Mar. 03, 2024

Preparing the Bride of Christ

Introduction - In the last few weeks we have been learning about the New Jerusalem, the city known to us as heaven.  The residents of that city will include God, the church, the redeemed of Israel, the redeemed of all ages, and the unfallen angels.  The city takes on the characteristics of its most prominent residents, the Bride of Christ.  This “Bride” is not a singular person, but a massive group of people from the church age who together are called the “Bride of Christ.” According to dispensationalist, pretribulation rapture/premillennial return of Christ view of end time events, the Bride of Christ will be comprised of everyone in the church, no matter how spiritually mature or immature they are.  Other views of endtime events make membership in the Bride dependent on personal achievement.  Today’s lesson will focus on the preparation of this mass of people called “The Bride of Christ.”  The formation of an eternal partner for the Son of God is the highest purpose of God in the universe. 

Revelation 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” NASB

Jesus’ Bride is not automatically prepared by Him with no response or effort on the part of the individual Christians who make up the Bride.  A lengthy, but beautiful story recorded in Genesis 24 gives us an interesting parallel, called a type, for this story, to illustrate how the bride prepares herself.  We’re going to look at part of the story here, and paraphrase the rest of it due to its length:

Genesis 24:1-67 Abraham was now a very old man, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh. 3 Swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. 4 Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?” 6 “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there. 7 For the LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.8 If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine. But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.” 9 So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions. 10 Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled. 11 He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water. 12 “O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. 12 See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.”  NLT

Four people are involved in this story: Abraham - a type of the Father, the eldest servant - a type of the Holy Spirit, Rebekah - a type of the Bride of Christ, and Isaac, a type of the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus.    

As the story goes, the servant had not even finished speaking when a young virgin woman appeared. Rebekah, who was a second cousin to Isaac, answered the servant’s requested condition perfectly, drawing water for the servant and his 10 camels.  He gave Rebekah a gold ring and bracelets and requested a place to stay.  He praised God for guiding him precisely to Abraham’s brother’s family.  He explained his role as the search agent and the conditions which had to be met for the wife of Isaac to be selected.  The family considered the request and decided to send Rebekah along.  The servant gave precious gifts to Rebekah and her family.  After a brief request for a delay of 10 days for Rebekah’s departure, the family decided to leave it up to her as to when she would depart.  She chose to go with the servant and his men immediately.  Her family blessed her and she mounted a camel and journeyed to meet Isaac, her husband-to-be.  When they met, Isaac took her to his deceased mother’s (Sarah’s) tent and they became husband and wife.  

This story has many interesting points which are plain parallels, or antitypes, to the Christian life.  It is a purposeful illustration of how God is preparing a Bride for his own son.  Let’s examine a few:

1.  Isaac’s bride had to be from Abraham’s family stock and land, not from a pagan culture.  / God chooses people from his own family line.  A person must be born again to be part of the Bride of Christ.

2.  Rebekah had to be willing to follow the eldest servant and trust in his guidance. / The Christian must be willing to leave his former life to assimilate into a new life and community of believers. At numerous points and throughout his Christian life, the believer must trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit.   

3.  The camels were laden with all sorts of precious goods which became Rebekah’s and her family’s when

      she made the decision to follow.  /  We are given all kinds of wondrous things when we begin following the 

     lead of the Holy Spirit.  He gives us the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, longsuffering, 

     gentleness, meekness, goodness, kindness.  He also gives the gifts of the Spirit, which are spiritual skills 

     necessary for us to do kingdom work here on earth.  

4.  Water had a great significance in choosing the bride: she was to be seeking water, secondly, she was to 

     share her water with the servant, and thirdly, she was to be willing to sacrifice her time and effort to water 

    the ten camels.  /  Water has to do with life in the Bible.  Jesus said that if we’d follow him, a river of living 

    water would flow from us.  

5.  The number 10 has great significance in the Bible.  It occurs in a number of anecdotes which have to do

     with trials.  Jacob had his wages changed 10 times (Genesis 31, 7,41).  God’s own people tempted God in 

     the wilderness 10 times (Numbers 14:22)  God’s people were lied to ten times when rebuilding the walls 

     around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 4:12).  Job was reproached ten times by his so-called friends (Job 19:3).

     Daniel had a ten day test to prove that he was more knowledgeable than the astrologers (Daniel 

     1:12,14,20).  / As Christians we will face tests which are deliberate attempts by God to see what we’re 

     made of.  None of these will be beyond what we are able to overcome.  

1 Corinthians 10:13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. NLT

     There is a teaching in the modern church which looks upon suffering as an evidence of failure.  Much 

     preaching concerns the complete elimination of any kind of trial and the attainment of complete, trouble-

     free bliss.  This is a false hope, because God Himself will see to it that we have occasional testings to

     measure how well we are growing.  How we respond to them will not determine whether we are in heaven 

     or not, but where in heaven we will be.  Those who have done well in this life and handled trials

     courageously will be placed in higher levels of glory, entrusted with radiance and power to do great things. 

     Those who have not passed trials will be placed in correspondingly lower levels of glory, still in heaven, but 

     in a development  level according to their spiritual maturity.  Everyone in heaven develops, but not all have 

     the same starting point.   

     The ten camels probably represented a trial for Rebekah.  The journey was about 1,000 miles from Ur of 

     the Chaldees, Abraham’s former home, to the land of Canaan, where he presently was.  The camels 

     carried all the precious goods which were to enrich and adorn Rebekah as the new bride.  If she had 

     rejected the camels and the unfamiliar journey she would have missed out on a the greatest blessing of her 

     life.  / Many Christians rebel against all trials, seeking a cushy, problem free life devoid of any problem. 

     This is completely unrealistic and unbiblical.  

6.  Rebekah received a massive blessing in the form of a prophecy which has long since come to pass for her:  

Genesis 24:60 “Our sister, may you become the mother of many millions! May your descendants be strong and conquer the cities of their enemies.” NLT  

The Christian likewise, will be a reproducer.  We will make disciples, which will eventually out-multiply Rebekah’s millions.  The better we do at it, the more glorious will be our reward in heaven.

Matthew 28:18 -20 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.19Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” NLT

Conclusion - We must realize that how we live now and what we choose to do for Christ in this life will directly affect our starting point in eternity.  To live a Christian life of self-interest and comfort is certainly possible, but will result in a station of lower glory in heaven.  Having a reward in heaven may not matter at all to you now, but it will someday.  Consider the words of General Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, who was allowed to see some of the marshaled hosts of heaven. He had led, up until his heavenly vision, a nominal, useless, lazy, professing Christian life.  After seeing apostles and martyrs and those who had suffered for Christ he said this:  

“Then the King turned His eyes on me again.  How I wished that some mountain would fall upon me and hide me forever from his presence ,but I wished in vain.  Some invisible and irresistible force compelled me to look up, and my eyes met His once more.  I felt, rather than heard, Him saying to me in words that engraved themselves as fire upon my brain: “Go back to earth, I will give you another opportunity.  Prove thyself worthy of my Name.  Show to the world that thou possessest my Spirit by doing my work and becoming on my behalf, a savior of men.’  Thou shalt return hither when thou has finished the battle, and I will give thee a place in my conquering train and a share of my glory.”