~*~ Revelation 19:7-9 ~*~ “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’”Over the years, several men have told me that they are uncomfortable with thinking of themselves as the Bride of Christ in her role as the Wife at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which is described above. This is an understandable thing in light of the Bride's role in an ordinary marriage between a man and a woman. But our relationship with God is so much more complex than any ordinary intimate human relationship.
In fact, in reference to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the terms Bride and Bridegroom are not gender-specific terms. Instead, they relate to dominance and submission, as well as intimacy. We are in submission to Christ, who is dominant over us in authority, just as Adam was over Eve (See Ephesians 5:22-33). In their subservient roles under Christ's kingship, believers are to serve one another in love, not regarding their worldly roles as important or meaningful in relation to their current and future roles in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, gender roles are no longer important within the Body of Christ, for no matter what our race, social status, occupation, or gender is now, we are all to be considered as equal and one in Christ, without specific gender roles in the Kingdom (See Galatians 3:27-29; Colossians 3:9-11).
Even our existence in the presence of Christ after the Rapture is described in the terms of a Wedding Feast and a Marriage because we will be intimately connected to our Messiah and King, our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit continually during and after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Scriptures that shed light on our role in this sacred marriage can be found in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet found in Matthew 22:1-14 and the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13.
In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the original wedding guests, who were the descendants of the Israelites, refuse to come to the wedding because they reject Christ or the Bridegroom as their Messiah or Savior. Therefore, the Master of the Feast invites new wedding guests that are seemingly chosen at random after the chosen wedding guests, who were the Israelites, failed to attend. These new guests are described as both good and bad people, and all but one of then is wearing a wedding garment. This garment is the white robe of the saints, and it signifies baptism with the Holy Spirit, which comes after we are covered by the blood of the Lamb through belief in Christ. So those cast out of the wedding banquet into the Outer Darkness, which signifies the Great Tribulation, are bad people that are not born again, and whose sins are therefore not forgiven.
In the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the good and bad guests of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet appear again. This time, however, the good guests are described as the Wise Virgins that attend the wedding feast with the Bridegroom when He comes for them because their oil lamps representing the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit are full. But the bad guests are described as Foolish Virgins that do not have the oil of the Holy Spirit in their lamps, and are therefore to be left behind to suffer the Great Tribulation.
As shown in the contemporary Jewish Wedding photograph attached to this article, there are male and female attendants to the bride and the groom, and male and female distinguished guests at a Jewish Wedding, and surely the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be no different. Among the Jews and the Gentiles, those who served and loved the Wise Virgins or Attendants to the Bride and Groom will come from the Two Houses of Israel that are Jewish Judah and Gentile Ephraim. Therefore half of the Wedding Chapel will be filled with the Messianic Jewish guests of the Groom, and the other half of the Chapel will be filled with the Christian guests of the Bride from among the Gentile nations.
For the Bride, attendants to the Bride and Groom, and the wedding guests that attend the wedding, their joy will be complete in that each one will experience a new and powerful form of intimacy with God. This intimacy will manifest itself in such incredibly wonderful ways that we simply can't phantom it all now. This is because we have nothing in the range of current human experience that can compare with it in the measure of inexhaustible satisfaction and pleasure it will give each of us on a daily basis.
This intimacy has nothing to do with sex, but everything to do with a continuous and limitless source of familial love, friendship, wisdom, knowledge, joy, fulfillment and comfort being exchanged freely between God and His beloved servants. As such, our intimate connection to God the Father and His Son and Spirit will be the most powerful and fulfilling force in our lives, and it will last forever - without end!
When the Bride of Christ is viewed as the genderless focus of a much bigger event where men will be in the Bridal Party and among the invited guests, men in the Body of Christ should be looking forward to this Wedding in Heaven as much as the ladies are! ;-)
If you find this bit of instruction helpful, please share it - especially with the godly men in your life!
Get Ready! Yahshua is coming for His Saints very soon!
May Yahweh God bless you all, and Maranatha!
Your Sister in Yahshua
Helena Lehman of the
Pillar of Enoch Ministry
Ministry Blog: http://pillarofenoch.blogspot.com
Ministry Web Site: http://pillar-of-enoch.com
~~****~~****~~****~~
From more important information about what it means to be
the Bride of Christ, please read the following article:
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
ESCAPES THE HOUR OF TRIAL!
ESCAPES THE HOUR OF TRIAL!
~~****~~****~~****~~
Photo Credit: Seattle Tennis Club Wedding Photography -
Laura and Ezra exchange vows in a Jewish wedding
ceremony in a Sunday wedding at the Seattle Tennis Club
Seattle Tennis Club Wedding Photography Web Site:
If you have been blessed by this information,
please consider helping the Pillar of Enoch Ministry
with your tithes and offerings, as the Holy Spirit leads.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Shalom! Feel free to comment, but please be respectful. God bless!