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The Bride of Christ
(seen in Genesis 1 and 2)
Since Adam is said to be a type of Christ (Ro.5:14), Eve becomes a type of the Bride. Let us examine some steps in what will be God's consummation of His glorious plan. In so doing, it will be our hope that some light will be shed on the path of the just.
God's Ordination of a Bride
In Genesis 2:18: "...the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make Him an help meet for Him."
This statement reveals that God did not plan that His eternal and universal purpose would be fulfilled by Jesus alone. He revealed that a helpmate would be provided for Him. This helpmate would be a Bride that would ultimately be made one with Him in a most intimate relationship, that of marriage. Together, they would manifest His image and likeness and have dominion over the works of God's hands. (Gen.1:26) What an awesome calling!
Substances of the Bride
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam ...and He took one of his ribs...And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made He a woman." (Gen.2:21, 22)
The formation of a bride for Adam required that a deep sleep fall upon him and that a rib be removed from his side. From this very real and pure substance of Adam, God made a woman, Eve, who was to be his helpmate. Adam recognized it as part of his own substance when he exclaimed: "This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."
The verses found in Eph. 5:30-32 reveal that Adam was speaking a prophetic word concerning Christ and His Bride, the Church (though he may have not known it): "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 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. This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."
As a Roman soldier passed by the already dead body of the Lord Jesus, he pierced His side with a spear and from thence flowed out the precious substance of blood and water. (Jo.19:34)
Even as Eve was made from the substance of Adam, so the Church is given birth by the pure and precious substance of Christ, His blood and water. Jesus taught: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (Since the blood and the spirit are both sources of life, they are equivalent terms. See Lev. 17:11 and Jo.3:5)
This narrative causes us to consider the contrast between the building processes of man and the building process of God. Man today is introducing many types of foreign substances and methods in the building of the Church, which can never produce the image of Christ or bring glory to God. We are seeing an alarming growth of humanism and secularism, which are creating an unacceptable condition of mixture in the Bride-to-be.
Many church services today are held in an atmosphere of hype, showmanship, entertainment and levity. Some time ago I was exposed to a worship service featuring choreographic dancing in which the female participants were dressed in tights and short skirts. To me it was a desecration of the House of God.
Another incident shows us the alarming mentality of some of God's people. Recently, a pastor of a Spirit-filled church was dismissed from his job because two of the Board members wanted to replace the message by a video followed by discussion. Beloved, today we are involved in real warfare from the enemy in his design to debunk and attack the pure word of God.
The Spirit of God must surely be grieved as the spirit and methods of the world are acclaimed and promoted in the church. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (Jo.3:6)
But some will say, "What is wrong with various programs, activities, and methods of the world as long as they bring people in and satisfy our young people?"" The answer is that the Bride of Christ will be characterized by quality, not quantity, and purity, not mixture. The foundations of the glorious Church will be established only by the substances of Christ, blood and water, which represent the Holy Spirit and the word of God.
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever." (1 Pe. 1:23)
Substances in the Maturing Process
The enemy is not only attacking the foundation process of the Church but also the process of maturity.
Let us note some scriptures from 1Co.3:12,13: "Now if any man build upon this foundation (Christ) gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work..."
The six substances mentioned here can easily be divided into two categories. Hay, wood and stubble represent an easy, cheap gospel characterized by fun, partying, entertainment, small amounts of the milk of the word—all eliminating the gospel of the cross, holiness and the real gospel of spiritual maturity.
But another Church will be built of different materials – gold, silver and precious stones. Isaiah prophesied of this in 54:11, 12: "...I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant stones."
Although hay, wood and stubble grow quickly without much cost, precious stones are found in the deep parts of the earth exposed to intense heat and pressure over a long period of time. They represent a gospel that is costly, one that requires the laying down of our lives, the giving of our all to Christ. Precious stones represent a people who have been exposed to much adversity, pressure and tribulation, but who come through it with the glowing qualities of Godly character in their lives.
Other Characteristics of the Bride
To give us a full picture of what we see in Genesis 1 and 2, let us mention several other characteristics of the developing Bride of Christ.
(1) She will be a many-membered organism. In Genesis 1:28, God spoke to both Adam and Eve: "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth..." Had sin not entered in, Adam and Eve would have become a large family – all in God's likeness – filling the earth with the image and glory of God.
God's deep longing that the earth be filled with His glory would have been fulfilled. We know that Satan entered in and temporarily hindered God's plan. But, our hearts fill with joy when Jesus' words resound: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Regardless of what man or Satan may be doing today, God is at work in a remnant people, building His overcoming Church that will become aligned to His eternal purposes. In this regard, we must point out that there will be no place in God's Church for independent living. We must submit to God's process of "being built together" as spelled out in Eph. 2:19-22.
(2) She will have dominion. The second major feature of God's Bride (from Gen. 1:26) is that of dominion. In the exercise of dominion, the indwelling presence of God in His Bride will be so powerful that all enemies will bow before Him. This may be seen in type in the reign of Solomon over Israel. (1Ki.4:,21,24)
The Marriage
"...and (God) brought her unto the man...and they shall be one flesh." (Gen.2:21, 24)
Adam was delighted with the presentation of his helpmate, for he saw in her his own substance, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Thus, Adam and Eve were made one, not just to take care of the garden, but to fulfill God's purposes.
And so it will be with Christ and His Bride. The Bride is now making herself ready (Rev.19:7) and she will be presented unto Him at His return.
In Eph. 5:26, 27, we see the preparatory work of Christ and also the character of the Bride at the time of her presentation: "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish."
This presentation and marriage will be at the time of Christ's return and will be followed by a coming of both Christ and His Bride to the earth to establish His righteous Kingdom.
A prayer:
"Father, I pray that this vision will be written deeply and indelibly in the hearts of your people so that we may continue to run the race toward the fulfillment of all that we see. Amen."
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