A dear sister was sharing with me her concern about someone on Facebook who was spreading lies about Christ claiming that the church is not the Bride of Christ. So many lies are being spread on the internet that sound plausible but are working against the truth of Christ.
The "Bride of Christ" is a metaphor for the church. There is no question that the Church is the Bride of Christ and here are the scriptures that prove it.
Ephesians 5:24
Ephesians 5:25
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it"
Revelation 19:7
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready"
Revelation 21:9
The city of Jerusalem is described as "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb"
Isaiah 62:5
"As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you"
During the tribulation period, the church will be at the Marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven celebrating our marriage.
In Ephesians God describes the relationship between a husband and wife as the picture of our relationship to Christ.
In the command for the wife to be covered during the gathering of the saints and the man to be uncovered symbolizes the man as a representation of Christ and the woman covered as a representation of the church, the Bride.
1 Corinthians 11:7-12 "7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.
10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God."
Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Revelation 19:7-9
"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.”
2 Corinthians 11:2
"For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ."
This is clearly a picture of Christ betrothed to His bride, the Church.
Isaiah 54:5
"For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called."
Ephesians 5:25
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,"
All through the scriptures from beginning to end we see that Christ is betrothed to the Church and that the Church is the Bride of Christ.
Revelation 19:7
"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;"
Isaiah 62:5
"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
There can be no doubt that Christ is the husband and the Church is the Bride. One has to do major scripture twisting to deny that the Church is the Birde of Christ.
Revelation 21:9
"Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
It was the Jewish custom that the woman was called "wife" to her betrothal to the man even though the marriage had not yet taken place. We as born-again believers are betrothed to Christ now and will be married to Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Lamb being Christ.
Isaiah 62:5
"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
I become excited when God reveals something to me that was different from what I was taught, but I also know it is very important that we develop discernment when reading many claims on the internet since we are living in the days of intense deception. The devil is very clever in making something sound plausible when it is against the Word of God.
Everything must be tested against what we read in the Bible as we pray that the Holy Spirit shows us truth from error.
