God will not mix genders, each has a very specific purpose.


6. Who is this boy? Why do we hear so little about him? This child has a specific purpose. The child was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.


7. It is NOT the church that is supposed to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The woman (the church) has the purpose of bearing, not becoming the "Man Child".


Lets take a look at how God sees marriage and pro-creation.



According to God, sex is marriage.

Genesis 4:1

4 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

Genesis 24:67

⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Genesis 2:24

²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
 

In the Bible, a man and a woman became married by having sex. God interprets sex as marriage... in the intervening time since the Bible was written, do you think Jesus and His Father might have changed their mind about this? If so... why?

Hebrews 13:8

⁸ Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

 

The government and other people may ignore your sexual relations… God does not.

So how does this fit with Revelation 12?

Ephesians 5:30-32

³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Perhaps the mystery that Paul refers to is that Jesus got married and had a son.

 

The reason for marriage

The Bible tells us the reason for marriage is because the Lord wants a “godly seed”. With free-will, we may choose not to have children and not contribute to God’s plan for mankind, but do you think Jesus would? Wouldn't Jesus be interested in a godly seed? He always did the will of His Father.


Malachi 2:15

¹⁵ And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.


Sadly, the majority of our society has embraced a harlot’s perspective on families. Birth control, abortion and child care come from a harlot’s lifestyle, a lifestyle where a child is only in the way and hinders the woman from making money. This ruins the purpose a for which a woman was created. I feel sad for people when, based on the size of a family they ask, "Is this going to be your last child?" They do not realize where this perspective comes from.

How can a woman be a mother if you do not give her children to fulfill the purpose for which God made her? This is the treachery Malachi spoke about. This lifestyle thumbs its nose at God and exhibits blatant disregard for the Creator of the Universe. For those that are barren, adoption is a pleasing thing in God's sight.

Every living thing since the beginning of creation begets after its own kind. I tell my kids that when cats have babies, they produce cats; when dogs have babies, they produce dogs; when cows have babies, they produce cows, when people have babies, they produce people; when God has a baby... (you fill in the blank).


If Jesus had a child, wouldn't that child qualify as being a “godly seed”? In light of this information, Revelation 12:5 makes complete sense.

Revelation 12:5

⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.


I never considered... Do you think that Jesus himself would disobey God’s command to be fruitful and multiply? Would He not participate in God’s plan to have a godly seed?

Revelation 12:17

¹⁷ And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.


This seed is the reason for everything, the reason God created the universe, the reason for the Bible, the reason He sent Jesus to die on the cross.

8. If the man child is comprised of overcomers produced by the church, Jesus’ marriage consummation to the church must needs to have already happened. Why?

I'll answer that with a question: Do you think Jesus would want to produce an illegitimate child, or a bastard himself? This is not the kind of example Christian men are taught to follow according to the Bible. We are supposed to become like Jesus. Why would you think he had relations with a harlot?

If you think the Song of Solomon is a love story between Jesus and his church, then His beloved is but one. Jesus is not a pagan king that will lie with the harlot.

Song of Solomon 6:9

⁹ My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother...

Could this mean that God's group is much bigger than mine and I don't get to choose or insult another group by calling them the harlot? God knows who are His.

9. I’ve always heard that Jesus will claim his bride at the end of time. Doesn’t the existence of the man child tell us this has already happened?


Body vs Bride

A woman becomes bone of her husband’s bone, and flesh of his flesh; in essence they are one in God's eyes. Because of this, a woman’s body has become her husband's body in marriage; in the case of Christ, Jesus' church became the "body of Christ". The term shows ownership; her body became His body. This happened when they got married, when they became one flesh. At the same time, she also became the “bride of Christ”.

1 John 4:1-3

¹ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

² Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
³ And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

This means my terminology has to change, and in essence, my definition. I see no difference between the “body of Christ” and the “bride of Christ” anymore. The terms are interchangeable. This may seem an earth shattering revelation, but "it is not the spoon that bends... that is impossible”, but only my perspective... and that changes a lot of things.




10. If Jesus has already married His church, when were they married?

The answer to this would be, “when He started planting seed”, when He began His ministry. It takes time for a baby to grow.

Who is in the “bride of Christ”?

What I have called “The body of Christ” fits more biblically as "The Church, Jesus’ bride", but which groups are in His church? Is it limited to my "EBC"?

Who are Jesus’ special ones, chosen to be His bride?

Are we the ones who decide?

Fortunately, God made the decision long ago. Left to our own perspective, we would probably leave someone out.


Jesus' bride is made up of those people that He paid the "bride price" for. God tells us who they are in John 3:16; they are those that believe in Him.

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Bride Price

It was common for a man to pay a "bride price" for his woman to show what she was worth. Jesus paid the ultimate bride price at the cross. The church belongs to Him and Him only.


You may argue that, “Jesus did not pay for her before he planted His seed”; neither did Jacob with Rachel. It was not uncommon to pay the bride price after the marriage. You can see this when Jacob worked 7 years more for Laban AFTER he married his beloved, Rachel.

Genesis 29:30

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.


Jesus gave us a great example of being a husband in that He gave His life for His woman. We should also give our lives for our wives every day by providing for them and keeping them safe.

11. So if I am already part of the bride, and the woman is not the one caught up to God and to His throne, should I strive to become part of the man child? The apostle Paul thought it was important that he not rest, but keep striving.

Philippians 3:14

¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

12. A birth of the spirit took place on the day of Pentecost, they were already water baptized. Is this when the man child actually entered the kingdom of God?

John 3:5

⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

From this, I see something I never saw before. Here are 3 points:

 

• A man cannot look around and see God's kingdom. Until he is born again, everything is dark.

• Water and spirit are necessary for that birth. Water baptism and baptism of the holy ghost are necessary. Tongues are just evidence of what has already happened, not something to be used by man for division as a "Golden Wedge".

• God and His throne are in heaven. Since the woman is not caught up to God and to His throne, it is not necessary that the bride have the holy ghost; however, it is critical to the man child.

The apostle Paul tells us what will happen to tongues in

1 Corinthians 13:8

⁸ Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

God is a creator and loves His creation

God's first commandment to every living thing on earth was to be fruitful and multiply. This command was also given to man before and after the flood just in case he forgot. It’s funny how man is the only creature that has a problem obeying it and treats it like a personal choice.


This command has never been rescinded; God never told us to stop. There must be a reason and a purpose...the godly seed. 


Celebrating Marriage

If you think about it, "legal" weddings, where the government gives you a “license” to do what God already commanded, are a recent construct. Man takes advantage of God’s command, requires you to seek his approval and charges you a tax for it. A basic "Justice of the Peace wedding" denies your friends a time of celebrating and rejoicing over your union. It recognizes a union that God commanded, but it does not celebrate the union.


In contrast to a “JP” wedding, it seems God is so happy about Jesus’ marriage, He's going to throw a party. I remember talk of a celebration, a "marriage supper of the Lamb". Nowadays, we call this “the reception”. It takes place after the wedding sometime. My wife and I had three separate receptions across the US and Canada because everybody wanted to be included in our celebration.

Revelation 19:9

⁹ And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

 

Let Nothing Separate Us From The Love of God

 

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

John 3:16 tells us that God gave Jesus to the whole world because of love. It tells us that God gave His son, Jesus to those that believe in Him so we would not perish. We are to become one with an eternal being so that we may gain immortality; this is the only way to keep from perishing.

 

John 17:23

²³ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

 

When men attempt to choose between believers and label who are the "true people of God", the "true church", they are in flagrant disobedience of Matthew 19:6. They are committing a sin with a "Golden Wedge".  

 

 

God gave Jesus in marriage and we are to become one just as a husband and wife are to become one. We should not try and separate others from the love of God.

 

 

Matthew 19:6

⁶ Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Discovering that the body of Christ is also the bride of Christ makes me think twice about insulting Jesus by calling His bride a harlot.