Luke 5:34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?
Luke 5:35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”
He came as the Bridegroom and would leave as that.
This is a mystery – in fact it is a great mystery!
Relationship between Christ and the Church
He will marry the church!
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Important little note here that is not evident with first run through because we are mostly fixated
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Ephesians 5:24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
Ephesians 5:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Ephesians 5:28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
Ephesians 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
Ephesians 5:31 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
ekklesia
Ek = out; kaleo = call
In the Bible, the church is not a building.
Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Marriage Supper
Revelation 19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
Revelation 19:7 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.”
Former Marriage Covenant
wife… Jeremiah 31:32 “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, [the part that I want to bring to your attention] My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
The Old Covenant was a type of Marriage contract between the God of the Old Testament and the physical nation of Israel!
So when we view the covenant this way, the result of the breach of this contract, the consequence of it was DIVORCE.
Jeremiah 3:8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery [spiritually against God], I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. Jeremiah 3:9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. [they did this through the making of idols and putting other gods before Him]
Because the Israelites did this time after time – committed spiritual adultery – the Old Covenant which was a marriage covenant, became null and void and was no longer binding.
And finally by his death, the Old Marriage covenant came to an end.
Romans 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
Romans 7:2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
This made way for the new covenant
We understand that the New Covenant is a marriage agreement. The consummation of our marriage with Jesus Christ―the bridegroom―is yet to happen in the future. This is where understanding the biblical concept of betrothal becomes important.
Now it should come as no surprise – the New Covenant is also a Marriage Agreement.
In Hosea 2:16, 18–20, let’s notice some interesting additional information.
Hosea 2:16 “And it shall be, in that day,”[at the time of His return] Says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
Hosea 2:18 In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.
Hosea2:19 “Iwill betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth youto Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy;
Hosea 2:20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.
Betrothal “Engagement”
In biblical times, the parties went through a period of “betrothal” before they actually consummated the marriage, similar to engagement, but much more binding.
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
We see here that they were betrothed at this point and then reading in the next verses:
Matthew 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
There would be no need to put her away if they were not already together in some way.
Matthew 1:20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
She is even called his wife here before the marriage.
Betrothal was a binding agreement or contract of marriage, and it could only be severed through a divorce. With this contract, the husband had promised his wife to consummate the marriage with her, after a certain period of time.
has made herself ready… She has a part in this, how did she do that
Revelation 19:8 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.
In the same way, when we are baptized, we enter into a covenant with God and into a contract of betrothal with Jesus Christ. Though the New Covenant has not been consummated we are to be acting like the woman that is betrothed to be married and thus living under the terms of the New
Even we are called His wife in the time leading up to the marriage. We are expected to live a chaste and Godly life up to the and through the marriage to Christ when we fully enter the New Covenant!
We do this by reflecting the righteousness that God has imputed to us by faith. We are not righteous in and of ourselves but we are to show by our actions that God has counted us as righteous. So, yes we have to act a certain way!
2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Revelation 19:9 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.”
Only other place where this is referenced so overtly
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,
God the Father is arranging all of this for His Son Jesus Christ
Matthew 22:3 and sent out his servants to call [kaleo] those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
Interesting that in the parable the focus is on those invited as opposed to the “bride”
the difference is that being the bride is a foregone conclusion that she will be married
the guest is someone that has the potential to get married
Matthew 22:4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ‘
The opportunity was there and they did not make the most of it:
Matthew 22:5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
Cares of the world
Matthew 22:6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
Matthew 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
Matthew 23:30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
Matthew 23:31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Matthew 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.
Matthew 23:34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
Matthew 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Here, the king, God the Father is still engaged in the process – there is a reason that I am making this point for later…along with :2 where He is the one arranging all of this
Matthew 22:8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
This is the summation of the first part – they were not worthy
Matthew 22:9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
Now, because of what has gone on before, this necessitates moving on.
Matthew 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
We were not invited because we deserved this because we were good. We were called in spite of that, but with the expectation that we would changed and clothe ourselves differently
Matthew 22:11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
Colossians 3:7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
Colossians 3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off [ekduo: put off, out and away] all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
Colossians 3:10 and have put on [enduo] the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
enduō en-doo’-o (in the sense of sinking into a garment); to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively): – array, clothe (with), endue, have (put) on.
(ISV) Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old nature with its practices
Colossians 3:10 and have clothed yourselves with the new nature, which is being renewed in full knowledge, consistent with the image of the one who created it.
Colossians 3:11 In him there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah is all and in all.
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Colossians 3:13 Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive.
Colossians 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which ties everything together in unity.
So wen we put on the new man, we are to be clothing ourselves in righteousness and not in ALL the wrong ways of man
Matthew 22:12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
Matthew 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Just being called is the beginning and not an assurance that we will make it. There is much more to it than that. There is action needed on our part. The righteous action.
Make Your Election and Calling Sure
2 Peter 1:4 ….having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
2 Peter 1:6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
2 Peter 1:7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
2 Peter 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. [human/Satan’s nature].
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
2 Peter 1:11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is what our life and calling is about. It is at the core of every message. Change from what we were/are to what we should be. We want to be worthy of the calling that God has set before us. So shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to make sure