Bride of the Lamb |
If there were no "Bride", there would be no resurrection.
The Book of the Revelation speaks of a number of truths which God is going to fulfil; if anyone of these does not come to pass, God's word would be deficient.
Some of these truths in sequence are:
"........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 showed 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.......and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" 21:9-14.
"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" 19:7.
"And I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads" 14:1.
"And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel....." 7:4.
This is the Bride sealed; the living mortals who are to put on immortality and they are the centre of the events in the Revelation. Their wedding is the triumph of good over evil, for their mortal bodies putting on immortality completes the fulfilment of the promise in Genesis 3:15, "Thou (Israel) shall bruise his (Satan's) head...."
"After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands" 7:9.
".......and white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled" 6:11.
This group are those who have lost their physical bodies through corrupting in the grave, but their souls will rise from the grave to be united with their spirits, forming spiritual bodies, thus "corruption putting on incorruption" (see 1 Corinthians 15:52).
If there were no Bride there would not be a wedding; we can say then, that it is necessary for the Bride to attain to righteousness of Faith and Obedience if she is going to be ready for the Bridegroom, so that the victory of good over evil as declared by God will come about.
The Bride will have reached the standard of righteousness to which Jesus attained - true obedience without the need of repentance (see Romans 9:4; 1 Samuel 15:22; Micah 6:6-8; Amos 5:21-24).
This group called "The Bride" is a separate group from the friends (see Revelation 7:9-10) that are invited. The friends invited to the wedding have had Christian faith and Christian works, and this has qualified them to be present, and to witness the triumph of "the Lamb", but their discipleship has not measured up to Jesus' standards where "doing the Will of God" through the Law and Gospel is able to make them equal with Him (Matthew 12:50).