The Mystery of Christ and the Church that Paul speaks of within his discourse on marriage in Ephesians 5 is a wonderful topic for self-reflection for each of us in our own marriages, but is also an awesome spiritual truth for the believer to meditate upon regarding our intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior.
While this wonderful “mystery” is fundamental to the seasoned Saint who is steeped in the Word of God, the revelation of this magnificent “mystery” is essential and foundational for the new believer to comprehend in their walk and standing with their loving Lord and Savior.
Underlined Scripture passages are my own emphasis.
Our study begins with Paul’s succinct appraisal of the husband’s role and responsibilities in the marriage relationship. On the surface, Paul’s concise words for the husband seem rather straightforward until one realizes that as Paul links the husband with his wife and Christ the Bridegroom with His bride the church – The Mystery of Christ and the Church – we can discover a deeper significance for men to apply to their spiritual lives as leaders in the family unit, especially in their relationships with their wives.
[For Paul’s brief assessment of the woman’s position and responsibilities in the marriage relationship, please see Ephesians 5:22-24.]
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 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.” – Ephesians 5:25-27
Beginning with the marriage relationship, when a husband is commanded from the Word of God to love his wife “even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it,” it can, and should be, quite overwhelming. Messiah Yeshua has immeasurable shoes for a husband to fill! How are we supposed to do this?
Well, thankfully, the Lord has supplied us with the leading and guiding of His indwelling Holy Spirit – and that should certainly help. But, as with all things in our spiritual walk with our Lord, we must be willing to obey and have a heart that desires to comply for love’s sake. Within Paul’s comparison of a husband and his wife to Christ and the church are some rather helpful hints for the husband to implement.
Husbands should desire to “sanctify and cleanse” their marriage “with the washing of water by the Word.” That is, our marriage, men, needs to be founded on the Word of God, committing ourselves to reading and studying the Scriptures individually, with our wives, and as a family. Husbands should also be leading their wives and their family in prayer together and encouraging and setting the example for prayer individually.
Furthermore, husbands should aspire to “present” their wives – and the entire family – to Christ, “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,” and our foremost tool in this on our part is continuous intercessory prayer for them and leading by example.
Moreover, the entire family “should be holy and without blemish” as we stay in the Word of God, prayer, and living a life that is pleasing to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ultimately, our heartfelt service out of love for Him will be manifested as a family unit – led by the husband and wife – by honoring and carrying out the Great Commission as we share our Bridegroom with anyone and everyone we know and meet in our everyday interactions.
All of this, though, begins with a man’s love for his wife, as Christ loved the church. When this happens, the family has the best opportunity afforded to it of making an eternal difference for Christ and the world.
When it comes to the church herself, though we should always strive both individually and corporately to “not [have] spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” and “be holy and without blemish,” in truth, this will not be fully realized until the resurrection/rapture of the church. Yet the provision for our earthly success in striving for these godly masteries is forever present within us through the leading and guiding of the indwelling Holy Spirit, if we will but follow and obey Him diligently. “That [Christ] might sanctify and cleanse [the church] with the washing of water by the word,” clearly begins with our individual salvations and is incumbent upon our earnest determination to stay grounded in the Word of Truth every day for the rest of our lives, learning of our Lord and Savior, the plans of God for His people – both Israel and the church – persistent in prayer, and drawing closer to Him in love more intimately along the way.
In the end, a true Spirit-indwelt believer will have heavenly success on their pilgrimage on Earth the more they mature in the Lord and His Word; and Messiah Yeshua, with the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, will complete that good work that He has begun within us.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” – Philippians 1:6
“So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” – Ephesians 5:28
The first Adam – as a type of Christ – loved his wife, Eve, as his own body by desiring to stay by her side after she was deceived by the serpent (Satan) in the Garden of Eden. For Adam was not deceived by the enemy.
“… Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” – 1 Timothy 2:14
Therefore, apparently not wanting Eve to bear her sin alone, Adam freely took of the forbidden fruit.
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” – Genesis 3:6
While Adam showed himself true to the command for a husband to love his wife, he should not be regarded as someone to emulate by his choice to partake in his wife’s personal acquiescence to Satan’s deception. The notable failure on Adam’s behalf was that he did not object to the deceit of Satan and he failed to protect his wife in verbal and adamant objection to the enemy’s cunning guile. Adam should have intervened and reinforced his God-given position as spiritual head of his family – but he failed miserably in his God-given familial responsibilities.
The lesson here, men, is do not love your wife to the point of compromising what you know to be right and earnestly and diligently strive to protect your wife and family from all that is revealed in the Word of God to be unequivocally dishonorable for the redeemed child of God.
By loving our wives unconditionally, protecting and nurturing them, fulfilling our God-given role within the marriage relationship, we satisfy God’s command to “love [our] wives as [our] own bodies.” In doing this, husbands will be validating the following verse in our study.
“For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:” – Ephesians 5:29
Man’s problem has never been loving himself! In fact, man loves himself way too much! Nevertheless, when a husband considers his wife as his own flesh, he should make every attempt to “nourisheth and cherisheth” her, “even as the Lord the church.”
Truly, our Lord and Savior has given His bride, the church, all she needs to live a godly, holy, and righteous life as He continually “nourisheth and cherisheth” her for eternity.
“For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” – Ephesians 5:30
Paul stresses that we are so intimately fused with our Lord and Savior, that we can be thought of as “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” which Messiah Yeshua “nourisheth and cherisheth” on a daily basis.
Extending the application into the church’s prophetic future, Jesus Himself inquired and then declared a truth to His disciples when He stood in their midst following His resurrection and as they thought Him to be a spirit…
“Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” – Luke 24:38-39
In a roundabout way, Paul, in referencing the bride of Christ as “members of his body,” was seemingly also linking the church with the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and “his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” with our promised eternal bodies at the resurrection/rapture of the church.
Nevertheless, the relational closeness Paul is stressing for each individual believer to be “members of [Christ’s] body” is rather intimate, indeed!
“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.” – Ephesians 5:31
As noted above, when a man considers his wife as his own flesh, then Adam’s observation after Eve’s creation will hold true for us as well.
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” – Genesis 2:21-24
Though only of Eve could it be said that she had been “taken out of Man” physically – and Adam never had a physical father or mother – the spiritual application ultimately applies to all human experience that “a man [shall] leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto [be joined unto] his wife: and they [two] shall be one flesh.”
Paul closes by elaborating on this theme of a married man and woman being “one flesh” by applying it to the mystery of the relationship between Christ and His church.
The Mystery of Christ and the Church
Paul summarizes his discourse of a man loving his wife unconditionally by linking the loving godly marriage between a man and a woman to “a great mystery… concerning Christ and the church.”
“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” – Ephesians 5:32
Just as when a man and a woman come together to form “one flesh,” so, too, is the bride to be one body, united together in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” – Romans 12:5
The body of Jesus Christ should always be united in purpose, serving our Lord and Savior in perfect fellowship and sound doctrine, encouraging and edifying each other, fulfilling the Great Commission to the lost, loving and serving God and loving and serving others, and seeking to be well pleasing to our Creator and King.
As for being “every one members of one another,” Paul, along with his wonderful discourse on some of our spiritual gifts in Romans 12, gives more insights in his first epistle to the Corinthians and in his letter to the Galatians. Here is just a sampling of what Paul taught regarding each member in the body of Christ with our unity in Messiah Yeshua:
“And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
“For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:23-26
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:26-28
Once an individual comes to Messiah Yeshua in genuine saving faith, they are no longer bound by what they once were, but are now “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” having “put on Christ” – that is, beginning the process of being conformed to His image (Romans 8:29) and sharing in His wonderful characteristics – manifesting themselves together as being “one in Christ Jesus.”
“And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” – Ephesians 1:19-23
Again, the church – His bride – is His body.
Now, let us contemplate The Mystery of Christ and the Church when it comes to our bride and Bridegroom relationship.
Jesus said of Himself, that He is the Bridegroom:
“And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.” – Mark 2:18-20
John said of Messiah Yeshua:
“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” – John 3:29
Jesus said that He would come for His church in the rapture just as the Bridegroom would come for His bride in the Jewish/Galilean Wedding:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – John 14:1-3
And Christ also confirmed this truth in The Parable of the 10 Virgins:
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” – Matthew 25:5-6
Paul’s life’s mission was to prepare the bride of Christ for her Bridegroom:
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 11:2
The intimacy between Christ and His bride, “as a chaste virgin,” can only be likened on a human level to a man and his beloved bride, but will far supersede even that comparison!
The intimacy between Christ and His church in the church age is a foundational reason for believing that the resurrection/rapture is exclusively for those who have intimately known the Messiah following His breathtaking sacrifice and resurrection, which is His body, the bride of Christ. No other people, pre-cross or post resurrection/rapture, have had or will have the intimacy that the church, the bride of Christ, has had with Messiah Yeshua – that is until the Messianic Millennial Kingdom when all resurrected Saints from other dispensations who will have been resurrected in their proper order, following the resurrection/rapture of the bride of Christ, will be in perfect intimate and eternal fellowship with our Lord and Savior.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Though every person in every generation and dispensation who has put their genuine faith and trust in God and believe His Word and His promises are saved by God’s Son, the truth is that only the church who are “in Christ” (those who have lived from the cross and resurrection of Messiah and the resurrection/rapture of His bride, believing Who He is and what He has done to purchase salvation with His sacrificial death on the cross, burial, and resurrection) have had this unique relational intimacy with the Creator, Redeemer, Lord, Savior, and King; and no other people in any other generation and dispensation can claim this wonderful truth! We are truly a blessed dispensation!
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 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.” – Revelation 19:6-9
Thus, will our marriage be complete; yet there is so much more!
After coming to Earth with our Bridegroom following The Marriage Supper of The Lamb, we will have the privilege of ruling and reigning with our Bridegroom, along with all resurrected Saints in every generation and dispensation – as, again, they will have been resurrected in their proper order – during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom.
Following the Millennial Kingdom of Christ (and the Great White Throne Judgment where Satan, his fallen angels, and the unsaved dead will be judged, condemned, and confined to the Lake of Fire – Revelation 20:10-15), the old heavens and old Earth will pass away and the new heavens and the new Earth will be created, and our eternal home, the New Jerusalem, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” will descend from heaven to the new Earth for eternal bliss in the presence our beloved Bridegroom!
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” – Revelation 21:1-7
It will have been during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom that, along with the bride of Christ, the pre-cross Saints and the Tribulation Saints will have their intimacy with Messiah Yeshua physically that the bride of Christ had spiritually during the church age. At this time in history, following the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, the Lord will be the God of all people – all of God’s holy Saints from every generation and dispensation, including the church age – and all will be God’s sons and daughters for all eternity!
“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it… And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.” – Revelation 21:24, 26
Though we are never told who will represent these “nations” and “the kings of the Earth” that will “bring glory and honor into” the New Jerusalem, as God’s Saints will be living and dwelling in the Holy City, we have presented a theory for consideration in The Mystery of the Last Sheep.
In the Eternal Kingdom there will be no need for the Temple as “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of [the Holy City]”
“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” – Revelation 21:22-23
Since God is light (1 John 1:5) and the Lamb, Messiah Yeshua, in all of His glorious majesty will dwell therein in the fullness of the Godhead, the New Jerusalem will have no need of the light of the sun or the moon as our Creator, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and King will be “the light thereof,” though the sun, moon, planets, and stars will all exist in God’s new and wonderful creation just as they did when He first created an exceedingly perfect and excellent creation for our first parents, Adam and Eve.
Every Saint in every generation and dispensation will be enjoying the pleasures for evermore in the presence of God in His fullness in the New Jerusalem, which will include the Water of Life and the Tree of Life!
“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
“And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” – Revelation 22:1-5
In the Eternal Kingdom, every resurrected Saint will have become – just as the church, the bride of Christ had always been – a holy member and intimate partaker of “the bride, the Lamb’s wife,” personified by the New Jerusalem herself, as all resurrected Saints will inhabit the Holy City of New Jerusalem!
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” – Revelation 21:9-11
Wonderfully and marvelously, The Mystery of Christ and the Church will be fully realized and consummated with all the other precious Saints of God for all of eternity!
“… Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 7:12
The Mystery of Christ and the Church was certainly a mystery that was shielded from the dispensations that came before the church age and the completion of the Brit Chadashah, though there are numerous passages in the Tanakh that speak to God calling out many Gentiles in the nations to Himself (e.g., 1 Kings 8:41-43, Psalm 67:1-4, 98:2-3, Isaiah 11:10, 19:24-25, 42:5-7, 49:5-6, 60:3, Jeremiah 16:19-21, Amos 9:11-12, Malachi 1:11, etc.).
Gloriously, this mystery is no longer enigmatic for the bride of Christ who desperately longs for her cherished Bridegroom, to be bonded together in Him and ultimately to be united with Him following the glorious day of the resurrection/rapture for eternity!
As Christ’s eternally thankful and awestruck bride, we offer eternal praise, glory, honor, and prayerful worship to our wonderfully loving and magnificent blessed hope, Jesus Christ our Creator, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, King, and beloved Bridegroom!
***
May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”
Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!
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